Gary Laderman What is going on beneath surface, you ask? I’ll try to be brief.
The Psychedelic Renaissance: In Drugs We Trust?
“It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way”: An Interview with André Henry
André Henry People love it when we’re snarky about white people and racism online. But I’m trying to talk about anti-racism, specifically about nonviolent struggle, the kind that King was talking about in his final days.
My Dad Died While I Was Teaching Death and Dying
Gary Laderman In addition to all these peculiar and profound circumstances, I also watched and assisted in my dad’s death while teaching “Death and Dying” in the spring of 2021, simultaneously professing about data and history and comparisons to students, while learning in the real world that I know nothing, that I am a child in a world of wonders and mystery, and misery.
How the Model of Money Laundering Can Help Us Understand Abuse within 3HO
Philip Deslippe If someone was sincere in their devotion, does it really matter if the object of that devotion was not exactly what it was supposed to be?
Manufacturing Consent: Creating Hierarchies in the Guru-Disciple Relationship
Manufacturing Consent: Creating Hierarchies in the Guru-Disciple Relationship Amanda Lucia Sexual abuse happens across the globe and in nearly every environment. Recognizing this, religion scholar Andrea Jain argues that focusing on a specific religious context can be distracting and detrimental to tackling what is a global and ubiquitous problem. She writes, “The appeal to the dangers of guru charisma and devotion as an explanation for sexual violence pulls our attention away from larger social structures and norms that cultivate a dominant global culture of sexual violence … and lends itself to an orientalist stereotype of South Asians, their religions, and […]
Introduction: Abuse in Yoga and Beyond: Cultural Logics and Pathways for the Future
Introduction: Abuse in Yoga and Beyond: Cultural Logics and Pathways for the Future Christopher Miller In recent years, abuse scandals have shaken the yoga world once again, overturning previously held conceptions of yoga gurus, their teachings, and the individuals and organizations that have enabled their abuse. Most importantly, these abuse scenarios – whether they have involved sexual assault, cruelty, financial exploitation, etc. – have left individuals and communities disoriented, deeply traumatized, and desperately searching for answers. As Sacred Matters editor Gary Laderman writes, “the sacred is not always what it seems, can be associated with just about anything, and remains […]
“I Got So High That I Saw Jesus” and the Ironies of Country Music Spirituality
Mark Hulsether Obviously, this is supposed to be slightly provocative and is not designed to be sung by an average church choir.
Persecution, Martyrdom, and Christian Identity: 7 Questions with Jason Bruner
Jason Bruner For Christian readers, especially those who are familiar with the literature on anti-Christian persecution, I would frame it this way: In whose suffering is Christ present, and why?
When Orientalist Fear Meets Post-Colonial Incongruity: The Veil Simplified through Stand-Up
Lamiae Aidi In this way, female stand-up comedians redefine the image of the veil, by offering other interpretations of the stereotype through a postcolonial humor of incongruity.
Dangerous Pedagogy: Takeaways from Taking Sacred Drugs
Gary Laderman Elaine Penagos Many of us looked forward to each class session and thought about it when we weren’t together synchronously, and there were, we think, even moments of collective effervescence that broke down the artificiality of virtual teaching, and that would have surely aroused Durkheim’s curiosity.