Merton on Racism—Part 4

 One of America's most egregious sins in Thomas Merton's view was its long history of racism—which he saw had become so embedded that the country's institutions were permeated with it and nothing short of a fundamental transformation could rectify it. He, like Dr. King, saw the interweaving between racism, poverty, and violence. Together, these three scourges had created a widespread and deep illness in US society.

He wrote that the slave trade had provided an enormous pool of free labor that had largely built America's prosperity—especially in the South. Despite its pride in the Declaration of Independence and its constitution, the US has shown little interest in the rights and freedoms of the darker races. He described America's top priority as freedom of business, which places profits above people's welfare. He claimed that white America began to take an interest in the Civil Rights movement only after its business interests began to suffer.

He noted that America was not alone in its exploitation of dark people, as European dominance—based on its technological prowess—had long viewed them as inferior. This belief drove Europe to exploit Africa—both its people (through slavery) and its natural resources. Due to slavery, the US imported millions of Africans, but did not regard them as a part of the country. According to Merton, Blacks had been given no proper place in America.

Back in the 1960s, when civil rights demonstrations occurred mostly in the South, Merton noted that northern racism was also egregious. He wrote, “Northern liberals might admire the Black dignity at a distance, but they still did not want all that nobility right next door: it might affect property values.” And at another point: “The so-called 'white backlash' manifests a change from tolerant indifference to bitter hatred on the part of some northern whites.” His statements were soon validated less than a decade later, when school busing in northern cities generated a massive “white backlash.”

Just as Dr. King had written in his renowned “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”, Merton realized that white liberals in America had played a major role in perpetuating racism, largely because they did not understand the motives and feelings of Blacks, and they often used their own advantageous positions to co-opt the movement; when they sometimes used their power to control and limit the struggle that Blacks were engaged in. He wrote that racism could not be reduced—let alone eliminated—by laws, but that societal attitudes must fundamentally transform. It must be a bottom-up, not a top-down revolution.

Yes, there are many people who like to point to recent improvements in the law, but Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality in the 21^st century testify to the minimal effects of our social justice statutes. The laws are there… they just do not get enforced.

Merton on the Media—Part 3

I wrote in the first blog of this series that Merton, after a couple of decades of deep devotion to the eremetic life at Gethsemani Abbey, increasingly became interested in world events. In order to inform himself and to understand what was happening in society, he became an avid reader of the news. He also developed an extremely busy correspondence with philosophers, religious figures, and scholars all over the world.

In the 1960s there was no internet that could be surfed to follow current events, and television was certainly not an authorized source of information in a monastery. Therefore, Merton read several daily newspapers and received numerous other periodicals and books in the mail. I am amazed at the volume of reading that he managed to do, while still participating in the monastic life. That said, as his reputation grew, he was increasingly relieved of daily monastery tasks, to allow him time to research and write.

Merton became very critical of America's mass media. He repeatedly described how poorly it informed people of current events, and that it often spread the propaganda of the country's rich and powerful. The media had become part of the corporate world and often served as the mouthpiece of corporate America. He described how the media diverted readers' attention with trivial pursuits and infatuation with celebrity affairs.

He wrote that “nine tenths of the news, as printed in the papers, is pseudo-news, manufactured events. Some days ten tenths.” He accused the media of being guilty of keeping violence, cruelty, and sadism ever present in society. He felt that this hyped-up information directly contributed to the public's tendency toward polarization and hatred.

Merton was especially troubled by America's violent culture. He had become an eloquent voice for the power of nonviolence, after becoming deeply devoted to Jesus' messages in the Sermon on the Mount. He also was inspired by Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Henry David Thoreau. He strongly supported the Civil Rights Movement that was unfolding at the time, and honored Martin Luther King, who also was strongly influenced by Gandhi. Both King and Merton vehemently opposed the Vietnam War—for which the media were complaisant, and they both became the target of hatred for doing so.

He wrote that, for most Americans the daily ritual of reading the newspaper was a form of “trance, in which one scans columns of newsprint, creates a peculiar form of generalized pseudo-attention to a pseudo-reality.” He went on to write “My own experience has been that renunciation of this self-hypnosis, of this participation in the unquiet universal trance, is no sacrifice to reality at all.”

I find it fascinating that Merton used the term “pseudo-reality” to describe the 1960s newspapers' content. I wonder what he would say about today's TV news, social media's outlandish postings, and fake news hype. I'm sure he would have something caustic to write about reality TV—quite likely dubbing it “pseudo-reality TV.”

Sunny Post

We have a chipmunk who hangs around on a concrete block near the bird feeder, waiting for careless birds to drop him a seed or two. Click to enlarge.

 

Merton on Society’s Delusions—Part 2

I will begin my overview of Thomas Merton's critiques of American society by offering several examples of what I refer to as society's delusions, which he showed had led—and still do—to many harmful behaviors. He did not denounce Americans themselves or their actions, but instead described the misguided manner of their thinking that led to their destructive conduct.

In doing so, Merton was following a time-honored tradition of Catholic monastics who, for some 2,000 years, had rejected society's violent and immoral ways, to live a contemplative life of seclusion. Retreating to isolated settings, they led a simple existence of devotion. As I wrote in the previous post, Merton followed this way of life for a couple of decades before he began his commentaries on society—which gave him the spiritual grounding to be as perceptive as he was.

A social problem that he often wrote about was America's acquisitive culture, which is in direct opposition to the austere life that a monk opts for. He wrote that advertisements are a kind of seduction that lures us into “psychological passivity and dependence.” He wrote that we are drawn into the “vapid grins on the billboards and the moron beatitudes in the magazines which assure us that we are all in bliss right now.” Pretty strong words, Tom!

Linking commercialism with Americans' practice of religion, he saw that we have “turned God, peace, happiness, salvation and all that man desires into products to be marketed in a speciously attractive package deal.” Such a God becomes “completely unreal—a mere convenience, serving man's purposes, a social commodity, a cosmic tranquilizer to be packaged and marketed along with any other product.”

He saw that this consumerist culture contributes to people's thinking becoming shallow and dull. Television dumbs us down and encourages our brains to fall asleep. We seek distraction and entertainment. He wrote, “A society whose whole idea is to eliminate suffering and bring all its members the greatest amount of pleasure is doomed to be destroyed.” Are these not the words of biblical prophets?

Merton wrote about how groupthink and peer pressure lead to masses of citizens swallowing the propaganda being propagated by the elite. He saw that we've become brainwashed and trained to go along with the crowd. He wrote, “There is no more tyrannical dictator than convention, fashion, and prejudice.” And, “The immature conscience is not its own master. It is more the delegate of the conscience of another person, or of a group, or of a party, or of a social class, or of a nation, or of a race.” That seems to pretty well describe our inability to think for ourselves, or to be courageous enough to act upon our own conscience; so we deaden it.

Merton the prophet was describing a social illness that he saw, over 60 years ago. It seems to me that we still flounder under pretty much the same delusions. Consumerism, compliant religious practices, dull mindedness, and groupthink are very active today. Have we not progressed... maybe even regressed?

A Contemplative’s Critique—Part 1

Thomas Merton has long been an inspiration for me. He was a Trappist monk who resided at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky in the 1940s-60s. He was a prolific writer and a prophetic voice. One of the many areas in which Merton had a major influence on me was his critiques of American society.

Some people may find it strange that a cloistered monk could offer a knowledgeable appraisal of secular life. Isn't a monk one who is supposed to lead a reclusive life—insulated from the mainstream human world? Shouldn't a contemplative focus on the religious life, rather than mundane existence? And how could someone so removed from society have anything more to offer than activists out there in the world—who were experiencing the quotidian events directly?

Over two decades ago I sojourned for a month—living as a monk—in a Trappist monastery, where I spent many hours exploring Merton's world and writings. My guide monk had in fact been Merton's personal assistant, some 30 years before—so he also became a valuable resource during my studies. I came to understand that Merton had once been a layman who was deeply engaged in society, for several years before he entered the monastery. In fact, a large part of his motivation for becoming a monk was his distress over the direction that humanity was headed in the 1930s.

Upon entering the monastic life, Merton spent many years as a mendicant devoted solely to developing his spiritual being. Well into this quest he had a life-altering revelation one day that made him realize that he was not at all disconnected from humanity, but felt a profound bond with all people and all of Nature. He discovered a deep compassion for the human condition that eliminated any illusion of separation he previously had.

His attention increasingly turned toward society and away from his previous theological writings. Despite being a member of an austere, cloistered, and silent community, he became intensely interested in world affairs. His previous writings had put him in correspondence with several acute observers of civilization around the world, and together they explored social issues. He was an avid reader and soaked up an abundance of information.

I believe that a key factor that helped Merton critique society with deep insight was the very fact that he could maintain objectivity and not get emotionally swept up in worldly events. This was the middle 1960s—an extremely turbulent time in the US, when emotions flared. Many of those actively engaged in the turmoil at the time had difficulty maintaining an equilibrium, as they became deeply involved in the happenings. Some of them spontaneously reacted with passionate intensity. In contrast, Merton was deeply grounded in his faith and could serenely put his finger on the reality of social troubles. He wrote with clarity and insight, as he appraised and critiqued society's behaviors from his emotional distance.

In the next four posts I will describe a few of Merton's comments on US society—the ones that most impacted me. He was blunt and even scathing in some of his descriptions. He saw many problematic and even menacing aspects of human behavior; that we were headed in a dangerous direction which called for a fundamental transformation of society. Unfortunately, his warnings were disregarded, causing our social conditions to degrade even more. I hope this will become evident, as I recount some of his 60-year-old but still relevant critiques.

 

Mums the Word

A fall expression of beauty from the mum patch. Click to enlarge.

 

Brimful Bill

 How many of us have had our parents exhort us not to talk when our mouth is full? Not only is such behavior bad manners, but our speech can become quite unintelligible, as food gets in the way of our tongue and lips, as they try to perform their nimble job of shaping sounds. Our speech and song is produced by the vibrating vocal cords in our larynx, which is then modified and shaped by muscles in our throat, nasal passages, tongue, and lips. It is a complex process that allows us to create a very wide variety of utterances. It gives rise to many kinds of sounds.

Several years ago I watched a goldfinch at the bird feeder, filling its beak with seeds, crunching the hulls off, as it shifted the particles around inside its beak, with its dexterous tongue. As I was watching, I heard a goldfinch song and looked around to see if another one was nearby, but the one at the feeder was the solitary goldfinch in the area. It dawned on me that this bird was singing at the same time that its bill was full. It seemed as if it had violated the etiquette of not singing with a stuffed bill; yet its song—unlike what emanates from a human's full mouth—was clear and clean. What was going on?

A visit to my bird books soon gave me the answer. A bird's song is created in its syrinx (analogous to our larynx), which is situated well down its throat, at the entrance of its two windpipes (tracheae). At the junction of each side of the syrinx and its adjacent trachea are a set of tiny, complex muscles. Vibration of thin membranes (like our vocal cords) creates sounds that are then manipulated and altered by these muscles. A bird's throat and mouth muscles play no role in its song—hence they can independently do their feeding job, without interfering in their singing.

This song mechanism is quite amazing. Virtually all of the air exhaled through a bird's syrinx is used for singing. In contrast, we humans use only about 2% of our lung air in vocalizing—which is why these little critters can sing so fully and loudly. Furthermore, a bird can literally sing a duet with itself, as air exhaled from each windpipe flows across the muscles on each side of its syrinx. The complex song of a thrush is an example of this self-duet. Two songs at once! In fact, a bird is even able to vocalize through one side of its syrinx as it breathes through the other. That beats the feat of a human ventriloquist!

All mammals are outfitted with a larynx, rather than a bird's intricate syrinx. I guess that means all mammal mommies urge their children not to speak with a full mouth? What other kinds of lessons of etiquette do bird mommies teach, when their kid's bill can be full to the brim and still sing out clearly and beautifully?

Prophetic Perception

There is a common belief that a prophet is someone who predicts the future—almost like an astrologer, who reads certain omens or positions of celestial bodies and forecasts forthcoming events. This is a misperception of the role of prophets that societies have held over the eons.

Prophets do not predict future events—rather, they speak the truth out about current events, in order to wake up the populace about what is unfolding in society. Thus, the dictionary defines a prophet as someone who is inspired to speak up about the reality of current happenings. While most people simply ride along with the popular trends, without realizing the truth of ongoing matters, a prophet digs deeper and is able to comprehend the reality of it all.

Other definitions of a prophet describe a person who speaks in a visionary way about events. A prophet has a clarity of what is unfolding, so he/she speaks out, trying to express that vision. Since most people in a society are operating under the delusion that circumstances are normal or acceptable, they do not welcome the challenging testimony of a prophet, since it can prick their conscience and cast doubt on their behavior. Worse, those in power—who often benefit from, or have even caused society's dysfunction—especially are antagonistic toward prophets, because their misdeeds are being revealed.

A prophet, being more tuned into reality—is, in fact, way out ahead of most people. The root of the word prophet is from Greek prophetes, which means “spokesman” or “speaker.” Some synonyms of prophet are diviner, oracle; or even in a negative sense, a doomsayer or pessimist. Again, these negative connotations have come about, because prophets typically point out society's wrongdoings. In contrast, there is a plethora of ecstatic and voices happily shouting out society's good accomplishments—no need for a prophet there.

The study of history can help us understand the roots of current events. We can “connect the dots” of past events and draw a causal line to what's going on today. I think that's why many historians know that, if we fail to study history and learn from past mistakes, we seem doomed to repeat them.

I believe that this connection between past events and today's events is why prophets are often considered to prognosticate the future. Prophets speak the truth about current events—a truth most people are unwilling and unable to hear. Then later, as things happen—inevitably following from what went before—some people remember that the prophet once spoke out about this problem. It seems to them as though the prophet had predicted the mess—when he/she was simply trying to wake them up. As it is said, hindsight is 20/20 vision.

The Agony of Acedia

Some 1700 years ago a Christian monk in the Middle East, named Evagrius Ponticus, knew very well the mental suffering that a contemplative faces, when trying to simplify their life and devote their attention to prayer and devotion. Such a lifestyle is largely devoid of numerous distractions that fill the daily existence of a layperson. During those solitary quiet hours when a monk is trying to concentrate on the sacred, the mind too often becomes bedeviled with profane thoughts that lead one off into pernicious mental states.

Evagrius called those thoughts evil, because they obstruct one's spiritual progress, and even cause one to sink into depression. It can seem as if there is no escape, and can cause one to question the monastic path they have been following... even regret their choice to become a contemplative.

Evagrius assembled a list of “eight evil thoughts” that can make the existence of a monk agonizing. They are (1) gluttony, (2) impurity (fornication), (3) avarice (greed), (4) sadness (envy), (5) wrath, (6) acedia (indifference), (7) vainglory (boasting), and (8) pride (arrogance). When these thoughts interfere with prayer and contemplation, they can derail one's spiritual advancement—which is the whole purpose of the monastic life.

Of this list of intrusive and wicked thoughts, Evagrius the monk considered the one that posed the greatest threat was number 6, acedia. The dictionary defines it as “spiritual or mental sloth; apathy.” The root of acedia is the Greek word akedia, which translates as “listlessness,” or “without care.” Acedia bedevils a contemplative; it comes unbidden—one cannot stop its intrusiveness. It's like telling a person not to think about a pink elephant and then chuckling, because you know they can't stop that silly vision from invading their mind.

It is interesting that Evagrius' list of eight evil thoughts became widely accepted in the fourth century monastic community, to the point that Pope Gregory in the sixth century adopted the list, but changed them from “eight evil thoughts” into “seven deadly sins.” They morphed from thoughts to acts—from mental states to deeds. Even more fascinating is that the pope dropped Evagrius' most bedeviling thought: acedia—the one he felt was the major mental demon. I guess that says something about the priorities of the Roman Church.

Let's take a closer look at that mental state called acedia. It's a rather nebulous concept that covers a lot of ground, and encompasses other thoughts such as boredom, torpor, despair, melancholy, ennui, sorrow, and even frantic activity. Evagrius called it the “noonday demon,” because it intrudes at the most vulnerable time of day—causing a monk to despise his duties, destroy his concentration, drag him off into daydreams, and to doubt everything that the monastic life stands for. It makes it seem as though “the sun barely moves, if at all, and that the day is 50 hours long.” It can instill “in the heart of a monk a hatred... for his very life.”

Acedia torments the contemplative precisely because they live the quiet life, and are mindful enough to detect its intrusion when it first pops into mind. It is less of a threat to lay people, because they often fill their lives with distractions that prevent their minds from even noticing it. 

So what can a monk do, to get past the doldrums of acedia? They can't escape into a TV comedy or the corner bar, as a layperson might do. Evagrius' recommendation was to bite the bullet and face it. Go into your cell and deal with it. Face the devil down. That is a frightening prescriptioln, because it is in meditation that acedia throws its worst menace at you. It's like advising one who suffers from arachnophobia to pick up a spider and kiss it. It requires great courage. Monks had, however, the confidence that they were not facing the demon on their own—God would be with them. (Or could their agony sometimes be strong enough that they even doubted God?)

Monastics are not the only people who are bedeviled by acedia. It hits secular people as well. Kathleen Norris wrote a book in 2008, titled Acedia and Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life. She understood the dilemma faced by monks, but also described how widespread acedia can be in society.

It hits lay people differently, however, because they generally are not nearly as mindful and paying attention to their mental states. They are more likely to feel bored, or hopeless; or engage in frantic activity, as a way of attempting to escape their acedia feelings. People in society can come to feel just as bedeviled and lost as a monk, not because they are trying to meditate, but because they have a meaningless job and are leading a shallow life. Lay people, however, are in a position wherein they can find many more distractions than are available to a monk.

Norris writes that people in society who experience acedia often think they are depressed, but there's a key difference for them. Depression usually arises from an external source, that can be identified—and in society one can deal with it through medication and counseling. (It should be noted that modern monks also have access to these treatments.) Acedia—in contrast—rises from within. Thus it's a state of mind best dealt with by spiritual practice. Depression causes one to anguish over one’s glum situation. Acedia causes one to become reduced to a state of indifference—which is a greater evil.

So we all may find ourselves at times suffering from the agony of acedia—monastic or worldly. As with most mental afflictions, trying to run from it is only a temporary effort...  acedia will catch up eventually. I think the best action is to follow Evagrius' recommendation: go within and face the demon. Yes, that takes courage. It can help to realize that acedia is a mental state—it's not a material demon coming after you.