The Galli Report: 10.16.20

Finding God with drugs, updating 1619, the happy virtue, a "new" political party.

Finding God with Drugs
“What If a Pill Can Change Your Politics or Religious Beliefs?” asks a question that seems to been answered.  And the answer is yes.  Naturally I’m most interested in the religious dimension. I’ve read a few accounts of people who have had extraordinary mystical experiences after ingesting psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in “magic mushrooms.”  The experiences mirror many that one finds in classic Christian mysticism:

Although its precise therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear, clinically relevant doses of psilocybin can induce powerful mystical experiences more commonly associated with extended periods of fasting, prayer or meditation. Arguably, then, it is unsurprising that it can generate long-lasting changes in patients: studies report increased prosociality and aesthetic appreciation, plus robust shifts in personality, values and attitudes to life, even leading some atheists to find God. What’s more, these experiences appear to be a feature, rather than a bug, of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, with the intensity of the mystical experience correlating with the extent of clinical benefit.

One of the studies linked above notes,

Most participants reported vivid memories of the encounter experience, which frequently involved communication with something having the attributes of being conscious, benevolent, intelligent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing.

For Christians who repudiate all mysticism, the response is simple: these are false experiences. As for me, I’m skeptical of their skepticism, because the experiences seem to point to the God we Christians worship. So I’m open to hearing more.

If true, won’t people just skip prayer and fasting and simply ingest psilocybin to meet God? Likely.  But as the mystics note, these warm, intimate, benevolent experiences are but one dimension of knowing God intimately.  More importantly, they note, to know God means to share in Christ’s sufferings, which includes, paradoxically enough, experiencing the absence of God for long periods: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  The most recent example of this phenomenon was Mother Teresa.

So it may be that God has given us a substance that can open up normally closed receptors within us to allow us to experience his benevolence. But that is but one part—and if the mystics are to be believed, only a small part--of a full-orbed relationship with God.

Updates on the 1619 Project
There have been not a few searing critiques of the now infamous 1619 Project at The New York Times.  But when a NYT columnist takes issue with this radical revision of history, one pays more attention.  In fact, the editors of the project have been nuancing their more radical assertions. Unfortunately, those changes have been on the sly, giving the impression that they’ve been careful scholars all along.  Stevens lays out the problems, especially from the perspective of journalism.

The Happy Virtue
If you think pursing a life of virtue is onerous, you may want to read “The Forgotten Virtue of Eutrapelia”:

Eutrapelia is not the name of an early Christian martyr or a Roman patrician, although it sounds like it could be! It easily goes unnoticed in the long, solemn list of virtues. Yet this virtue’s nobility is ancient and illustrious.

Its name comes from the Greek, and Aristotle speaks of it as “wittiness” or the “right turn of phrase” or “deeds to achieve a good.” Related to playfulness and good-natured fun, it’s the simple joy that enlivens company and warms the heart. It also refers to the well-earned relaxation after a prolonged effort and the fulfillment of a weighty duty. Eutrapelia is honorable and cheerful and leads us into her dance.

The Kingdom Independent Party
There’s a fine line when it comes to politics, which is why it can be confusing. Most journalists who have contacted me since the infamous CT editorial assume I am a political animal.  A recent request from an overseas outlet asked me to write an oped on why Christians should vote for Joe Biden--as if my comments about Trump’s character have really been about getting a Democrat elected.  I politely declined.

My comments on Trump’s character have been about how destructive bad character is for a nation. What people do with that information—convince Trump to change his ways, pray for him, vote of Biden, vote for a third-party candidate, not vote—is not my concern.  When a leader does something that I believe is fundamentally and clearly immoral, I write about that. Back in the day, I wrote an editorial castigating President Obama for lowering the number of permitted refugees in the U.S. (Little did I realize how bad things could get under the current administration!). But who to vote for—I leave that to others.

The point is that Christians should be active in the public square, bringing their unique insights to bear—usually of a theological or moral nature--while refusing to become partisan.  The latter point is made in this energetic video by Jonathan Evans (son of Tony Evans), an exhortation in the classic style of African American homiletics, on why Christians should transcend partisan politics.

Grace and peace,

Mark Galli
markgalli.com