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redeem.web.txt
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1997-01-02
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Redeeming the Unredeemable
I feel that American culture lacks a response to
ecstatic religion. As a consequence, most Americans are
having great difficulty dealing with the evangelical
movement. The larger camp of evangelical nonadherents have
difficulty assessing (or even admitting) the spirituality of
the evangelicals. The smaller (and more fevered) camp of
adherents have difficulty limiting their focus to the
evangelical's spirituality. American clergymen have
traditionally been learned, quiet men active firstly in
their church and secondly in their community. These men
were the respected and worthy opponents of the secular
humanists. They spoke the same language (coming from four
years of liberal arts), used the same medium (podium,
newspaper and local electronics), dressed the same and used
the same method (ratiocination). The evangelical moves in a
different sphere.
Consider an evangelical's typical day: up at 4:00 to be
at the studio by 5:00 where (s)he is totally remade for the
camera. Four to five hours live performance of praise
follows and -- as with any prolonged shamanistic exercise --
ecstasy appears. Then the evangelical has a brief lunch
with a local business group. (S)He must be up, cheerful,
and forceful -- despite the morning work-out. These men
need him. The evangelical returns for another four hours at
the studio, followed by a one-hour radio show, and finally
the two-hour revival at the local church. In bed by 12:00
and God willing (s)he will be rested enough for tomorrow.
During most of this grueling stretch the evangelical
exercises most typical shamanistic activity -- the sacred
costume, the fast, prayer, dance, and song. Much of this
mysticism occurs in a strange sensory-depleted environment
-- the blindingly well-lit television studio. Many
individuals deny the spirituality of these practitioners --
individuals who do not say the same of St. Simeon Stylites ,
a _sadhu_ begging on the streets of Calcutta, or a Sioux
medicine man performing a Sun Dance. WASP culture cannot
recognize a WASP shaman.
If pressed, most nonadherents would cite the money
grubbing of the evangelical movement. Others would focus on
the moral misconduct of certain highly visible preachers.
Begging is not unknown to the ecstatic -- in fact, it's
essential for him. The Buddhist monks have their bowls,
St.^Simeon had shepherd patrons, the Ojibway must support
the shamans. The scope of the begging seems radically
different, but it takes a great deal more money to support
their environments. They are set apart from their followers
by their wealth much as the fakir is by his poverty. The
need for the ecstatic practitioner to exist apart from the
social matrix has been amply studied from Mircea Eliade to
R. D. Laing. Shamans throughout the Third World often
perform acts abhorrent to their followers -- it demonstrates
their great holiness, their rising above conventions.
Americans are shocked by the scandals of the Bakkers or
Jimmy Swaggart. The shock intensifies when their followers
still flock to them. The nonadherents don't see the
abundant cross-cultural parallels such as the Yogic practice
of the Seeking of Dishonor. This is a far cry from the
learned, mild-mannered clergyman indeed!
That widely-held notion of the '60s, that Americans
could save themselves by adopting a nonWestern faith, has
come to pass; ironically this new faith excludes most of the
thinkers that called for it in the first place. My
anthropologist friends tell me that they have witnessed
miraculous cures among the Navajo -- I have no doubt that
similar cures exist in the flock of Pat Robertson or Jerry
Falwell.
Few nonWesterners would think of getting political
advice from their witchdoctors. In cultures with an accepted
role for the ecstatic and the visionary, these gifted people
do not provide political leadership. Their _total_ devotion
causes the divine flame to burn fiercely -- and separates
them from the world of men. Spiritual and temporal power
are separated in most Amerindian societies. Throughout the
Orient monks and &sadhus are completely outside the
political sphere -- often considered as the dead. The
adherents of the evangelicals have confused the role of the
traditional clergyman with the new ecstatic.
When passing these electronic _sadhus_ on a channel
check -- one may or may not throw rice in their bowls. That
is the decision of the Heart. But one shouldn't ask them
for political guidance -- that decision would betray the
Head.