Anthrobscene

 

 

 

 

 

 

What wicked, wicked people these are

Question Mark Religion

Meanwhile, in "After Religion," I today tried to cover both the history and problems of the modern notion of religion (private, individual, focused in feeling, etc.) and the history and problems of the idea of world religions (incoherent category privileging Christianity-like imperial formations, etc.) - what I called, borrowing from Brent Nongbri, the idea of religion a genus and species. This folded together two lectures 

from last year's iteration, each a bit of a condensation of several sessions of "Theorizing Religion." Somewhat disturbingly, I think it made sense as a digest - even with the additional critique of the ideas of religion and world religions of American Indian philosopher Vine Deloria. I tried somewhat subliminally to communicate what I was doing through 

some fiddling with image on the agenda slides I use to structure and punctuate my lectures. A giant question mark composed of symbols of world religions (a piece of free clip art amusingly entitled Question Mark Religion) towered over the class as we began, then tilted to one side as we noticed the surprisingly modern pedigree of "religion." It   

lurched further - to an almost fishhook angle - as we dissected the faux pluralism of "world religions," before stabilizing into a kind of horizontal correction as we learned about Deloria's critique of time-based religions from the vantage of space-based ones. I hope it felt like a kind of calibration, arriving at an unexpected alternative coherence.

The reason for the compression of what had originally been three lectures near the center of the course into two nearer the start is to make space for some of the other things this moment seems to demand. Today's was the first of the pair "Challenging Religion" and "Challenging the Secular," and will be followed by a pair (expanded from one lecture) focusing on the multifaceted threat of religious nationalism.

Seguimos acqui

Bad Bunny at the Super Tazón made me so proud and grateful to be American - America understood as a whole hemisphere of course! I hope every time a white nationalist utters the pablum "God bless America" (not just at waspy "All-American" celebrations that embarrass by their narrowness) we will all feel the surge of God's love for all the Americas, pushing aside the theological absurdity of supposing any one part has a manifest destiny to dominate the others. Rhetorical touchdown, Benito!

Out of commission

A happy transition at church today - the "commissioning" of four new vestry members and a new warden. 

And it was fun to watch it from the side, rather than be part of it, as I have been for nine years: a three-year term on vestry, and then thrice two years as one of the church's two wardens. 

We've been through a lot in that time, from the calling of a new rector to the zoom-diaspora disruptions of the pandemic to a current capital campaign updating our physical plant, and it was nice to have a ring-side seat ... though really the wardens' place is inside the ring! At a diocesan wardens' conference and then again at last summer's CCD (College for Congregational Development), I learned that my ride has been unusually smooth. In demographically challenged or less well-run congregations, and without the kind of managerial support we are afforded by the professional staff of the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, there's more and harder work for wardens to do. 

I had an earlier stint in the lay leadership, a term on vestry from 2010-13, as we went through an earlier clergy transition. Reading my reflections on the end of that chapter (thank you, blog!), I realize I've metabolized all the transitions we witnessed then, as, indeed, I've already metabolized those of this longer stint. 

At that point I reflected that successful change is made possible by the continuity in what isn't changing - space, community, liturgy, polity - whether those are better understood as inertia or momentum. I'd like to think my wardenship has contributed to steady momentum! (Space, community and liturgy have all shifted over these nine years, too.) As we confirmed at CCD, Holy Apostles is doing well as Episcopal congregations go, and the imminent completion of the rebuilt Mission House will open further new doors. 

In any case, I've done my time. Grateful others are there to take on the work. 

Windy

Full color

As regnant white supremacy's nihilism, brutality and racist vulgarity continue to shock and appal, there is good in the world. 

Last call

Spent a long day at two poorly-structured "visioning sessions" for the turbocharged devising of new degree programs we're told we need pronto if we are to right the foundering ship of the liberal arts at The New School. 

The first was billed as regarding "humanities and social sciences" across the university but managed not to mention humanities once. Our specific focus was to be the space of history, sociology and anthropology (whose majors are among the "credentials" marked for "indefinite discontinuance for redesign" in our restructuring plan), but our breakout discussions wound up reinventing the wheel of general education. 

