Endorsements:
Dr. Paul Wong, a prominent author, researcher, and theorist, and existential-positive psychologist stated about this essay, "Your letter to a congressman needs to be published somewhere.!"
Dr. Harold Koenig, a medical doctor-psychiatrist and a well published author and researcher stated about this article: "Charlie – makes perfect sense to me, and very nice letter right on target! HK"
Stefan Schindler, an award-winning author, and retired psychology-philosophy professor responded to my question: "Would you say the argument about the "methodological flaw" is correct" by stating, "Yes, correct!" And a Maryland University Psychology Professor stated "getting the message out"
Dr. Stephen Farra: Recently - after the original essay was published - I connected with Dr. Stephan Farra of Columbia International University Emeritus, Psychology, who stated unequivocally that the "Prove God Norm Fallacy" - or "Definsit Fallacy (leading to a closed Materialism) is spiritual poison, and has hurt us all!" Dr. Paul Wong also confirmed specifically that the "prove God Fallacy is a fallacy also.
Introduction
Although, a number of scholars, social scientists, and scientists, including NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, French philosopher Rene Guenon, the maverick scientist Rupert Sheldrake, the psychologists Baruss and Mossbridge, the physicist Josephson, and numerous other scholars and psychologists, not many people have a good understanding - or much awareness either - of the Materialist Doctrine and the Distinct Materialist Bias in mainstream psychology.
However, you know Spirituality is a problem in Psychology, when a 700 plus page comprehensive 'History of Psychology' textbook, "The Story of Psychology," which was written by Morton Hull, a well-known and prolific author on the subject of psychology (Anchor Books, 2007), when that comprehensive history of psychology textbook does not have even a single reference to either spirit [except archaic Greek philosophy references] , spirituality, religion, or even meaning (hard to believe – but true).Furthermore there were only two paragraphs about collective consciousness. Materialism excludes through what I call an "academic swindle" - the Prove God Norm-Fallacy - All spirituality - completely!
I do have on my website a letter I received from U.S Senator Van Hollen expressing interest in research into spiritual experiences or spiritual-psychic experiences. I contacted the Towson University chair of psychology. When he didn't return emails I contacted the president of Towson University, who, for the record, publicly proclaimed herself as the "Diversity Queen" when she took office (a little sarcasm there). I was promised several times by her aides that the President would call - never happened. Btu I finally did get an email from the chair of psychology, Monro. Munro stated unequivocally that in his entire psychology department there was not a single professor who had any interest whatsoever in spirituality in any shape or form. The bottom line is that the materialists have successfully sideline and marginalized all the spiritual schools of thought in psychology - such as Jungian and logotherapy (psychotherapy based on Frankl's theory). Both Jungian psychology and logotherapy are taught outside the orthodox APA psychological establishment in separate schools separate from university curriculum. First I would like to address the easier of several methodological Flaws. Link: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/letters-from-senator-van-hollen-and-governor
I Searching for the Meaning of Life in a Laboratory: Iain McGilchrist, psychiatrist, author, and Oxford literary scholar: The Downside of "Rigid Adherence to the Arbitrary Quantification!"
1, Kay Deux - Intense Displays of Emotion
Kay Deux, a social psychologist, is the first (and only to my knowledge “academic” to point out that the materialist doctrine is a serious problem for social psychology. Of course, being a psychologist in the academic environment, she never even hinted that the Materialist Doctrine is the culprit of a major problem. Kay Deaux, in her analysis of group related studies and theories, in her chapter in the Social Psychology Handbook of Basic Principles observed that the exclusive use of laboratory experiments as the only tool of research “precluded” “affective displays.” In psychology, it is well known that emotions are notoriously subjective and not easily quantified. Kay Deux goes on to emphasize that “In contrast, natural groups, whether family, fraternity, or nation, are often the arena for intense displays of emotion and strong affective ties.” (p. 794 Social Psychology Handbook of Basic Principles edited by E. Tory Higgins and Arie W. Kruglanski)
2, Materialist Methodology: “Rigid Adherence to Arbitrary Quantification” & Racism
As Claudia Nielsen pointed out, the psychiatrist McGilChrist astutely observed that “The scope of inquiry and understanding of the Materialist Doctrine with its rigid adherence to the actually arbitrary principle of quantification and over-emphasis on physiological characteristics is severely restricted and limited in the analyses that can be performed.” If one stops and thinks for a moment, and seriously considers the question, “Art” of course pops right out as a subject impossible to quantify or measure. Then of course Jung also pointed out that “creativity” is beyond the scope of scientific inquiry. Einstein – and Jung - both emphasized that right-and-wrong cannot be quantified either and are also beyond the scope of scientific inquiry.
