“Projecting onto another tradition what you wish your own world had”. I see this so much in eg communities that work with Tibetan Buddhist lineages. Which offer profound and effective practices. People will be moved by texts, experience realistic visualizations. Yet not engage with the very real geopolitical challenges now facing America. Or not examine the underlying metaphysical assumptions, where emptiness easily slides into bypassing
The third way is difficult. Glad you are encouraging it.
Hi Meg, Thanks for this comment. Agreed: the third was IS difficult. I often fail at it. But I find it helpful to at least name what I'm working towards. Thanks for sharing these examples!
I am 69-grew up in a central Illinois in a Methodist church. Our family attended Sunday school VBS, parents taught and served in numerous church ministries over their 50 years. But….. every summer we would pack up a used pop-up trailer and head out of town- sometimes up to a month ( both parents teachers- so summer!) They took us to different churches all over the US- from visiting a Mormon church in Utah, Ebenezer Baptist, Mennonite in WI, SBC in Texas, large Catholic cathedrals in major cities. Numerous discussions in the car about experiences, theology, practices, dress codes , etc. But never judgment. I am so grateful to them for their curiosity and willingness to be uncomfortable at times They tried to help us understand there was a “reason”, even if they didn’t agree with it, behind faith practices.
I'm at a point in life where I'm disengaging from a lot of things to make space for myself. I actually came to your Substack newsletter today to unsubscribe.
I started reading, as I'm fascinated by snake handlers. Fun side story - a month before I was to start my first professional job out of my master's program, a woman with the same name died of snake handling a few hours from where I'd be starting work.
And I kept reading, and you caught me again. I'd never heard of Covington or his book. But your interpretation, and then, the Sex in Three class and students you describe. The concept of the third way is so well presented.
Thank-you! I will be seeing you in my inbox for a while still!!
Ha, glad I've tempted you to stay around. And definitely read Covington's book. 95% is jus spectacular (and now you will be ready for the Punkin Brown story when it comes).
''generous attention'' is a wonderful way to describe the respect that is generally owed to opinions that differ from one's own (there are a few exceptions). i think that most people would be horrified if described as not being generous but that is exactly the stance of many believers and disbelievers alike.
thank you, i am not of the academy, but i did study ancient greek so i know it means interpretation. i prefer the word 'attention' because it is kinder, it conveys patience and respect.
It’s always a treat to peek at the inner working of a thoughtful syllabus created by a thoughtful (and thought-provoking) professor. And thanks for wrapping it up nicely with the big picture of what Religion Reimagined is all about.
I love this so much. I'm about to enter a season of dissertation research on a ritual women in east Africa perform and everything you write here is so pertinent for how I enter and engage.
I struggled a lot how to study women in cross-cultural contexts...and one of the ways I worked that out was theoretical. I have an essay in JAAR about "dianomy" (a term I kinda made up) that might be helpful to you...from decades ago. Good luck with dissertation research! It is hard to get that much dedicated time ever again to just immerse yourself in a topic/community. Enjoy!!!
Orsi’s discussion of Covington and handling is one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever read about the academic study of religion. I’ve not read it in years, though. I’ll have to pull it off my bookshelf this evening, I think.
I never read it in grad school, but all my colleagues who went to UNC did and that was how I first discovered it. It is great and VERY teachable chapter.
It would be amazing to have a course available to all, not just college students, that explores some of this comparative spirituality as a basis for better understanding all the major (and minor) traditions. Fostering that kind of understanding would go a long way in helping to break down some of the religious divisiveness that naturally spills over into politics and culture wars.
Others have asked me to offer something like this so once I catch my breath from the book launch I’ll see what I can come up with. I’m offering basically that course next fall on campus so could use it to help think of a version I could offer to everyone.
Marvelous! As a spiritual director I work with folks on a variety of paths but confess there are times..especially with some New Age ideas..where I recoil. This is such a good reminder of what engaged dialogue is..yes keep my values but move into respectful curiosity..about the other and myself. Seems like a foundational spiritual practice in itself!
exactly...we are all prone to recoil....we all hit our limits. But that also limits our ability to learn (and even if we are going to critique a practice, understanding it fully on its own terms has to come first)
This is the first time I’ve read your writing. How lovely. This gives me a new way to be with religious community that simultaneously draws me in and frustrates me to leave. The “third way” will take some practice.
First, as a disclaimer, I have to say that I met Dennis Covington not long after this book was published, had a long friendship with him, and performed his funeral a couple of years back. He was one of the most earnest people I have ever known, and I loved him dearly.
I wonder what a difference it makes that Dennis’ pieces in the NYT were journalism, but that the book was memoir, not journalism?
I also have an issue with your title. I wish the world had more Dennis Covingtons. He was courageous, kind, warm, funny, and quirky. Perhaps you could note that you are uncomfortable with his method, and not attack his personhood.
Thank you Lia for sharing that you knew Dennis personally and loved him.
I want to be clear that Orsi's critique, and mine, is not of Covington's character but of a methodological move that I think many of us, including myself, are capable of making. In fact it is a move I think we are mostly making. Orsi's essay actually spends considerable time on what Covington does right: his courage in entering that world, his genuine openness, his capacity to see the snake handlers on their own terms. The "don't be a Covington" in my title refers specifically to that one pivotal moment, not to the man or his work overall.
Your point about genre is interesting. Memoir is different than journalism, like it makes the narrator's interiority the subject. I'd push back slightly though: I think the genre question makes the move more interesting to analyze, not less. In memoir, the narrator's turn away from his subject tells us something particularly revealing about the limits of even the most earnest encounter with radical otherness. And Covington was clearly earnest, that's precisely what makes the moment so useful for teaching.
I wonder if ‘don’t do a Covington’ rather than ‘don’t be a Covington’ might make it clearer that you’re referring to one specific action rather than the whole of his work and character.
Liz - What a brilliant piece of writing. Your students are lucky to have you, and thank you for sharing this with us. I’m someone who identifies as falling into the “spiritual, not religious” bucket, and this piece gives me a fresh lens to look through..
“Literacy is not about being able to recite facts about traditions or quote scripture. It is knowing how to be curious without being credulous, critical without being dismissive, and open without losing yourself in the process.”
I love how you framed this. It’s going to stay with me. thank again.
“Projecting onto another tradition what you wish your own world had”. I see this so much in eg communities that work with Tibetan Buddhist lineages. Which offer profound and effective practices. People will be moved by texts, experience realistic visualizations. Yet not engage with the very real geopolitical challenges now facing America. Or not examine the underlying metaphysical assumptions, where emptiness easily slides into bypassing
The third way is difficult. Glad you are encouraging it.
Hi Meg, Thanks for this comment. Agreed: the third was IS difficult. I often fail at it. But I find it helpful to at least name what I'm working towards. Thanks for sharing these examples!
I am 69-grew up in a central Illinois in a Methodist church. Our family attended Sunday school VBS, parents taught and served in numerous church ministries over their 50 years. But….. every summer we would pack up a used pop-up trailer and head out of town- sometimes up to a month ( both parents teachers- so summer!) They took us to different churches all over the US- from visiting a Mormon church in Utah, Ebenezer Baptist, Mennonite in WI, SBC in Texas, large Catholic cathedrals in major cities. Numerous discussions in the car about experiences, theology, practices, dress codes , etc. But never judgment. I am so grateful to them for their curiosity and willingness to be uncomfortable at times They tried to help us understand there was a “reason”, even if they didn’t agree with it, behind faith practices.
I love this so much....what a cool experience. And I especially like the image of you all driving around with the pop-up trailer.
I'm at a point in life where I'm disengaging from a lot of things to make space for myself. I actually came to your Substack newsletter today to unsubscribe.
I started reading, as I'm fascinated by snake handlers. Fun side story - a month before I was to start my first professional job out of my master's program, a woman with the same name died of snake handling a few hours from where I'd be starting work.
And I kept reading, and you caught me again. I'd never heard of Covington or his book. But your interpretation, and then, the Sex in Three class and students you describe. The concept of the third way is so well presented.
Thank-you! I will be seeing you in my inbox for a while still!!
Ha, glad I've tempted you to stay around. And definitely read Covington's book. 95% is jus spectacular (and now you will be ready for the Punkin Brown story when it comes).
''generous attention'' is a wonderful way to describe the respect that is generally owed to opinions that differ from one's own (there are a few exceptions). i think that most people would be horrified if described as not being generous but that is exactly the stance of many believers and disbelievers alike.
in the academy we call this a generous hermeneutic, but that sounds so jargony so glad this phrasing made sense to you.
thank you, i am not of the academy, but i did study ancient greek so i know it means interpretation. i prefer the word 'attention' because it is kinder, it conveys patience and respect.
it is kinder, and I think feels warmer and more personal.
Another brilliant post, Liz. Thank you! harold
Thanks Harold. You are always an enthusiastic reader!
It’s always a treat to peek at the inner working of a thoughtful syllabus created by a thoughtful (and thought-provoking) professor. And thanks for wrapping it up nicely with the big picture of what Religion Reimagined is all about.
