Pacific Highlander

Mythology, Spirituality and Star Wars

An article I’m publishing this month reviewing David Tacey’s appearance at a recent conference, and anticipating the release of Star Wars III tomorrow. I’d be interested in your comments. Ask me if you’d like references for the George Lucas interview or David Tacey material.

—————————————————————–

Ask me about myths and I’d probably be thinking of Greek or Roman mythology. Perhaps some of the myths of the Maori and Aboriginal cultures. Perhaps some of the creation stories from ethnic groups around the world. On another level I might be thinking about some of the myths surrounding AIDS. And then there’d Myth busters - a Discovery Channel television program dedicated to testing urban legends.

So when David Tacey, writer on Australian spirituality, says that we need to move towards a non-mythological faith, I’m wondering what he’s talking about.

David Tacey explains.

“The central myths and stories of the Christian religion, the Virgin Birth, the physical resurrection, the second coming, the idea of God as loving father, will have to be treated not as external objects and literal events, but as internal events in our own souls. The emphasis has to shift from, Did they happen, to the new question, What do they mean?

Tacey warns Christians that they face two dangers at opposite ends of a spectrum. From the conservative end, we face the danger of reactionary fundamentalism, which is obsessed with literal truth. From the liberal end of the spectrum we face the danger of incomplete enlightenment in which empty or cynical reason slips into virtual atheism.

Tacey is an advocate for what he calls symbolic or mystical faith that focuses on an internal experience, equipping each of us to embark on our spiritual journey. Faith for Tacey means connection with God, no matter how unknowable God appears to our minds. He says we need a new understanding of transcendence, one that is not couched in mythological language, or dependent on archaic supernatural ideas.

As I sit with this approach, I’m excited, and disturbed.

I’m excited about a spirituality that deepens our engagement with God and our environment. It is time to explore alternatives to a propositional approach to faith that ties up heaven-bound salvation with assent to a set of doctrines and events. Yes we need experiences of faith marked by humility, quiet hope, calm and compassion. We do need fresh language that expresses something of our grounded, earthy God-connected spirituality.

At the same time, I am disturbed by a call to strip our faith clean from mythology. I am not keen to pass on a sterile scientific form of spirituality that leaves us in poverty, hungering for the provisions of tradition, imagery, poetry and shared practice.

In my research on generational change I’ve noticed that many movements started by Baby Boomers have focused on pragmatism. Does it work? There’s been a reaction against symbolic ritual. But movements initiated by Xers and Millennials have thrived on the power of story and image. Is it wonderful.

George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars series, is probably the one most responsible for the rediscovery of imagination in the post-Boomer generations. In an interview in 1999, published in TIME, George said:

“I put the Force into the movie in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people - more a belief in God than a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery. Not having enough interest in the mysteries of life to ask the question, Is there a God or is there not a God? - that is for me the worst thing that can happen. I think you should have an opinion about that. Or you should be saying, “I’m looking. I’m very curious about this, and I am going to continue to look until I can find an answer, and if I can’t find an answer, then I’ll die trying.” I think it’s important to have a belief system and to have faith.”

George Lucas carefully crafted the stories of Anakin/Darth Vader, Luke and Leia, to provide us with a common language to explore corruption and redemption. The third episode of Star Wars, in the cinemas at the moment, helps us face the staggering impact of evil choices. The fourth to sixth episodes call us to the journey of overcoming evil with the choice to love, trusting in the mystical power that is beyond us.

The popularity of science fiction and fantasy has led people to become less focused on the ”Could that happen” question, and more interested in ”What might it mean for me and for my word”.

The other change I’ve seen in emerging generations is the move away from individualist introspection toward a shared spirituality. Fewer people are even thinking about heaven or hell, let alone whether they are going there when they die. Younger people are now wondering about how they relate to their family, their tribe or peer group, to their environment. In that context spiritual journey starts to take on meaning.

We do need alternatives to rigid ‘must believe this’ conservatism and cynical ‘cannot believe this’ progressivism. But as we work out those alternatives, let’s remember the power of myth to spark the imagination, to give us stories to share and insights into the way we live together.

Tags: Culture, David Tacey, Movies, Spirituality, Star Wars

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

David Tacey on Australian Spirituality

This last weekend I attended a Uniting Church conference featuring David Tacey in a forum on spirituality and the future of religion in Australia, held at Indooroopilly Uniting Church in Brisbane.