On top of that, pretty much all of metaphysics, philosophy, as well as mysticism is far beyond the scope of science. Finally, imagination, by definition, is not measurable or quantifiable -especially using physiological methods. As Einstein observed, "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." Several scientists among them Max Planck the iconic quantum physicist swear that imagination is what makes science tick – not rational analysis. The thought experiments of Einstein are what led him to discover curved space-time and the theory of relativity. In spite of all this time after time I encounter academics and college graduates who absolutely swear that the Materialist Doctrine is the answer to the meaning of Life and that they are guardians of science (and truth).
Of course, as Kay Deux emphasized, the Materialist methodology has some serious shortcomings – specifically citing the failure to recognize the “Intense Displays of Emotions.” On top of that, because social psychology obviously could not possibly mange to bring genocides – an expression of group-related instincts in outgroup conflicts, Social psychology also failed to bring to light the horrifically powerful emotions related to group-related behaviors in outgroup conflicts. Having basically the same limitations as social psychology, nor neuroscience or neuropsychology do not Emphasize that horrifically powerful emotions are at minimum a major characteristic of racism. In America, at this time the issue of racism has to be one of the most important issues in todays’ society and the powerful emotions connected with racism would be a very salient question in todays’ world.
The bottom line is the “Rigid Adherence” – or perhaps more accurately the complete fixation with Materialist Methodology’s “arbitrary principle of quantification” resulted in psychology overlooking and ignoring the historical evidence found in genocides which happen only too often with way too much predictability. The truth of it is that prejudice, discrimination, and persecution of “outgroups” has been going on for thousands – if not tens of thousands - of years in human history. Racism isn’t new, nor are the horrifically powerful emotions connected with group related instincts in outgroup conflicts. Yet, few people - including most American Leaders, know much of anything about group-related instincts.
II When an Academic Abstraction is More Important than a Human Being
"Don't you have a church to go to?? Spirituality has no place in science!"
What does this question of "Don't you have a church to go to?? Spirituality has no place in science!" come from? In a Religion FB group a member stated bluntly: "Don't you have a church to go to?? Spirituality has no place in science at all!" What that individual was saying is that my spiritual beliefs are so worthless - such superstitious nonsense - they are not even worthy of scientific inquiry. How did this come about? I need to state categorically that this question has absolutely Nothing to do with belief - it is a question of true or false and right or wrong - simple as that.
The methodological question posed by "Academic Materialist Doctrine" in their maxim that one need “Prove God” before one can have valid spiritual beliefs is currently an ongoing problem and an extremely salient question - as an article recently published on the Pubmed site on the NIH website clearly demonstrates. The psychologists, William R. Miller and Carl E. Thoresen, unequivocally state in their article, Spirituality, religion and health: an emerging field of research, that “A philosophical basis for this perspective is materialism, the belief that there is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.”
One of my strongest assets is that I will go out into hostile environments and engage others – partly in an effort to come to grips with the problem. What I discovered is that the idea that “spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.” is a core argument of the Academic Materialist Doctrine, which I encountered only far too often in posting on psychology, religion, and neuroscience FB groups. However what I keyed into was the form it took. Time after time, I was told I can’t talk about spirt or spirituality until I prove the existence of “spirit” or “God!” Due to my personal spiritual-psychic experiences, when I came across that, my reaction was: "You can't be serious! Prove God? That is a preposterous idea and a really stupid question - to be blunt!"
