Examining Sacred Texts Bette U. Kiernan, MFT

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Examining Sacred TextsBette U. Kiernan, MFT

• MIT 6
• Media in Transition International Conference
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Stone and Papyrus
• Storage and Transmission
• April 24-26, 2009

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EXAMINING SACRED TEXTSBette U. Kiernan

• Bible and Koran creation stories for modern
  civilization
• Most influential texts portray models for
  brutality
• Both also contain messages of peace
• Sacred texts lend themselves to new compassionate
  interpretation
• A New Story will emphasize conjoint lineage of
  Moslems, Christians, Jews
• Ancient roots of family tree begin in Garden of
  Eden and unfold to the present
• Broken families can realign

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Examining Sacred TextsBette U. Kiernan, MFT

• If Gods actions portrayed through contemporary
  psychological lensdisordered being portrayed
• Characteristics of DSM IV Narcissistic
  Personality Disorder
• -grandiose, requires excessive admiration, lacks
  empathy, envious, raging, arrogant, haughty,
  interpersonally exploitive
• Patterns in ancient texts mirror disturbed
  families and nations
• Biblical and Koranic images of God and Allah may
  originate from compromised projections
• God introduced pain in creation when he
  abandoned Adam and Eve Their wound went through
  the families that followed
• Formed pattern for the development of violent
  civilizations

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EXAMINING SACRED TEXTSBette U. Kiernan

• Gods rages, jealousy, lack of empathy lay
  groundwork for progressive pattern of family
  violence
• Brutal treatment begins with Adam and Eve
• Core theme of abandonment and rejection
• Follows Cain, Abel, Jacob, Esau and Moses onto
  outcast society of the Jews
• Similar rejection of Hagar by Abraham initiates
  Moslem Culture
• Both cultures major sacred events,Yom Kippur and
  The Hajj center around projection
• Moslems, Christians and Jews are all subjected to
  ostracism and abuse
• Holocaust climax of centuries of wounding
  interactions

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Exploring Sacred TextsBette U. Kiernan

• Biblical tales culminate in story of Abraham
• Gods demand that Abraham sacrifice Isaac
  considered child abuse in our times
• Intention to harm a child psychologically
  disturbing
• God set Jews scapegoat role in stone by
  commanding a covenant that marked them
• Ancient threat to wound Isaac continues through
  circumcision
• Deviance attracts cruelty
• Family system continues into Islam when Abraham
  rejects Hagar and Ishmael.
• Continues as Mohammed goes to heaven with Moses
  and Abraham to receive the Koran from Angel
  Gabriel

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Examining Sacred TextsBette U. Kiernan

• An integration of cultural stories and personal
  histories creates identities of individuals and
  societies
• Considering contributions of religion to violence
  essential
• Worshipping texts that accept violence nurtures
  war-like mentality and significant in the
  creation of terrorists
• Attention to difference fosters hostility
• Magnifying points of agreement yields harmony

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Exploring Sacred TextsBette U. Kiernan

• A new story can emphasize conjoint family lineage
  of Moslems, Christians and Jews
• All can proudly claim mutual family history
• The family tree One branch hold Sunni, Shiite
  and Sufi Moslems another branch carries Jewish,
  Mormon, Christian and Catholic groupings
• Myriad offshoots expand from each denomination
• Christianity, Islam and Judaism remain
  essentially linked through mutual scriptural
  heritage

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Examining Sacred TextsBette U. Kiernan

• Many pathways to common ground
• Feature shared prophets and heroes in the Bible
  and the Koran that honor shared respectful
  relationships, reverence for the earth, and
  compassionate care for less fortunate others
• Mutual heroes transform the pain of abuse to
  creative leadership and a higher social order
• Psychological means of positive coping rather
  than projection can be encouraged
• Media processes of all kinds that are available
  in our times can be applied to ancient scriptures
  that are still worshipped
• Media can shift emphasis in sacred texts and
  thereby influence the creation of a more
  peaceable world

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THE NEW STORY

• Biblical and Koranic Heroes transform emotional
  pain into creative leadership
• Attention on shared wisdom teachings in sacred
  texts
• Conjoint family history for Moslems, Christians
  and Jews evokes mutual pride
• New sacred rituals revolve around acts of
  compassion
• A sustainable vision of a peaceful and united
  humanity needs to be shared among people, across
  time and generations

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The Old Story

• Biblical God and Koranic Allah model destruction
  of others for emotional management
• Scapegoating acceptable means for problem solving
• Enemies used as receptacles for projection of
  unwanted feelings
• Most solemn sacred holidays for Jews and Moslems,
  Yom Kippur and The Hajj, emerged from ritualized
  projection
• Underlying character disordered behaviors in
  Genesis families

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A Message From the Angel Gabriel

• In the beginning, God created heaven and earth.
  He separated light from darkness and made day and
  night. The land he split from seas. Plants and
  trees grew seeds, flowers and fruits. He
  positioned the sun, moon and stars in the
  heavens. Next he generated sea creatures, birds
  and animals. But he created Man and Woman in his
  own image. After his creation, God rested and
  blessed and hallowed that day.
• The first man he named Adam, and his wife called
  Eve. God made them good and commanded them to
  obey his rules and let them live in the Garden of
  Eden.
• But Adam and Eve broke Gods commandment and ate
  forbidden fruit. God shamed then and cast them
  out of the Garden.
• Adam and Eves tears carried to their children
  and to their childrens children. When God
  separated their actions into good and bad, he
  created a problem. Men and women have light and
  dark sides, so they were not able to live up to
  Gods expectations.

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A Message from the Angel Gabriel

• Thus their families carried the wound that that
  came from Gods rejection of Adam and Eve. Rage
  and sadness followed Cain, Abel, Jacob, Esau,
  Sarah, Abraham, Hagar, Joseph, Ishmael, Mohammed,
  Jesus and others across ages.
• The Islamic peoples began when Abraham rejected
  Hagar, the mother of his first son, Ishmael, and
  sent her away. Just as when God banished Adam and
  Eve, she grieved in the wilderness until Angel
  Gabriel comforted her.
• Abraham lasts. We carry Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
  within us.
• Mohammed went to heaven with Moses and Abraham
  and received the Koran, the word of Allah, from
  Angel Gabriel. Gabriel was always with the
  peoples of God and Allah and brought them the
  important messages. The great angel helped Daniel
  interpret dreams. Mohammed learned that Allah,
  like God, gave severe punishments.

• Rage and hurt are in the peoples of Abraham.
  Across eons, into our times, wounds from the
  beginning in the Garden of Eden, erupted into
  into discord and wars and climaxed in The
  Holocaust. Germans murdered millions of Jews and
  others who did not match their expectations.
• Now peoples of Israel and Palestine direct their
  ancient pain against each other. Like the
  Biblical siblings who fought over blessings and
  birthrights, they fight over lands. As they do,
  their violence adds new scars to those who dwell
  in troubled regions and it spreads across the
  world.
• Gabriel, the mediator between heaven and earth,
  is bringing new messages that it is time to
  reconcile. He is whispering into the ears of
  Israelis, Palestinians and others to make music
  together in orchestras, play together in camps,
  and meet to discuss visions for peace.

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• Gabriel points that apparent differences between
  the peoples of Abraham, upon a closer look,
  reveals their likeness. All revere teachings of
  Moses, David, Joseph and other prophets. They
  realize that just as Joseph fostered healing in
  his family, his story still teaches us a pathway
  to compassionate relationship. Discordant
  relationships can realign.
• Their holidays of Christmas, Chanukah, and
  Islamic New Year are in the month of December.
• They show reverence for God and Allah by keeping
  their heads covered.
• Now our ways of life are changing. Angel Gabriel
  enfolds all peoples in the warmth and comfort of
  giant wings to comfort them.
• He warns that the world is threatened, and that
  the families must join together. Through mutual
  compassion for their shared wounds, the time is
  here to create a newer, gentler world.
• Gabriel announces, Collect the kindest words of
  God and Allah and focus upon the peace bearers
  actions. Combine them into a book that guides and
  heals.

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