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Aurora Griffin on Being Catholic at Harvard

tonygill — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 09:00:46 +0000

What is it like to be a devout Catholic attending a secular university? What steps can young believers take to ensure the integrity of the faith? Aurora Griffin, a graduate of Harvard University and a junior research scholar at the Center for the Study of Statesmanship at the Catholic University of America, answers these questions and provides valuable insights from her book How I Stayed Catholic at Harvard. After a brief discussion of her current duties at Catholic University, Ms. Griffin provides us with some biographical background on her faith and education growing up, and how she ended up at Harvard. Starting out with the intent to major in biomedical and cardiac research, and a side-interest in philosophy, she details how she ended up on an academic track focusing on the classics. Aurora also discusses the stresses of applying for college and what the first few months on campus are like – intellectually, socially, and religiously. Along the way, we are treated to great bits of advice regarding how to navigate the difficult waters of one’s college career, including the realization that things change.

Aurora then recounts an important story that set her down the course of writing her book about life at Harvard. It was during her graduation dinner with family, friends, and select faculty members that her father offered a toast regarding how significant it was that Aurora kept her Catholic faith so strong throughout college. This came as a bit of surprise as Aurora was expecting a recounting of her various academic achievements, but this point did prompt her to reflect upon the beliefs and practices that kept her strong, write them down, and publish them as bits of advice for other students who would find themselves in her position. When asked what the most important disciplines keeping her faith strong were, she replied that is was: 1) attending Mass regularly; 2) observing all required fasts; and 3) going to confession at least once a year. We discuss how the act of confession helps to promote reflection and humility, and how regular practices (or rituals) such as attending Mass create strong habits in other parts of one’s spiritual and secular life.

The discussion then turns to more specific advice in several areas including choosing one’s community, one’s approach to academics, and how to “live out” faith on a daily basis. Aurora points out that it would be hard to maintain one’s religious faith without a community of like-minded supporters, thus it is important to seek out other students and faculty that share your beliefs. This is a task that is important right from the start. Aurora also discusses her success in forming a Catholic sorority to bring together a community of 35 or so female students who connected with the Daughters of Isabella organization. The Harvard chapter of the Daughters of Isabella initiated their organization with a black tie ball, organized other social events, and became engaged in various charitable activities such as pancake breakfasts to support a local parish and baby showers for low-income mothers. We also discussed what it means to “just be Catholic” on a secular campus and Aurora’s thoughts on how to embrace the teachings of the Church without picking and choosing selectively. Tony asks if building a strong community of like-minded adherents runs the risk of creating a bubble around a student, which then moves us into a discussion of how important it is to also interact with people who are different than you, a lesson she learned at Oxford.

Academically, Aurora champions the importance of finding religious faculty members to interact with, attending conferences, and conversing with guest speakers to campus. She recounts her first meeting with philosopher Peter Kreeft of Boston College while picking him up at an airport in California. This seemingly mundane encounter became the springboard from which further intellectual interactions occurred in Boston. We then talk about “living it out” — i.e., how to be openly religious in our modern world. Aurora raises an interesting question that she heard from one of her friends: “If we lived in a country where Christianity was illegal, would there be sufficient evidence to charge you with?” This provocative question became a measuring stick for Aurora’s own faith and she talks about how rejecting various temptations at social gatherings and keeping the Sabbath are important markers for one’s spiritual developments. She recalls how she would attend Mass regularly on Sunday and spend leisurely afternoons with her friends afterwards as a way of keeping the Sabbath, a difficult task in the high-pressured world of the Ivy League. We also talk about how regular habits of faith may seem robotic and sterile, but really allow a person to avoid things that they could become “hurt by” and how this leads to a more fulfilling and happier life.

The conversation concludes with some of Aurora’s personal reflections on what she has experienced since finishing her book and what her future plans are. Recorded: Janary 12, 2018

How I Stayed Catholic at Harvard: Forty Tips for Faithful College Students, by Aurora Griffin.

Leisure, the Basis of Culture, by Joseph Pieper (mentioned in podcast).

Daughters of Isabella (and the Harvard chapter).

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Kimberly Conger on Being Christian in Secular Academia.

Bill Clark on an Academic’s Spiritual Journey.

Tim Clydesdale on Vocation and Education.

Joseph Castleberry on Religiously-Based Higher Education.

Chris Gehrz on the Crisis of Christian Colleges.

Marion Larson on Bubbles, Bridges, and Multi-Faith Education.

Hunter Baker on the Future of Higher Education.

Jamie Aten on Religion and Disasters (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 03 Sep 2017 08:00:28 +0000

When disaster strikes your community, who ya gonna call? Churches and other religious organizations, that’s who! As an integral part of civil society, religious congregations are often the best positioned to be first responders in an emergency, and to be the organizations that can offer long-term recovery assistance long after other emergency responders have moved on. Prof. Jamie Aten, the Rech Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, discusses his experience with natural and man-made disasters and what churches can do to assist in such emergencies. We begin with Jamie’s own incredible story of how he came upon this topic, moving to southern Mississippi in the late summer of 2005, mere days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. His experience with that storm, and his ability to cull together his research team to study how congregations responded to that event, led him to focus on how religious groups play a role in disaster planning and recovery. Prof. Aten emphasizes that disaster assistance isn’t merely about tangible resources such as water bottles and blankets, but involves a network of relationships. He draws upon a variety of examples from his research and personal experience to show how churches need to understand their own ministerial strengths, and play to those in developing an emergency response plan. For example, congregations that devote a great deal of attention to elderly care would best be situated to help with senior citizens during a crisis. He also talks about the importance of developing a disaster response plan and involving members of the congregation who have relevant skills; laying all the planning and coordination on the shoulders of a pastor is not necessarily a good way to go about this task. Jamie raises the example of a “chainsaw ministry” that helped with tree clearing and construction-related issues following one storm. He further talks about experiences in other parts of the world including Japan, where there is not a strong Christian culture, and the Philippines, where asking poor communities to plan for disasters is not a realistic option (as storing food amongst a starving population is not the best use of resources). Throughout our discussion, Prof. Aten mentions the role of resilience and fortitude, and connects this to how churches — as members of a community — are often best situated to provide these needed emotional and spiritual resources. Moreover, unlike government agencies or non-governmental organizations that often must leave an affected area by a certain date, local religious groups can continue to provide community support over the long-term, including the celebration of anniversaries that are important for people to cope with traumatic events. We finish with Jamie’s personal reflection on his cancer diagnosis and what he has learned over the course of his academic career. Recorded: August 1, 2016.

The Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton.

Disaster Ministry Handbook, by Jamie Aten and David Boan.

Spirituality and the Therapeutic Process, by Jamie Aten and Mark Leach.

Spiritually Oriented Interventions for Counseling and Psychotherapy, by Jamie Aten and Mark McMinn.

Culture and the Therapeutic Process, by Mark Leach and Jamie Aten.

RELATED PODCASTS

Melissa Matthes on Sermons after Tragedies.

Jim McGuffey on Church Security.

Frank Selden on the Military, Suicide, and Faith

tonygill — Sun, 21 May 2017 08:00:09 +0000

In a very personal and fascinating interview, we are joined by Frank Selden, an estate & retirement attorney and former member of the Washington State Army National Guard, who talks about his career in the military, his two tours of duty in Iraq, his struggles with suicide, and how his religious faith worked through all of this. We begin with Mr. Selden’s personal history beginning with his time growing up on a dairy farm. He then leads us on a tour of his time studying to be a pastor with the Seventh Day Adventists, his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Washington, and what motivated him to join the National Guard. It is then we take up the more extensive topic of his two tours of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom and how his perspective on that conflict changed over time. Frank also explains what motivated him to write his first book, Finding Faith in the Fury, a collection of emails and thoughts he had written down during his first tour of Iraq. We discuss how his religion was lived out during that conflict, including organizing a prayer service for soldiers after the base’s chaplain was killed by an IED while out on a mission. In contrast to the aphorism that “there are no atheists in foxholes,” he found that many of his fellow soldiers did begin to have significant doubts about their faith based upon what they experienced during this war. The conversation then turns to how his second tour overseas left him very disillusioned about the US purpose there, as well as how he began to see changes within his own faith with organized religion becoming less important. This discussion of changes he experienced during and after the second tour of duty then leads us to the topic of suicide and the motivations for Frank’s second book, The Suicide Solution. Frank talks openly about the struggles he had with injuries and depression, as well as how this cost him a marriage and many friendships. He walks us through several of his suicide attempts and what happened on the last attempt, in a cemetery, that led him away from this path and towards a renewed life. The stories here are deeply personal, fascinating, and honest. Beyond the personal stories, Mr. Selden’s recent book on suicide led him down a research path to look at how religious organizations and movements dealt with suicide and the mentally ill throughout history. He talks about a number of reform movements such as the Quakers, Dorothy Dix, and John Harvey Kellogg, as well as what occurred with changes to federal policy in the 1980s. We finish with Frank’s thoughts on the role of spirituality in all of this. Recorded: May 4, 2017.

RELATED LINKS

Frank Selden Law, PS and a brief bio.

Finding Faith in the Fury: One Soldier’s Faith Challenging Journey Through Operation Iraqi Freedom, by Frank Selden.

The Suicide Solution: Understanding and Dealing with Suicide from Inside the Mind of Someone Who’s Been There, by Frank Selden.

RELATED PODCASTS

Ron Hassner on Religion on the Battlefield.

Ron Hassner on Religion in the Military.

Robert Kinnune on Military Chaplains.

Jamie Aten on Religion and Disasters

tonygill — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 08:00:03 +0000

The Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton.

Disaster Ministry Handbook, by Jamie Aten and David Boan.

Spirituality and the Therapeutic Process, by Jamie Aten and Mark Leach.

Spiritually Oriented Interventions for Counseling and Psychotherapy, by Jamie Aten and Mark McMinn.

Culture and the Therapeutic Process, by Mark Leach and Jamie Aten.

RELATED PODCASTS

Melissa Matthes on Sermons after Tragedies.

Jim McGuffey on Church Security.

Nancy Ellen Abrams on Spirituality & Science

tonygill — Sun, 27 Mar 2016 08:00:05 +0000

Can modern science, particularly our knowledge of the quantum world and dark matter, be reconciled with a notion of God? Nancy Ellen Abrams, an independent scholar and author of A God that Could Be Real, discusses her personal journey from atheism to a unique view of the supernatural. We explore Nancy’s own history through her education as well as struggles with eating disorders, not to mention walking in the world of theoretical physics and cosmology. Ms. Abram’s then leads us through a definition of spirituality that she believes is more consistent with our contemporary understanding of the universe and how our changing scientific knowledge has led to an evolution in the way we envision God. Her theory of God and the universe revolves around a concept of emergent phenomena, and she explains what this means. Nancy also reviews the implications of her ideas for matters of prayer and the afterlife, finally revealing what this all means for humanity as we face new global challenges. Recorded: March 7, 2016.

[NOTE: We here at Research on Religion are trying out a new, condensed description of our podcasts, thus the format above is shorter than in the past. This is, hopefully, to save the editor a bit of time and to incentivize our visitors to give a listen to the guests in their own words.]

A God that Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet, by Nancy Ellen Abrams.

The View from the Center of Our Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos, by Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams.

The New Universe and the Human Future, by Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack.

RELATED PODCASTS

Stephen Barr on Quantum Physics, Religion, and the God Particle.

Rob Moll on Religion and the Brain.

Wafa Hakim Orman on Religion and Economic Crises

tonygill — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 09:00:53 +0000

When the economy goes down, do people get up and go to church? Do they pray more? Does domestic violence increase during times of economic stress and does religion temper this finding? These are the motivating questions behind a series of research projects being conducted by Dr. Wafa Hakim Orman, an associate professor in the Department of Economics, Accounting, and Finance at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Not only does Prof. Orman reveal the religious effects of economic crises, but she also provides one of the most clear and pithiest explanations of the 1980s farm crisis and 2007 housing crisis that you will hear, a double bonus!

Our journey begins with Dr. Orman’s intellectual path to the study of economics and religion. While we have featured a number of economists of religion on past shows, it is always interesting to discover how economists ended up studying a topic not necessarily associated with that discipline. She traces her interest to a visit by Eli Berman (a previous RoR guest) to the University of Arizona wherein she was fascinated by his theory of religious club goods and collective action, and how Eli’s findings prompted new ways of thinking about her own research on open source software. Throughout our entire interview, Wafa provides a number of insights as to how she came to discover new avenues of inquiry, providing great lessons for undergraduates and graduate students looking to craft their own research projects.

We then move to a discussion of economic crises and Prof. Orman lays down the causes of the 1980s farm crisis that had its origins in cheap money in the 1970s. This discussion alone is worthy of our listeners’ interests, but then we take a look at how this economic downturn in rural areas may have impacted religiosity. She notes that her ideas for this study came from Daniel Chen’s examination of economic turmoil in Indonesia and how this motivated many individuals there to join Koran study groups for emotional and resource support during troubled times. Interestingly, the social networks that developed in these religious groups helped poor individuals gain access to credit later on, thus attendance at religious services is not just a spiritual or psychological palliative, but provides tangible benefits via the club good model of religion. Wafa then details her own study of religious attendance during economic crisis, explaining how she set up her comparisons and obtained data. We discover that religious attendance did increase following the downturn in commodity prices and farmland foreclosures in the early 1980s and the results were most pronounced in the areas where this was most severe. Frequency of prayer showed slightly less increase, but she notes there were data limitations with the General Social Survey’s measure of this variable. She also discusses how her study was augmented by a “difference within differences” methodological approach wherein she compared religious behavior of government employees (who were not affected by exogenous price commodity shocks) and found that the farm crisis had little impact on their church attendance.

We then take this study to a more contemporary time with an examination of the 2007-08 housing/financial crisis. Again, Prof. Orman nicely summarizes the causes of this economic event and observes that this provides an additional test of her findings regarding the farm crisis. Unlike the problems that beset the agricultural sector in the 1980s, the housing crisis was felt more dramatically in urban and suburban areas, particularly in the Southwest part of the United States and Florida. As with her earlier results on the farm crisis, we once again see religious attendance increasing in the areas hardest hit by housing foreclosures. When prompted to speculate as to whether individuals are seeking emotional solace or trying to build social networks by returning to church during these economic downturns, Wafa says that the data cannot really help us sort out that question — an example of a social scientist being truly humble about what her study says and not taking speculation beyond what the empirics can tell us.

We then finish off with some thoughts on additional projects Wafa is conducting, including a fascinating study of how economic downturns may impact intimate partner (domestic) violence. The operating theory is that when individuals are under financial stress they will often express it is ways that are physically violent. Prof. Orman’s study with two academic nurses (and one who actually worked with domestic abuse victims) indicate that there was an uptick in such cases in regions of Florida that were most severely impacted by the 2007-08 crisis. Wafa takes this one step further to see if religion had any impact in tempering these outcomes and does find that in regions where religiosity was more intense, there was less domestic abuse. Using Google searches on key religious terms as a variable to tease out spiritual interests, she also finds a complex endogenous relation between economic crisis, domestic abuse, and religious faith. We finish off with some of Wafa’s thoughts about the things that have most surprised her during the course of her studies into the economics of religion. She notes that even when various activities may appear to have no rational purpose, using economics to understand the utility function and constraints of individuals actually reveals how “meaningless rituals” may actually have a strong rational basis. Recorded: February 15, 2016.

A select listing of Prof. Orman’s published and working papers.