Furthermore, after consideration and having the prove God fallacy thrown into my face I realized that it was just plain “stupid” and not scientific or rational in any way. Even a precursory overview of the statement “nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses” would clearly indicate that that statement is a fallacy on the face of it because what they mandate is simply Not Possible – at all. Secondly as a logical statement it is a [Definist] fallacy because it takes the same form as “You need to “Prove God to talk about religious beliefs [that is, for your religious beliefs to be valid] – and of course no one can prove God so it is an impossible request and therefore a Definist Fallacy (which I illustrate below).
So, I researched it and discovered, not all that surprisingly, that that particular approach of Academic Materialism - which deviates from scientific materialism - is a Fallacy by the universally accepted rules of logic. One definition of the Definist Fallacy explains it as defining a term used in an argument in a biased manner (e.g., using "loaded terms") One example cited is "Before we argue about the truth of creationism, let’s define evolution as, “Faith in a crackpot theory that is impossible to prove with certainty.” In a nutshell using a Definist Fallacy requires a person to do things that are impossible and can't be done. I would repeat that, You Don't Need a Degree to understand the problem and grasp the Definist Fallacy! In fact, it seems to help not having one.
As a point of order, this question has nothing at all to do with "God"! And it has Nothing to do with beliefs, either. The question is solely and entirely about scientific methodology. The question is about how a blatant Fallacy like that could exist in "science" - especially since that maladaptive norm as Bargh would say, conveys the message that spiritual beliefs are inherently worthless!
My position:
First off, to me "Truth" is very important. Secondly what psychology and the social sciences teaches young people is critical. Third the "Prove God Norm-Fallacy" is - for all practical purposes - an "academic swindle" - literally. That academic abstraction which is a fallacy, and not worth the it is printed on, allows the materialists to artificially and arbitrarily completely exclude and severely repress evidence and information important to understanding spirituality. That is, the "Prove God Fallacy is destructive and harmful. - And it is all smoke and mirrors - utter horse-hockey - lies and bulls**t. And what possible "reasonable" reason could these wonderfully enlightened psychologists have for excluding studies which would help people understand peoples' spirituality. What excuse could there be for keeping information about the spirituality of gr9eing, or the spirituality of autistics, or the spirituality of awe-wonder from people and psychologists? What is absolutely infuriating is that many theologians, Christian leaders, and many Jungians are being led around by their noses by materialists who are using a fallacy - a swindle - to push them around. And it is like pulling teeth to get a yes or no - or a true or false for a simple straightforward and impel question - the equivalent of asking what is 2+2.
Definist Fallacy is Spiritual Poison - Dr Stephen Farra Columbia International University Emeritus, Psychology [Also, Dr. Paul Wong sent me an email stating the "Prove God Norm-Fallacy" is wrong as well!
"Charles, I strongly agree that the Definist Fallacy (leading to a closed Materialism) is spiritual poison, and has hurt us all! Frankl writes about how a closed Naturalism leads to a suffocating Reductionism, which leads to a mental and emotional Nihilism and the kind of Moral Corruption he experienced in Auschwitz and Dachau. We have bodies and brains, but within those bodies and brains, we develop transcendent Souls, and self-transcendent Spirits. We potentially have great freedom and flexibility. On all this, I think we agree."
Where I Personally Break From the Crowd
Clearly we are in the Age of Science and unfortunately materialist Doctrine - which is much, much different from two thousand years ago when Christ lived. And a large number of people say the conflict between science and religion is problematic, to say the least. To my knowledge there is only One thing common to both science and religion - and that is people. Studies of people have been done but the "Prove God norm-fallacy is an artificial academic roadblock that works only too well within academia and has effectively excluded all the studies from mainstream psychology under the guise of separation of church and state. Keeping information and studies from the public and which would help people understand spiritual people does not fall under the heading of separation of church and state.
