The Aftermath of Defining “Authenticity” as Discourse: The Case of the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony

Yasemin Pacalioglu — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0700

From the perspective of the academic study of religion, it would be deeply problematic to point to a specific iteration of a ritual and assert that it is more authentic than the other. Our current understanding of authenticity, as a discourse rather than an innate and naturalized category, means that the moment we search for the authentic we have left the realm of critical study. In this paper, I argue that scholars must find a way to remain empirical observers without rendering our intellectual community obsolete in the face of real-world issues. Through the example of the contemporary state of the Mevlevi Sema ceremony, I argue that scholars should strategically employ the language of authenticity for marginalized communities in need of protection or assistance. The Mevlevi Sema ceremony, through a complex history of state interference, transformed from primarily a religious ceremony to primarily a touristic and cultural endeavor. I explain how various Mevlevis and academics under the banner of the International Mevlana Foundation utilized the discourse of authenticity to define an “authentic” Mevlevi Sema ceremony while still keeping the ceremony in the domain of culture. Thus the paper concludes that the real-world dynamics of the case of the Mevlevi Sema ceremony demonstrates how the discourse of authenticity has a great deal of power in society, and how it can complicate traditional academic standpoints in relation to the category of authenticity.

Modern Wicca and the Witchcraft Movement

Renee Cyr — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0700

Despite the growing popularity of the Wiccan religion, there is a distinct lack of public awareness that Wicca exists at all. Wiccans often refer to themselves as Pagans. Nonetheless, non-pagans often use the term pejoratively. Yet the mostly contested word for Wiccans is Witch. This label is a reflection that most, but certainly not all, Wiccans engage witchcraft as part of their overall religious practice. While some have reclaimed this term and wear it as a badge of pride, many see it as a derogatory term and avoid either being labeled or self-identifying as a Witch. One reason for the lack of awareness about Wicca is that adherents practice in secret, choosing not to discuss their beliefs with their family and friends because they are concerned with the potential for negative backlash. In fact, the act of publicly admitting you are a Witch is often referred to as “coming out of the broom closet.” This concealing of identity as a Witch is a major cause for the widespread ignorance of Wicca as a religion, much less the details of the practice. Interestingly, today one of the places with the largest Wiccan community is Salem MA. By exploring the history and practices of wicca and witchcraft, I will help breakdown stereotypes and misinformation. In this paper I argue for a rebranding of the term Witch that recognizes the positive influence of Wiccans on society. Secondly, I encourage members of the Wiccan community to reclaim the term Witch and embrace their full identity.

Identity Formation Through Stories of Suffering: A Comparative Textual Analysis of The Book of Job and The War Scroll

Kara Roberts — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0700

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative literary analysis of two early sectarian Jewish stories to understand the creation and preservation of identity throughout history. The War Scroll expresses the identity of the Essenes as the last righteous interpreters of God, who will not succumb to the surrounding chaos. The Book of Job expresses the identity of the early Jewish people as moral challengers to unjustified suffering. Both stories place emphasis on the groups’ freedom from external oppression/unjustified suffering due to God’s intervention as long as they maintain a moral identity. This paper argues that while it is apparent that the Book of Job and the War Scroll are wildly different in form, content, and contextual history, both were responses to the external struggles each group faced and both emphasized a moral identity for each respective group. The Book of Job, as Wisdom literature, addressed the issue of theodicy and early Jewish identity, and the War Scroll, as apocalyptic literature, addressed the end times and Essene identity. Despite differing approaches, both of these scriptural texts reflected the external political chaos of each group during the time of authorship and the belief that moral behavior or identity was the key to God’s intervention. Though there is discontinuity in practice of the contemporary Jewish traditions and early sectarian Judaism, there is continuity in the experience of suffering as informing their thought and in creating a sense of group identity. This is articulated by the writing of, and the continued faith in, past stories of suffering.