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Michael McBride on the Economics of Religious Leadership.

Larry Iannaccone on Sacrifice, Stigma, and the Economics of Religion.

Eli Berman on Religious Terrorism.

Peter Leeson on Witch Trials and Human Sacrifice.

Carrie Miles on Religion, Gender, and Missionaries.

Phoenix Moomaw on Ronald Reagan’s Faith (Our 250th Episode!)

tonygill — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 08:00:55 +0000

For our annual Fourth of July show, and our 250th episode, we invite our very first freshly-minted high school graduate, Phoenix Moomaw of The Bear Creek School, to discuss his recently completed senior project investigating the faith of President Ronald Reagan. Phoenix is well-positioned for this research project given that his grandfather — Donn Moomaw — was Ronald Reagan’s pastor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church from the time that Reagan was an actor, his tenure as governor of California, and during the White House years. To add to this, Phoenix’s family discovered a set of letters written by Ronald Reagan that had previously gone undiscovered and uses this correspondence (dating form the governorship and presidency years) to build his thesis.

We begin the discussion talking about the nature of Mr. Moomaw’s senior project. He provides his school’s rationale for requiring such a project and mentions a few of the other activities his classmates did. He then talks about how he came about his project in particular. The impetus for his investigation of Reagan’s faith was prompted by the discovery of several folders of letters in his grandfather’s garage that dated back to the 1960s and 1980s. He takes time to give us a taste of these letters and reads one them related to the treatments of Presbyterians under the Sandinista regime. Phoenix’s desire to scan these discovered documents to pass around to his family then became a project designed to determine how much of an influence religion played in Reagan’s life, and we walk through the steps of his research project discussing his three days spent in the archives at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. It is also noted during the interview that Phoenix relied upon personal discussions with his grandfather about his recollections of Reagan, including a time when Reagan reached out to Rev. Moomaw regarding a decision whether or not to pardon a death row inmate.

Phoenix’s principal research question was to determine how authentic Reagan’s faith was and how this played out in actual policy decisions. He uses as his basis for analysis C.S. Lewis’s theological test of true faith put forth in Mere Christianity, and Richard Neibuhr’s concept of “Christ above culture” in his book Christ and Culture. He explains both of these concepts for listeners. As for the former, Phoenix notes that Reagan did have an authentic faith as a “mere Christian.” Reagan also saw a place for religion and politics and maintained a moral compass for the nation. The analysis of whether Reagan was “Christ above culture” is more nuanced given that this concept holds up a standard that is separated from culture, but one that attempts to influence culture. Phoenix notes how difficult it is for a president to live according to this standard. Phoenix’s grandfather noted that Reagan did not want to talk theology much and did not believe he could influence culture much. Phoenix concludes from this that Reagan entered into office with a strong religious background, but as time wore on his beliefs were shaped by his office and he lost sight of much of big picture that he entered the White House with, becoming mired in daily decisions. Even though Reagan did pray over these difficult decisions, it was difficult to hold to the “Christ above culture” standard. We reflect upon how difficult this is for all of us. Recorded: June 24, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

The Bear Creek School.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in Simi Valley, CA.

Christ and Culture, by Richard Neibuhr (as mentioned in podcast).

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Mark David Hall on Religion and the Founding Fathers.

Should Christians Have Fought the US War of Independence.

Rob Moll on Religion & the Brain

tonygill — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 08:00:58 +0000

Many of know that prayer can be good for the soul, but can it also help the brain and body? And what about attending communal religious worship? Can that too help us improve our mental and physical health? Author Rob Moll, who recently penned the book What Your Body Knows About God, discusses what he discovered when he investigated the fascinating world of spirituality and neuroscience.