The Blob that Ate Chicago
As Bargh highlights, much of the human mind revolves for better or worse around maladaptive stereotypes and norms. The Materialist Doctrine and anti-spirituality attitude and ideology in part built into their methodology actively promote distorted stereotypes and norms. People quite often have a stereotypical image of Spirit as some kind of monolithic huge spirit entity something like the Blob that Ate Chicago (great movie). For instance, I often come across social "scientists" like the one I encountered on a neuroscience FB group who referred to all spirituality in terms of a "Giant Cosmic Parrot. However, once you take that monolithic entity idea out of the picture and look at studies of peoples' spirituality, what you find are - rather incredibly - "People." Spiritual people are what? People? - unbelievable - huh?? Spiritual people are actually people??? Who would have thought? That is, when you look at the studies what you find in general is that some people thrive on spirituality. Some people benefit moderately from spirituality, and some just don't connect with spirituality at all.
People and Materialist Dogma - Smoke and Mirrors!
After 7 years of research I discovered all these wonderful materialist psychologists and psychiatrists actually know absolutely NOTHING about people with spiritual experiences - SQUAT. Dr Neal told me that as a graduate of Johns Hopkins she had absolutely NO Training in peoples' spirituality or spiritual experiences. Her psychiatrist manger said he didn't understand why psychiatrists don't have training about spirituality.
The psychologists, William R. Miller and Carl E. Thoresen, unequivocally state in their article, Spirituality, religion and health: an emerging field of research, that “A philosophical basis for this perspective is materialism, the belief that there is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.” In this article the authors point out that materialists say "that there is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.” I run into materialist college graduates quite often, who say the same thing - that there is no spirituality because you can't measure it. Far too often I encounter materialists who state categorically "There is no spirituality!"
So, the question is: What are the studies below that create these categories or types of spirituality??? I'm telling you materialism is all smoke and mirrors - nothing but a academic mirage of nothing but artificial and arbitrary prejudices and intolerances. And there are a lot of other studies and experiments. Materialism is based on the make-believe academic abstraction of a spirit or God completely and totally disconnected from people. These materialist scientists are literally pretending studies and evidence don't exist.
A Not So Brief summary of Types of Spirituality- Rough draft - a quick glance should help though
1, The spirituality of autistics (Varieties Of Supernatural Experience: The Case Of High-Functioning Autism by Ingela Visuri Ingela Visuri concludes, “A majority of the participants report unexplainable, sensory experiences that seem to occur without any input of stimuli: touch by invisible hands, visions of things that other cannot see, whispers when no one else is to at home, and sensations of invisible bodies being present. The autistic participants scored significantly higher on supernatural experiences when compared to the non-autistic sample, and the emergent literature suggests that unusual, sensory experiences are prevalent among autistic individuals.” The most salient aspect of autistic spirituality is that it would stand to reason that the consistent “peculiar” type of spirituality as in Invisible touch would necessarily appear to be a product of the “peculiar” autistic physiology.
2, Art has been intimately associated or connected with spiritual and religious beliefs since prehistoric times. Chelsea Ann Rulofson, in her thesis, Spirituality in Modern Art observed that, “Artists since the beginning of time have been closely and, most times, inseparably fused with spirituality and religion. (p.33). As Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907 – 1972), the famous Jewish theologian and Jewish philosopher, that “What would art have been without the religious sense of mystery and sovereignty, and how dreary would have been religion without the heroic venture of the artist to embody the mysterious in visible forms, to bring his vision out of the darkness of the heart, and to fill the immense absence of the Deity with the light of human genius.”(p. 118) As Jessica Frazier observes the inner vision and sight brings to life creativity in that “Art draws on emotion’s transformative, creative, generative power to shape reality as well as reveal it.”
The sociologist Carole Cusack observes, "It is a truth generally acknowledged that religions have been the earliest and perhaps the chief progenitors of cultural products in human societies. Mesopotamian urban centres developed from large temple complexes, Greek drama emerged from religious festivals dedicated to deities including Dionysos and Athena, and in more recent times Christianity has inspired musical masterpieces including the ‘St Matthew Passion’ by the Lutheran Johann Sebastian Bach (1686-1750), the motets of the Catholic William Byrd (1540-1023), and the striking paintings of the Counter-Reformation Spaniards Ribera, Zurbaran, and Murillo in the seventeenth century (Stoichita 1995). Nor can we forget the cinematic renderings of biblical story in such works as William Wyler’s epic Ben Hur (1959) starring Charlton Heston, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s (1922-1975) Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (1964), or Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004).
