Of Mediums and Muslims (Not At The Same Time)
Posted by Kushana Torumekia at 9/8/2008 6:09 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
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A recent episode of the NPR radio show This American Life was a wonderful one from the perspective of religion. The first segment dealt with an a veteran of the current war who went to great length to educate himself about Islam. The last segment is about a medium's visit to a Paranormal Anthropology class. (I spent several moments wondering how I could teach such a class, myself.) The medium's method was traditional and Victorian: she had an exotic spirit guide (Native American, not an uncommon choice in the original wave of Spiritualism, either.) (A spirit guide is a sort of otherworldly liaison who appears before the dearly departed one may hope to speak with.) Spiritualism was one of the small group of American religions which let women serve as clergy (or the equivalent of clergy); tour, speak in public, have or display educations, set religious body policy.
(If that sounds terribly quaint, recall to mind the career of women in the American presidency and vice presidency, this year. Women do not have equal standing in American public life, whichever factors one may wish to ascribe it to.)
Whenever I feel temped to laugh at some archaic feature of the past I can often bring to mind something that will seem archaic an equal distance in the future.
-Kushana
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