Religious Scholar

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Intriguing thoughts on prayer by Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) as part of a panel discussion at the American Academy of Religion conference in 2002. (Podcast)

http://diamondsounds.podomatic.com/entry/2007-11-09T09_12_44-08_00

Below, I've gathered some interesting comments by Derrida from this talk, out of context, of course, and there may be some slight paraphrasing due to my note-taking and writing from memory:

"I pray all the time, even now. My idea of prayer is that it is absolutely secret and contains ritual (coded gestures)."

"My prayers have more than one age, one layer, in the same instant. There is something very childish, in the imagery, iconography of God as a stern grandfather and at the same time as a mother who thinks I am innocent, who is ready to forgive me. God is just and forgiving at same time. This is the childish layer of my prayers.

"On top of this layer there is another layer: my culture, a very critical, experience of religion, referencing the philosophers and scholars I have studied, Nietzsche etc.; the experience of a non-believer, who is suspicious of the child, resists, asks, 'who am I addressing, etc.'  In this layer of sophistication, I ask who is praying and who is receiving the prayer. I know that this way of thinking (when I pray, I think) is not simply negative, a way of asking all the questions. These questions are part of my experience of prayer. Thinking about the unnameable, etc.: it is a very skeptical prayer. Skepticism is part of the prayer. The suspension of certainty is part of the prayer."

"This layer of prayer relies on the suspensions of knowledge. To whom am I praying? Who will answer these prayers? Part of what the prayer has to be is to be authentic. My assumption is I must give up any expectations regarding The One or the more than One to whom I address this prayer if this is still a prayer."

"Of course, the child is praying for protection, etc., but I can’t tell if I’m praying to someone invisible or if precisely to these other ones in myself that I want to address. There is at the same time some suspension of any calculation. I’m not hoping. It’s a 'hopeless' prayer. Hopelessness is part of what a prayer should be. There’s hope, calculation, economy.

"I am growing old and find I am more of a child than when I was younger. Addressing a public audience now, I find I might run the risk of saying something confidential. Calculation: form: I know that praying that way, even if there is no one God in form of father or mother receiving prayer, I know by this act of praying in the desert out of love (I wouldn’t pray otherwise), I may be be doing something good in myself, like a therapy. By doing this, I try, and do not necessarily succeed, to affirm and accept something in myself, do something good to myself (that’ s my calculation) and to my beloved ones. A way of loving. A calculation that strives to integrate the incalculable.

"When I pray I try to incorporate all. I have a strange experience, encompassing all the learning from Plato to Augustine to Heidigger, all there…the world in which my prayers pray. That’s the way I pray …sometimes in fixed moments during the day, sometimes anywhere , any moment."

It's getting harder and harder to interact with the arts. I really can't explain it. Today, for example, I was enjoying a special exhibition at a major museum of art. Of course, the museum must take precautions before presenting priceless treasures by Matisse, Marc, Cezanne and others to the public. I can understand why cameras, video recorders, instant webcasting, use of pens, carrying sharp objects, scary backpacks, etc. are forbidden. But twice guards sternly stopped me from sketching with a pencil! Taking notes OK: sketching not.

For some of us who feel a greater empathy with art works when we draw a few lines on a piece of paper, sketching is an integral part of the museum-going experience. And there is a connection between drawing and meditation, something I plan to discuss in an upcoming essay, "Drawing as Meditation."

But why prohibit sketching? Is it a fear that the sketcher will violate some sort of copyright? Most of the pictures I saw today were available through Google images. What about disturbing other viewers? I wasn't setting up an easel in front of a popular work, keeping others from viewing it. The nature of sketching is to be fast and furtive. I doubt anyone noticed I was engaged in the forbidden act until the guards swooped down on me.

I plan to investigate further. If there is a good reason, I will desist at future exhibitions, though at the peril of my own experience of all that art has to offer. Drawing and sketching in museums have a long, honorable tradition, and have led more than one person to a better appreciation of art, the development of their own talent, and an experience that's almost religious.

Based on early reports, it appears that ignorance is at the root of the Sikh temple shooting near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We may not be able to dispel the clouds of misinformation fogging the minds of the intolerant, but we can put in place a rigorous curriculum in our schools to provide objective, factual information about world religions and to demonstrate the benefits of tolerance for future generations.

This curriculum must be provided without bias on the part of teachers and school boards who may hold strong religious beliefs of their own. Still, it is no betrayal of one's own beliefs to accurately present the belief systems of others.

We are a diverse nation; it is a diverse world. Without understanding based on objective fact, we are reduced to a large brawling family of name-callers and sharp-shooters. The peace and community we seek is grounded in shared common knowledge and communication.  We need consistency in sharing factual information about religious beliefs and we need to provide it to our children throughout their education.