3, The spirituality of a person grieving for a lost loved one. Spirituality in grieving is well documented and quite common – since death is a universal in human life. The authors, Gilles and Neimeyer observe that Richards (2001) emphasizes the fact that in his study, “68 out of 125 participants spoke of spiritual phenomena in their experiences.” (p.33 Loss, Grief, And the Search for Significance: Toward a Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Bereavement, James Gillies and Robert Neimeyer)
A rare study of actual experiences by the authors of the article, Spiritual Experience, Church Attendance, and Bereavement (Linda S. Stirman Kenneth W. Sewell, Ph.D. Larry W. Easterling, Th.D. Louis A. Gamino, Ph.D.) stated that “Pastoral caregivers have long suspected that those persons who simply perform religious rituals or attend church regularly do not necessarily cope better with bereavement or other personal crises. This study seems to support these long held clinical observations….. [that] individuals do seem to cope better if they can "actualize" their spiritual experiences in times of crisis. In instances of loss and bereavement, such spiritual experiences may offer not only comfort but also a contextual framework of meaning for understanding.” This would seem to suggest that spiritual experiences may have a synthesis function in that Gilles and Neimeyer focus on meaning reconstruction – which spiritual experiences appear to help. Also, J E Kennedy mentioned briefly that spiritual experiences did seem to have an antidepressant effect.
4, The spirituality of a recovering addict - which is also very real and a frequent occurrence. The twelve-step program of AA is well known as well as its pivotal concept of a Transcendental Spirit or God. While not everyone benefits form spirituality, it is a fact that some people do in fact benefit from spirituality and spiritual experiences. The conclusion of an article about a meta-analysis I is that “Clinical trials assessing the effects of RSI (Religious-Spiritual-Interventions) showed additional benefits compared with control groups, including reduction of clinical symptoms (especially levels of anxiety).” (“Religious and spiritual interventions in mental health care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials by J. P. B. Gonçalves, G. Lucchetti, P. R. Menezes, and H. Vallada)
5, The spirituality of awe-wonder - which has been studied tested and well proven – has been advocated by Einstein, Sagan, Heschel and many other leaders as very profound spiritual experiences which are a powerful source of inspiration as well as drive to understand and need for meaning.
6, The Spirituality of Adolescents first documented by Stanley Hall in 1882.
7, The spirituality of compassion. The compassion principle and doctrine are in every major religion: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism (Upanishads), and Buddhism. There are 77.4 million American care-giver volunteers. Then of course, there are the "Christian" volunteers, Lutheran Dr. Sweitzer, Catholic Mother Teresa, who founded an entire network of charity hospitals.
8, The spirituality of civic activists like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Tolstoy who had profound spiritual beliefs which served as inspiration for their idealism as well as drive and endurance in the face of despotic oppression of the establishment involving imprisonment and harassment at every turn.