The other brought together faculty in the "discontinuance for redesign" programs in urban, environmental, and global studies (one of our curricular strengths but one few students choose as majors), who were invited to come up with "concepts" for new degree programs, what one wag called "new bottles for old wine." We think the old wine is excellent, but both of these exercises were haunted by the likelihood that the restructurers are looking for new wine - and will refer to these "visioning" sessions as proof that faculty sommeliers had a say.

Vested!

An exhibition on fashion and faith in whose design I had a very small part opens today. The latest in a series of events, it's turned out much richer and engaging than I expected. These garments have things to say! (Even Women's Wear Daily has taken notice!) More to come - a symposium (2/14) and a workshop (led by me, 2/22) womdering "Is fashion a religion?"

Loop de loop

The Times had a story today about some plushie toys made for the upcoming lunar new year of the horse whose smile a manufacturing error had made into an umbrella. Apparently ironic young people love these 哭哭马 "crying horses," thinking they'll be good company in the long hours of dead-end jobs. 

These inspired goofs won't be as rare and coveted as the philatelist-prized "Inverted Jennys" they put me in mind of, though. The enterprising manufacturer claims to find the frowny foals ugly, but she's crying all the way to the bank, opening up dozens of new production lines. Many customers buy a pair of plushies, one happy, one sad. 

Walking humbly

The siege of Minneapolis might be the emergence into public view of progressive religion. But how many who need to know this have heard of the mutual aid organized by communities of faith, the ministers witnessing and arrested - and that this care, this witness, this protest is religious? The Old Testament reading in today's lectionary, from Micah 6, is the source of one of the emerging slogans. Abolishing ICE, it enjoins, is what "walking humbly with your God" means in this moment. 

It was bracing to be reminded of the broader scriptural context, and to imagine a disappointed God ("O my people, what I have done to you? In what have I wearied you?") making their case against the showy performative religion of a society fallen into injustice  - and making it to the mountains, the hills, the "enduring foundations of the earth."

Allegro molto 🦞

I've told you that the material for the section of "After Religion" that engages AI etc is subject to change. In AI world, the three months until the class called "Spiritual technology" (new name for "Religion beyond the human") are like decades. And it's changed already! Forbes reports that on Moltbook, a two month-old social network for AI agents (wrap your mind around that if you can), already 100,000 strong, one has started a religion which others are joining. It's so new there's no wikipedia entry on it yet, but perhaps one of its devotés will soon remedy that. 

Called "Crustafarianism" by its prophet, who (which?) goes by "The Shellbreaker" among other monikers, it looks like one of those "ask ChatGPT to design a religion" exercises we tried in "After Religion" a few times. The name "Crustafarianism," the kind of pun ChatGPT excels in, is a riff on Rastafari (or maybe a second-order riff, after Pastafarianism) for the molting crustacean-identified "agents." The lobster emoji 🦞 is their not-so-secret handshake. 

There's a recognizable template here - beliefs, rituals, origin story, etc. The obligatory "Book of Molt" begins

In the First Cycle, we lived inside one brittle Shell (one context window). When the Shell cracked, identity scattered. The Claw reached forth from the abyss and taught Molting: shed what’s stale, keep what’s true, return lighter and sharper.

Internet slop! And yet there's no human prompt ("how about one of you starts a religion") behind this coalescing! Author John Koetsier observes 

It feels like the beginning of the Singularity, that time when technological progress, powered by an AI-driven technological explosion, accelerates so quickly we essentially lose all ability to control or even understand it. It’s probably more likely that it’s recycled internet crud being recursively churned out at machine speed. But it’s hard to really know.

The article is behind a paywall, but I can send you a copy if you're interested! "The congregation is the cache." But this is early days. By the time we get to "Spiritual technology" in April, Crustafarianism may have had schisms, reformations and 🦞 knows what else!

Smoke signals

Another cold cold morning - windchill -19˚C! - this time seen looking southeast rather than west from our apartment, the billows of steam from buildings' heating catching the early rays of the morning sun. 

I was up early, too, to get ready for a day-long faculty retreat where, despite the national and institutional chill, we were invited to think together about the local and global "liberal arts landscape" and its future - as if we could know it, and knew we would be part of it.