Thanks for you comment, Sumaya! Some of my syllabi are stills works in progress, but this one I LOVE and so I'm happy to share some of why.
I love this so much. I'm about to enter a season of dissertation research on a ritual women in east Africa perform and everything you write here is so pertinent for how I enter and engage.
I struggled a lot how to study women in cross-cultural contexts...and one of the ways I worked that out was theoretical. I have an essay in JAAR about "dianomy" (a term I kinda made up) that might be helpful to you...from decades ago. Good luck with dissertation research! It is hard to get that much dedicated time ever again to just immerse yourself in a topic/community. Enjoy!!!
Thank you for this - I'm going to find this article!
Orsi’s discussion of Covington and handling is one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever read about the academic study of religion. I’ve not read it in years, though. I’ll have to pull it off my bookshelf this evening, I think.
I never read it in grad school, but all my colleagues who went to UNC did and that was how I first discovered it. It is great and VERY teachable chapter.
It would be amazing to have a course available to all, not just college students, that explores some of this comparative spirituality as a basis for better understanding all the major (and minor) traditions. Fostering that kind of understanding would go a long way in helping to break down some of the religious divisiveness that naturally spills over into politics and culture wars.
Others have asked me to offer something like this so once I catch my breath from the book launch I’ll see what I can come up with. I’m offering basically that course next fall on campus so could use it to help think of a version I could offer to everyone.
But also….this is exactly part of what Beyond Wellness tried to do! And you read that now why I try to find to build you all a course :-)
It’s next on my to-read list. Loaded and ready to go on the Kindle 🙂 Can’t wait to dive in!
Marvelous! As a spiritual director I work with folks on a variety of paths but confess there are times..especially with some New Age ideas..where I recoil. This is such a good reminder of what engaged dialogue is..yes keep my values but move into respectful curiosity..about the other and myself. Seems like a foundational spiritual practice in itself!
exactly...we are all prone to recoil....we all hit our limits. But that also limits our ability to learn (and even if we are going to critique a practice, understanding it fully on its own terms has to come first)
"All real living is meeting" - Martin Buber
Your students are fortunate
Thanks for sharing this discipline with its deep challenges over time
This is the first time I’ve read your writing. How lovely. This gives me a new way to be with religious community that simultaneously draws me in and frustrates me to leave. The “third way” will take some practice.
Welcome Mike! Glad you found me (and if you have time take a look at past posts, ESPECIALLY the comment sections which are often the best part).
First, as a disclaimer, I have to say that I met Dennis Covington not long after this book was published, had a long friendship with him, and performed his funeral a couple of years back. He was one of the most earnest people I have ever known, and I loved him dearly.
I wonder what a difference it makes that Dennis’ pieces in the NYT were journalism, but that the book was memoir, not journalism?
I also have an issue with your title. I wish the world had more Dennis Covingtons. He was courageous, kind, warm, funny, and quirky. Perhaps you could note that you are uncomfortable with his method, and not attack his personhood.
Thank you Lia for sharing that you knew Dennis personally and loved him.
I want to be clear that Orsi's critique, and mine, is not of Covington's character but of a methodological move that I think many of us, including myself, are capable of making. In fact it is a move I think we are mostly making. Orsi's essay actually spends considerable time on what Covington does right: his courage in entering that world, his genuine openness, his capacity to see the snake handlers on their own terms. The "don't be a Covington" in my title refers specifically to that one pivotal moment, not to the man or his work overall.
Your point about genre is interesting. Memoir is different than journalism, like it makes the narrator's interiority the subject. I'd push back slightly though: I think the genre question makes the move more interesting to analyze, not less. In memoir, the narrator's turn away from his subject tells us something particularly revealing about the limits of even the most earnest encounter with radical otherness. And Covington was clearly earnest, that's precisely what makes the moment so useful for teaching.
I wonder if ‘don’t do a Covington’ rather than ‘don’t be a Covington’ might make it clearer that you’re referring to one specific action rather than the whole of his work and character.
This is a good point Amira. I will adjust it now.
This was excellent - I was I had you as a prof :)
Liz - What a brilliant piece of writing. Your students are lucky to have you, and thank you for sharing this with us. I’m someone who identifies as falling into the “spiritual, not religious” bucket, and this piece gives me a fresh lens to look through..
“Literacy is not about being able to recite facts about traditions or quote scripture. It is knowing how to be curious without being credulous, critical without being dismissive, and open without losing yourself in the process.”
I love how you framed this. It’s going to stay with me. thank again.