9, Furthermore, in studying the effects of religion and spirituality on the elderly population Kraus found that (religious) social connections produced a “deeper sense of meaning in life,” improved “adoption of religious coping responses,” and better support for coping with financial strain.” (Handbook of the Psychology of Religion p.206)
10. Spirituality of NF Personalities: Using the Myers-Briggs personality model, “Keirsey (1998) stated that people having intuitive, feeling (NF) personality types are mystical in outlook and often explore occultism, parapsychology, and esoteric metaphysical systems.” (p. 267 J. E Kennedy PERSONALITY AND MOTIVATIONS TO BELIEVE, MISBELIEVE, AND DISBELIEVE IN PARANORMAL PHENOMENA. The significance of personality factors might best be illustrated “In a study of a technique attempting to induce a sense of contact with someone who had died, 96% of the participants with NF personality types reported after-death contact experiences, whereas 100% of the participants with ST (sensing, thinking) personality types did not have these experiences (Arcangel, 1997).” (p.267)
Historical Retrospective on Materialism and Psychology
The Scientific Revolution, which everyone knows about, brought with it the Age of Reason, and with it, as Jung emphasizes an emphasis on rational analysis as well as physiological evidence. Relative to religion, the accepted norm that a "supernatural Being" is superstitious nonsense!" 'Most Everyone' believed and trusted 'Psychology' to be objective. What nobody realized is that the Materialism doctrine, without any public announcement and practically completely surreptitiously, piggy-backed on the scientific revolution. The French philosopher Rene Guenon argues that the materialism originated with Descartes. The materialist doctrine, besides its obsession on quantification and measurement, also, included an academic taboo against spirituality. What that translated to was a materialist doctrine which effectively transformed into Materialist Dogma which was, in effect a sentence of death for All Spirituality in "mainstream psychology" and also included marginalizing meaning (despite Aristotle's observation that "All men desire knowledge which is the roots of the "need for meaning advocated by Frankl, Jung, Baumeister, Geertz, Wong, and many existential and positive psychologists), as well as excluding collective consciousness of any sort as well as any reasonable social consciousness at all. It is important to understand that "materialism is Not science, it is a very narrow-minded perspective and philosophy which, in truth, is about as far from science as one could possibly get.
Spirituality and Spiritual Experiences
I have had a few transcendental spiritual-psychic experiences - dreams as well as perceptions - of which, 6 or 7 are documented. For the record, I should state that I am not "psychic" as people would ordinarily understand the word. My experiences are somewhat haphazard, though there is definite consistency in that all could most readily and easily be described as "perceptions of threats to the group," which would indicate the experiences originate in instinctual processes. The psychologists Daryl Bem and Dean Radin argue that many spiritual-psychic experiences stem from instinctual process.
I am far from alone. The existential psychologists-editors, Park and Paloutzian, in the Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, state "numerous survey studies in both the United States and Europe have demonstrated the normalcy of reports of religious experiences, including mystical experience (see Spilka, Hood, Hunsberger, & Gorsuch, 2003, pp. 307-312). Depending on the specific wording of the questions asked, anywhere from a third to a half of the populations affirm such experiences...While this correlational data does not provide evidence of that causes such reports, it does establish the normalcy [that is, people who have spiritual-psychic experiences, which covers a very diverse and wide variety of experiences do not immediately and automatically go off the deep end] of such reports and indicates social scientists have until recently ignored a common phenomenon." (p. 67) That is "spiritual experiences are OK" – which should have been the situation all along since the 'golden rule' in psychology is: I'm OK! You are OK! Even those really strange people [like me - and many. many, other people, who have spiritual experiences are OK!
Unconscious Processes: Carl Jung, Bargh, and Kihlstrom
It is important to understand that a major issue regarding spirituality is that spiritual processes appear to have a fairly strong unconscious bias. Besides recent research done by the psychologists Bargh and Kihlstrom, which demonstrate that there is a strong unconscious bias when it comes to perception, motivation, and processing, Carl Jung stated that "spirit" [spiritual processes] is an autonomous unconscious process. I should mention briefly that there is a synthesis-consensus of Jung, Frankl, William James, and Emile Durkheim that "spirit" or spiritual processes create meaning or "sense of reality." The religious scholar, Fraser Watts observes that in one study, of the people who positively reported experiences, 24% were atheists. That is something I can personally testify to. My 'major' very detailed, precognitive and transcendental spiritual-psychic experiences occurred back on October 18 1981, when I was an avowed atheist. That jibes with genetic research which has demonstrated that some traits of religiosity are inherited. Without question, after tens of thousands of years of spiritual and religious beliefs, the human unconscious, as Jung argues would be replete with spiritual processes archetypes, scripts, or narratives.