Rob’s journey of discovery on the path of neuroscience began when he was writing his previous book, The Art of Dying. He notes that he became interested in the topic of death when writing about the Terry Schiavo case for Christianity Today. His curiosity took him to, of all places, a position answering phones and serving as an usher at a funeral home. We discuss what that experience was like and how it prompted him to think about the connections between the spirit and the body. One his main observations that he took from that job was how people who treated the physical body as something reverent (and not just a shell) tended to work through the grieving process in a healthier manner. Along the way, Rob provides us with some personal details about his own background, being raised by some “Jesus freaks” who drifted from the faith but eventually came back to, in all places, a California church that was founded by Chinese.

We then dive in the world of the brain. Rob admits to not being a brain surgeon and finding the task of examining neuroscience as being somewhat daunting, but he found it fascinating with the help of a number of scientists who made the research task very accessible. He reveals the three big things he learned from all of this brain research. First, spirituality is hardwired in us. And this is not just a matter of being epileptic, as some earlier research suggested. Second, our conscious mind are not in control of our body as much as we tend to think. Much of what we work out in our behavior lies in the subconscious. And third, we are actually connected to people in ways that are reflected in the brain.

After getting through all the biology, we then turn to the connection between faith and our bodies. We start at the individual level with the power of prayer. When talking about prayer, Rob is not merely talking about the quick recitation of grace that we might say around the dinner table. Instead, prayer gets us into the world of deep meditation. Noting how research shows significant changes in the brain after about 12 minutes of intense reflection, Rob discusses how he has been developing a habit of praying for fifteen minutes after putting his kids to bed. He details how research has shown that such a process actually had long-term effects in the part of the brain that deal with compassion. There are also some fascinating studies that indicate such meditation affects how we orient our body in space — not the “out of body” experience that some people report, but rather how we develop feelings of “oneness” with God.

We then scale things up a bit by looking at communal activity. Here we discuss how religion is a social activity, recalling a quote from John Wesley an itinerant Methodist preacher. And it is social activity that is not just being in a very large group, but having more personal and intimate connections with small groups of people. It is here we note that the success of megachurches is not that they pack in big crowds, but that the break people down into “small groups” that reinforce spirituality and community. Group activity has a variety of effects on our brain, including effects that get at our subconscious. Rob notes that scientists have discovered “mirror neurons” that prompt us to adapt to the behavior and emotions of those around us. Managers who tend to walk around their offices and visit staff tend to be more effective in motivating a positive workplace than those folks who do things over email. This translates to our religious life as well, as the spiritual experiences of others also reinforce our own religious feelings. The social connection is also reinforced by physical contact, which also appears to affect our brain. We discuss this in the context of orphanages and “cuddle parties.”

The interview finishes up with Rob’s reflections on what he has learned through this process of study. He is very impressed by the actual biological “power of prayer” and how much we are truly limited in our cognitive ability, but that religious faith helps bolster a healthier and more whole person. Recorded: October 3, 2014.

RELATED LINKS

Rob Moll’s personal web page.

What Your Body Knows about God: How We Are Designed to Connect, Serve, and Thrive, by Rob Moll.

The Art of Dying: Living Fully in the Life to Come, by Rob Moll.

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Justin Barrett on the Naturalness of Religious Belief.

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Bradley Wright on Soul Pulse.

Rodney Stark on How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists.

Jeff Levin on Religion & Health

tonygill — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:00:51 +0000

Does participation in religious activities enhance your physical health? Can prayer assist in the healing process? Jeff Levin, University Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and director of the Program on Religion & Population Health at Baylor University, talks about various findings connecting religious belief and practice with physical well-being. Prof. Levin also provides an intriguing discussion into how the general medical profession has grown to accept the imporance of religion as a variable that needs to be studied seriously. We discuss the differences between religion & health as well as spirituality & healing, and how researchers conduct research in this field. Recorded: May 31, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Jeff Levin’s website.

Divine Love: Perspectives from the World’s Religious Traditions edited by Jeff Levin, Stephen G. Post and Seyyed Hossein Nasir

God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Healing Connection by Jeff Levin.

“‘And Let Us Make Us a Name': Reflections on the Future of the Religion and Health Field by Jeff Levin. Journal of Religion and Health.