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My Friend, Siddhartha
I wish I had read Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha when I was a teenager, but I’m so glad I picked it up at 25. While browsing through the clearance section of a Barnes and Noble,–a great place to find collections of ancient myths, story books depicting the lives of sacred figures, and modern spiritual inspirations–I picked up a coloring book that advertises itself as an aid for meditation. I must have been leaning into my artistic side that day because another little book caught my eye among the disheveled stacks: an Illustrated Edition of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha. It felt as if the gold lettering on the book’s spine was illuminating my…
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People-Centred Beliefs: Interviewing Individuals to Understand Religious Identities
Over the last few years, I have seen the difference it makes when individuals are provided opportunities to speak about their histories, traditions and practices and how it can change outsider perspectives on these aspects of humanity. During my Masters, I began studying aspects of individualized, syncretic beliefs through the vernacular religions of divination practitioners with backgrounds in Christianity, I found that my contributors had very personal connections to their practices and that they were keen to share their beliefs in the hopes that it would ease the tenuous relationship that many people perceive to be between organized religion and modern spirituality. To me, this understanding is the embodiment of…
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“Infesting the Herd”: The Arian Heresy in the Philippines
As a newbie worker in the church, there are some things that I have observed in the ministry. One of which is the cycle of wrong teachings that was already proven to be errant long ago. I often assume that the indolence to learn is the reason for ignorance about the dangerous doctrines that once infested the early congregations of saints. While I am blessed that a Trinitarian religious group once conquered my country, there is still a historical controversy that alarmingly grows at present. The music of the Philippines is one of the subjects I studied at graduate school level. I presented on the first chapter of D.R.M. Irving’s…
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What Leviticus can teach the Church about Autism
Inspired by Mike Bird’s recent article, and the podcast Autism and Theology. As someone living in a family full of neurodiversity and a daughter with a beautifully spicy brain, we are in the trenches, and so I felt compelled to write a response. Michael F. Bird, Autism and the Image of God. Today I am a heartbroken Dad. Yesterday, my daughter told me she doesn’t want to come to church anymore. I stood there in her room, vainly trying to convince her that coming to church is better than the Minecraft videos she was watching on YouTube. You see, my daughter lives with Autism and ADHD. She is what professionals…
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Ethical Intersections: Practical Theology’s Response to Harmful Beliefs
“How many witches have you killed today?” This provocative question is often directed at Agnes, referencing her daily prayers, which she believes ward off or eliminate unseen malevolent forces. Her practice is not mere superstition but, as described by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen,[1] the culmination of beliefs shaped through her experiences. Agnes represents a segment of the Nigerian diaspora that maintains beliefs that appear to lack existential values and morality. The environment we inhabit significantly influences how we present ourselves and interact with others, as we unconsciously adjust our behaviour through gestures, tone of voice, and even movement speed. However, when individuals such as Agnes find themselves in environments…
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Who do you say that I am?
Words don’t come easily – like sorry…. [and] forgive me, forgive me. Tracy Chapman Some years ago I was with a group of Christians and Jews travelling to Israel and Palestine at the invitation of the Council of Christians and Jews. The hope was that by visiting together, each of us carrying our incomplete understanding of the situation in the Holy Land, including of course unconscious cultural, religious and political biases, would see things through others’ eyes and return partially enlightened: gifted with a more nuanced understanding and greater openness to other readings of a notoriously complex situation. In Jericho, an ancient and predominantly Muslim Palestinian city which, nevertheless, for people…