Clinical Psychologists and Glass Ceilings
Now the problem relative to this issue is, first, that clinical psychology as Morton Hall pointed out had a schism with mainstream psychology at the very beginning so clinical psychologists would not ordinarily have access to this research. The second problem, as I pointed out is that "mainstream psychology has a materialist bias" and thus pretty much sidelines, marginalizes, and at times outright excludes existential and positive psychology, Jungian psychology, and Frankl's logotherapy (all of whom are receptive to spiritual and spiritual experiences). The bottom line is that clinical psychologists do not have the facts and information that they really need to successfully treat people and provide therapy. I can testify, from 36 years of experience that the mainstream psychologists who I happened to encounter (and there is a wide variety of clinical psychologists) have treated me in a very dehumanizing and degrading way. Technically, and important point is that to my knowledge, not only mainstream psychologists do not have access to the studied referred to by Park and Paloutzian, but to the best of my knowledge Jungian psychologists and Frankl's logotherapists do not have access to those studies and knowledge either.
For the record, I sent the Maryland Department of Health an email (12-17-19), to several people, including Lorraine Smith the "Executive" (who actually sent me a letter expressing interest in research into spirituality at Governor Hogan's behest) about the recent review of research of spiritual experiences by Park and Paloutzian, and got no response whatsoever – not even a “Thank you, but,… No, thank you.” It makes no sense to me - at all - to exclude and ignore all the serious studies about spiritual experiences. All I am talking about are facts, evidence, and "science" - but some materialist psychologists are so afraid of the academic "superstitious stigma" attached to spirituality that they refuse to even touch it. From hard experience, and somewhat bitterly, I can tell you when it comes to spirituality, especially transcendental spiritual-psychic experiences, science and facts are only too often secondary to opinions and prejudices of only too many psychologists and especially psychiatrists! - Fact! There is an academic spirituality "glass ceiling" very similar to the glass ceiling at the workplace that women talk about.
Precognitive Dreams, Quantum Entanglement and Spirituality
To make a point - since I only too often run into "materialist psychologists" who can be very close minded and intolerant, I also sent the Department of Health a question regarding a couple of my documented precognitive dreams. I stated that I have had 4 or 5 precognitive dreams, some detailed, some clear, some not so clear - that have come "true" - of which at least two are documented. My question was this: "If when you have a dream, you are not psychotic, and when you reasonably interpret the dreams and so are not psychotic in interpreting the dream, then why do mainstream psychiatrists say when the dream comes true, you have mental illness. In my view, my brain is just doing what it is designed to do, and furthermore, - honest to God - it is NOT my fault that some of my dreams come true.
Just because someone has some preconceived ideas of what physical reality may or may not be in light of realities in physics such as quantum Entanglement, does not give them the right to tell me how to think. As Neil Bohr, the famous physicist concludes about quantum entanglement, "Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real!" Max Planck, a pioneer and founding father of quantum mechanics stated unequivocally, "As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter." It is amazing how many psychologists I meet who think they know more and are much much smarter than the Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Planck.
Link to Home Page of my website: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/
References:
Dr. Paul Wong:
Paul T. P. Wong is a Canadian clinical psychologist and professor. His research career has gone through four stages, with significant contributions in each stage: learning theory, social cognition, existential psychology, and positive psychology. He is most known for his integrative work on death acceptance,[2] meaning therapy,[3] and second wave positive psychology (PP 2.0).[4] He has been elected as a fellow for both the American Psychological Association and the Canadian Psychological Association.
Wong is the Founder and President of the International Network on Personal Meaning [5] and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy. With more than 300 publications in journals and book chapters, his major books are the two editions of The Human Quest for Meaning: A Handbook of Psychological Research and Clinical Applications (1998) and The Human Quest for Meaning: Theories, Research, and Applications (2012), as well as The Handbook of Multicultural Perspectives on Stress and Coping (2006).