The Fists of My Perfect Teacher: A Queer Analysis of Male Siddha Violence

Joshua B. Shelton — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0700

This paper adopts a queer hermeneutic to interrogate the gendered implications of violent behavior enacted by male tantric accomplished masters, known as siddhas (Tib. grub thob), toward their disciples. Using a 19 th -century case study, it examines a notorious moment in the guru-disciple relationship between the renowned Do Khyentse (1800-1866) and Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887), when Do Khyentse confers a tantric transmission through a drunken beating. Siddhas, known for their aberrant, shocking, and subversive behavior, often justify their antinomianism as an expression of their high degree of spiritual realization and attendant liberation from the orderly structures of communal life. Thus, disciples interpret any violent conduct, either explicitly or implicitly, as a provocative upāya, or skillful means, to provoke soteriological insight. When viewed in this light, the siddha’s behavior is rendered immune to ethical critique or evaluation by the devoted disciple. Using David DiValerio’s notion of tantric fundamentalism (the strategic performance of siddha qualities), this paper suggests a possible tension in Tibetan biographies between representing siddha identity within legible tropes of antinomian behavior and the authenticity ascribed to ‘enlightened spontaneity.’ This tension is a fruitful site for queer analysis of the gendered dynamics of siddha violence. If the text configures Do Khyentse as a character implicated in the trope of tantric transgression, the informed reader could interpret his behavior as a religiously justified re-inscription of hegemonic masculine violence. In contrast, if Do Khyentse’s behavior is read as authentic enlightened spontaneity, he becomes a queer champion: harnessing the potency of gendered expectation to disrupt Patrul Rinpoche’s fixation on normatively ‘good’ behavior, effectively catalyzing his enlightenment. Through a close reading of this encounter, this paper suggests that the tension surfaced in the text is only partially resolved, charging the reader to reflect on the ethics of tantric subject formation.

To Serve God or Mammon: Sheldon Emry’s Biblical Economics and the Farm Debt Crisis of the 1980s

Cameron Rowlett — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0700

Of the new religious movements to emerge in the twentieth century United States, Christian Identity remains the most vehemently anti-Semitic in its theology. The defining characteristic of Christian Identity is the “two-seedline” theology that purports the Aryan race to be the true lineage of the biblical Israel and modern Jews to be imposters, who are not only in league with Satan but are his literal descendants, who are engaged in perpetual conflict with God’s true chosen people. The locations of this conflict vary, but during times of economic upheaval, such as the farm debt crisis of the 1980s, Identity’s proof of a global satanic conspiracy often point toward choice economic policies and institutions – namely, the Federal Reserve System. In response, Identity leaders and writers offered their own economic schema, which they believed followed biblical prescription. Of these schema, Lord’s Covenant Church Pastor Sheldon Emry offers the most systematized formula for a “biblical economics” that would serve to liberate Christian America from economic oppression and strip power from international finance, which Emry believed was predominately represented by influential Jewish families bent on an “economic conquest” of the United States. While Emry’s conspiratorialism spoke to many economically insecure farmers, it directly contradicted the economic logic of the New Christian Right of the 1970-80s, which largely adopted the economic perspective of the Austrian School. This latter economic perspective eschews any direct relationship between economic, moral, and religious life and acknowledges the monetary functions performed by agencies such as the Federal Reserve. This paper focuses on the contrast between Emry’s biblical economics and the economic views of the Christian Right of the 1970-80s. Through a close reading of Emry’s writing on the subject, this paper proposes that Emry’s conspiratorialism provides a connective framework joining the categories of economic theory and Christian theology.

Built on Emptiness: Śūnyatā as a Basis for Mahāyāna Ethics, With References to Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra

Greg Mileski — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0700

In a 1968 conference, Luis O. Gomez acknowledged that the Buddhist conception of emptiness (śūnyatā) presents a challenge to the Western tradition of philosophical ethics and has given rise to charges of nihilism, even in Buddhism’s ancient setting. However, Gomez argues, that, far from leading adherents to an ethical nihilism, these doctrines provide a unique lens through which to see the motivations of Buddhist ethics. Beginning with the essay that followed from his presentation and continuing with the works of other Buddhist ethicists (Stephen A. Evans, Barbara A. Clayton, Jay Garfield, Stephen E. Harris, for instance), this paper analyzes and illustrates the ways that śūnyatā shapes a Mahāyāna Buddhist systematic ethic. After examining the ontological grounding which these conceptions illustrate, this paper then asks toward what kind of ethical issues are adherents oriented and what kinds of ethical responses are compelled. Finally, this paper addresses the ways that śūnyatā provides a basis for prioritizing ethical responses when conflicts are apparent. While several of the writers analyzed point out that developing such a systemic understanding of Buddhist ethics has not been a priority for the tradition, this paper agrees with those who assert that doing so is helpful less for the tradition itself and more for the cross-cultural conversations that facilitated by a shared vocabulary. Such common ground allows for a constructive cross- cultural comparison that may lead to better understandings of the ways that ethical systems are derived and operative.

NEXT

The Aftermath of Defining “Authenticity” as Discourse: The Case of the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony

Modern Wicca and the Witchcraft Movement

Identity Formation Through Stories of Suffering: A Comparative Textual Analysis of The Book of Job and The War Scroll

The Fists of My Perfect Teacher: A Queer Analysis of Male Siddha Violence

To Serve God or Mammon: Sheldon Emry’s Biblical Economics and the Farm Debt Crisis of the 1980s

Built on Emptiness: Śūnyatā as a Basis for Mahāyāna Ethics, With References to Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra