Reflection on Stacie’s hypothesis that American Christian beliefs about hierarchy and inequality in the home are negatively affecting the sex lives of evangelicals and others whose ideologies or theologies reject the basic equality of all partners in a sexual relationship. Also a discussion of why people fight at campsites and the conditions in which people can be genuine friends. This season, we're talking about nourishment, and this is a casual investigation into the nourishing role of positive, healthy and non-coercive sexuality.   Stuff We Mention Relationship quarrels during camping Hormones, menopause, and relationships Harriet Lerner, The Dance of Anger Jeff Mallinson, Sexy: The Quest for Erotic Virtue in Perplexing Times Politics and camping John Stuart Mill On Feminism 

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The Only Good Sex

Two outsiders’ assessment of initial inquiry into this ancient Indian esoteric tradition related to using food as medicine. We seek valuable wisdom from the tradition but also note the problems of ideological and religious dogmatism, the nutritional dangers of uncritical acceptance of authority, and the scientific evaluation of ancient Indian principles. We come from a Christian and Western background as non-specialists who are interested in the possibilities and possible pitfalls of the tradition.

Ayurveda and Food

The Tao births them. Then Te nurtures them. Stuff affects them. Life events complete them. There's not a single living thing that doesn't exalt the Tao and proclaim Te's glory. They exalt the Tao and proclaim Te's glory not through coercion, but spontaneously, because of who they are.

THE CYCLE OF LIFE (TAO TE CHING 51)

About a 1/4 of the world’s population has a religious restriction against pork. For other cultures, pork represents a sustainable way to find food independence, apart from empire. We discuss scholarly and intuitive hypotheses related to the reason why the Hebrew Bible and later rabbinic and Islamic traditions refrain from eating certain animals. We end with a discussion about the importance of integrating our lives in such a way that ethics, spirituality, and diet are aligned, whatever our values may be.

Hold The Bacon: Making Sense of Biblical Dietary Laws

We discuss some ways in which a macrobiotic diet-- which consists of consuming locally sourced, organic, sustainable produce commonly in the form of brown rice, fruit, vegetables, seeds, soy products, buckwheat noodles, beans, etc.--expounded for Westerners via George Ohsawa (1893-1966) & adapted in an allegedly criminal way by Italian food cult leader Mario Pianesi.

Macrobiotic Food Cults

Discussion of news stories reporting on allegations of sexual assault, misconduct, and mismanagement of a hyper sexualized culture at Concordia Preparatory School, near Baltimore.We laud the courage of the young women who have spoken out bravely about their experiences. How does this all demonstrate system justification theory? What lessons can concerned parents school administrators learn from this tragic situation, one that is all too common at schools around the country? CW: sexual assault

Allegations of Sexual Assault at Concordia Preparatory School

In the course of life and death, three in ten are cautious disciples of life. Three in ten are reckless disciples of death. Three in ten chase life but actually veer toward death. Why is this? By worrying too much about staying alive and consuming life’s treasures, they never truly live, yet death catches up with them. Still, I’ve heard of rare individuals who’ve mastered the art of living. They travel nimbly through the world. They eat local foods abroad. They visit vibrant cities in developing nations. Remarkably, these same adventurers often carry on without getting mugged or sick, or shaken down by border agents. How do they pull this off? They travel confidently and respectfully, unafraid of death, knowing that death can’t touch them, since there is no way to kill their true self.

How Death Can't Touch You (Tao Te Ching 50)

The Sage is not closed-minded but considers what ordinary folks have on their minds. I am good to those who are good. I am good to those who are not good. This is the goodness of Te. I hope in those who are hopeful. I hope in those who are hopeless. This is the hope of Te. The Sage is engaged with the world. She brings balance to the world by carefully uniting her heart with it. Ordinary folks, hearing her wisdom, turn their attention to her actions. So she sets a wise example for them, as if they were her own children. 

Growth Mindset (Tao Te Ching 49)

A discussion of the spirituality of art and whether we ought to pay attention to art created by narcissistic creeps. We discuss the differences between Dali; and Bosch, and between his possible nihilism and what we find wholesome about Taoist artistic depictions of nature. This discussion comes on the heels of our visit to a Dali exposition in Monterey, California.

The Art We Consume: Salvador Dalí, Perversion & Religion

Seek academic knowledge  and you can accumulate facts  day by day. Seek the wisdom of the Tao and you’ll release junk from your life, day by day.  Let go of more and more so you can surf the Tao. Surfing the Tao allows you to accomplish anything  without forcing everything. If you want to flourish in the world don’t try to control the world. Indeed, if you try to control the world you aren’t ready to flourish in it.

Release Junk from Your Life (Tao Te Ching 48)

We introduce our theme which is about the spirituality, ethics, religious guilt, and joys of food and what we take into our bodies. We discuss our almost vegan diet experiment, with the definite exception of oysters. We preview some future topics which will include food cults, fasting, dietary regulations in religious texts, booze, and pharmaceuticals. This season will be about untangling healthy practices and tastes from the ideologies that trick us into eating slop figuratively and literally. 

Nourishment and Food Cults: An Introduction to Season 4

The last in our 12-part series takes us to the question of whether we can heal the world. If we can help heal the world—even as we can’t control it or remake it according to our own clever designs—then how is this to be accomplished by a Taosurfer? Turns out part of the plan of action for the Tao Te Ching is a form of anarchism. We’ll explain a bit about what that misunderstood meant for the ancient Chinese context.

Healing the World (How to Surf the Tao Lesson 12)

We sit down with filmmaker Joshua Salzberg and Rev. Matthew González of Lutherans for Racial Justice to talk about racism and the need for diversity and reconciliation in America in general and in the Lutheran world in particular. How ought Christians engage civic life, cultivate hospitality and work toward healing in our churches and the world at large. Salzberg is a Lutheran layperson who is film editor and screenwriter in LA and Salzberg is pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx.

Racial Justice in Lutheranland

You can know the world  without walking out your door.  You can glimpse the celestial Tao  without looking out your window. The further you run from yourself the less you will know. So the Sage gains insight  without needing to travel abroad,  knows what’s up  before the official story gets published, and wins without playing games.

You May Be Closer Than You Think (Tao Te Ching 47)

Peace, joy, happiness & whether we’ve been so focused on bad guys in religious circles that we might be only hostile to institutional religion. After a brief discussion of a student question, we focus (starting min 40) on a poignant email exchange with Tim, who was kind enough to let us reply to his emails verbally, so we could give it the attention it deserves. His main question: aren't we taking the heart out of folks by our incessant negativity about church abusiveness?

OUR HEARTS TO YOURS: LISTENER FEEDBACK

Lessons in outfoxing religious wolves. We seek to reform religious education so everyone can be spiritually bold, free of manipulation and filled with deep peace. After 20+ years of professional work in religious education and educational nonprofits, hosts Jeff Mallinson (D.Phil. Oxford, philosophy and religion professor, author and speaker) and Stacie Mallinson (former nonprofit development professional, and now certified yoga instructor) realized that how we do religious education leads to a susceptibility to abusive behaviors. This is not a show that will focus on abuse, but rather the ways in which rethinking religious education and involvement with churches, sects, and gurus requires training in critical thinking and personal empowerment.

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Protect Your Noggin

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