Wong is currently Adjunct Professor at Saybrook University [6] and Professor Emeritus of Trent University [7] and Trinity Western University.[8] At the latter, he was the Founding Director of the Graduate Counselling Psychology Program. He also taught at the University of Texas at Austin, York University, and the Graduate Division of the University of Toronto. (Wikipedia)
Harold G., Koenig, MD
Duke University Medical School
Nationally known authority on spirituality, health and loss Harold G. Koenig, M.D., will lead “The Book of Life,” a unique all-day training conference to equip area faith leaders and medical providers in offering end-of-life care, scheduled for Tuesday, April 2, at the UTC University Center.
Originally for clergy and faith leaders, this year’s conference has been expanded to included health care providers and will provide continuing medical education for physicians.
“When faced with the end of life journey, individuals and their loved ones often feel anxiety and a great amount of uncertainty. The many clergy, doctors and spiritual advisors in our community walk alongside families through their end-of-life journey, and we are offering them an opportunity to receive training on how to address the difficulty of end of life with care, grace and wisdom. We need to understand that end-of-life care is not a failure of healthcare, but a part of healthcare,” said Dr. Greg Phelps, Chief Medical Officer at Hospice of Chattanooga, one of the event’s main sponsors.
Other sponsors include The Baylor School, Chattanooga Association for Clinical Pastoral Care, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society, Hospice of Chattanooga, CHI Memorial Hospital, Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging & Disability, Tennessee Hospice Organization/Honoring Choices, and University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Harold G. Koenig, M.D., keynote speaker, is the Director of Duke University’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health and has published extensively in the fields of religion, spirituality and health, with over 50 books in print or preparation. Dr. Koenig serves as Associate of Medicine at Duke University Medical School, where he is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and has given testimony before both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on the benefits of religion and spirituality on public health.
In addition to Dr. Koenig, spiritual and medical leaders will lead a number of sessions throughout the day, including Burnout and Professional Self Care, The Chaplain’s Role in End of Life Care, On Losing a Child, and Family Grief & Resilience.
Stefan Schindler
A graduate of Dickinson College, Stefan Schindler taught philosophy, psychology and religion for 40 years at institutions of higher learning, including The University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University, Berklee College of Music, The Boston Conservatory of Music, Dance and Theater, Salem State University, and the Boston and Brookline Centers for Adult Education. For six years, he also taught language and computer skills in a state-sponsored program for immigrants and the unemployed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Co-founder of The National Registry for Conscientious Objection, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, a recipient of The Boston Baha’i Peace Award, and a Trustee of The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey, Dr. Schindler received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Boston College in 1975; worked one summer in a nature preserve; lived in a Zen temple for a year; did the pilot’s voice in a claymation video of St. Exupery’s The Little Prince; and acted in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. He has also performed as a musical poet in Philadelphia, Boston and New York City with the world-beat jazz band The Psychic Pioneers.
Stefan wrote The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Awards for Howard Zinn and John Lennon, and co-wrote the Courage of Conscience Awards for Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Dalai Lama. He has guest-lectured on Buddhism at Boston University and on The Vietnam War at Brandeis University. He is now retired and living in Salem, Massachusetts.
Stefan is best known for his essays “The Tao of Teaching,” “A Brief History of Zen,” “The Transpersonal Revolution,” and his you tube lecture on “A Reawakening of Bicameral Mind.” He currently teaches courses on "Biblical Buddhism" at Salem State University’s Lifelong Learning Institute. His YouTube musical videos include Ox Herding Searching and Butterfly Dream Buffalo Thunder. His poetry music CD is Coyote Chris and Don Stefan. His books include The Tao of Socrates: Eastern Wisdom and The Birth of Western Philosophy; America’s Indochina Holocaust: The History and Global Matrix of The Vietnam War; Discoursing with The Gods: The Art and Practice of Tarot Divination; and Space is Grace. His newest book, Buddha’s Political Philosophy, is scheduled for publication by Political Animal Press in 2021.
He has published essays in the journals College Teaching, Process Studies, Lies of Our Times, and Socialism and Democracy. While in Philadelphia, he published op-ed essays in The Philadelphia Enquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News. Stefan is a frequent contributor to the website Engaging Peace. He also writes for the website Political Animal Magazine.