David Tacey is not to be confused with David Tracey, Chicago theologian. This David is Associate Professor and Reader of Arts and Critical Enquiry at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

David reminded me a bit of Zonker Harris from Doonesbury comic strip, as shown on the right.

Australia’s changing spiritual and religious landscape

The Friday night session with David included an hour-long lecture on spirituality. He helped us look at spirituality as both transcendent and immanent, including both religious and secular forms. We looked at spirituality as a journey, a life project and a ‘work in progress’. I must admit I missed part of the talk as I was over in Indooroopilly KMart looking for name tag holders to cope with the influx of people registering on the night. KMart didn’t have any! Anyway, I came back to hear David talking about the need to find alternatives to literalistic fundamentalism on the one hand and atheistic progressivism on the other. We were challenged to rediscover the power of myths without becoming captivated by the need to develop rigid belief patterns around them.

The lecture was followed by a very helpful dialogue with a panel of four respondents, Michelle Cook, David Bosch, Ann Cross and Rob Bos.

Teaching and Learning the Art of Spirituality,
or Doing Religion in a Non-Religious World

David gave us some insights from the course on spirituality he’s been running at La Trobe University. David began with quotes from Douglas Coupland, with particular reference to his book, Life After God. What happens when a whole generation of people are raised without any reference to spirituality? It’s like a beach ball held under the water. It must rise again. One of the most helpful parts of this presentation was the constant reference to the developing spirituality of students. I appreciated the reference to Derrida’s later material in which he engages with religion. “Religion is what succeeds in returning”.

We broke up into small groups. Somehow I ended up having morning tea with David. We got into talking about the impact of Star Wars on the mythology and spirituality of emerging generations. I’ll put something on that in a separate post, with reference to the connection between George Lucas and Joseph Campbell. Over lunch I asked David about the connection with David Tracey. He mentioned presenting a lecture in the United States to a packed auditorium only to discover that people thought they were going to hear the more well known Tracey.

Western Religion and Interiority: Finding Spiritual Resources

The session after lunch must be the hardest to stay awake through. I know one conference organiser who bans meat from the lunch menu in an effort to keep people from dozing off. Anyhow, whether asleep or awake, we had an opportunity to engage with the inner human. David’s connection with Carl Jung became evident as we explored the connection between spirituality and the psyche. The Evangelical tradition has long been suspicious of anything that has its source from within rather than from an objective shared resource. We were reminded that religion and spirituality can form a valuable partnership.

Questions

Once again, the most energising part of the afternoon was the dialogue in small groups and in the plenary session after. At one point someone asked how we go about developing ’safe spaces’ for engagement with the sacred. Spaces safe from the extremes of fundamentalism. I think there’s a lot to be said for developing intentional, perhaps time limited, faith communities that find neutral places to meet with others from the community. It’s the Third Place that Ray Oldenburg writes about - not the home, nor the workplace but the public space of cafe or bar where regular conversation is encouraged.

One of the fascinating questions of the day was that of socioeconomic background. We were hearing the stories of postmodernist university students. What about young adults who had no intention of engaging with university study? Was there a spirituality for them? How would it be expressed? How do we help a spirituality develop in their context? I appreciated this question and suspect we could have spent more time engaging with the issues it raised. Spirituality does not need to be an academic exercise. Indeed we too often assume that spirituality is cerebral or contemplative. What about spiritualities that engage with action and camaraderie.

I enjoyed David’s honesty and willingness to humbly think aloud. He showed a willingness to suspend judgment on the spiritual explorations of others, including people who are entering from a conventional perspective.

Books by David Tacey

We had David Tacey’s books on sale. Edge of the Sacred: Transformation in Australia, published in 1995. Re-Enchantment: The New Australian Spirituality, 2000. And The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality, 2003. All published by Harper Collins Australia. The most recent is more accessible to the overseas market. We’re treated to a healthy mixture of autobiographical insight and engagement with worldwide scholarship applied to Australian settings. I’d be interested in anyone’s comments, whether in response to the books or to the conference.

Tags: Australia, David Tacey, Internet, Reading, Spirituality, Theology, Uniting Church

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »