Psychedelic Drugs and Atheism: Debunking the Myths

Two recent surveys of people who took psychedelic drugs and reported “God experience encounters”, along with successful clinical trials using psychedelic therapy for depression, have given rise to public misconceptions about psychedelics and atheism. Specifically, three inferences have been drawn: (1) that the psychedelic experience tends to dissolve atheist convictions; (2) that atheist convictions, once dissolved, are replaced with traditional monotheist beliefs; and (3) that atheism and depression somehow correlate as afflictions for which psychedelic drugs offer relief. This paper argues, based on analysis of the studies and trials along with relevant supplemental evidence, that each of these popular inferences is substantially misleading. Survey data do not indicate that most psychedelic atheists have cleanly cut ties with their former convictions, and there is strong evidence that they have not traded atheism for traditional monotheism. Both personal testimony and the effectiveness of microdose clinical trials serve to complicate any notion that a psychedelic drug alleviates symptoms of depression by “curing” atheism. The paper then extends its focus to argue that the broader field of neurotheology includes elements that contribute to these popular misconceptions

Groundhog Day at 25: Conflict and Inspiration at the Tipping Point of Seasonal Genres

Groundhog Day has been recognized by leaders of many religions as an inspirational film. It tracks all the responses a person might have to the suspicion that the world has no God, design, or inherent purpose: first, transgressive self-indulgence; next, acedic depression; and finally, redemptive benevolence. During the filming, however, a conflict in vision between Harold Ramis and Bill Murray tore apart their friendship. Ramis wanted a romantic comedy founded on evolution from arrogance to selfless benevolence; Murray preferred a darker satire. Although the finished film reflects Ramis\u27s vision of comedy--the genre of spring--Murray\u27s satirical gestures leave traces of winter that subtly undermine the inspiring climax

\u27Just Do It\u27: Gary Gilmore, Nancy Reagan, and Other Cultural Entanglements of the Nike Slogan

Within the canon of advertising slogans, those rough-hewn, demotic poems of American commerce, Nike\u27s Just Do It holds an exalted position. The slogan had an immediate impact in establishing the Nike brand in the late 1980s, and it has endured through succeeding decades -- not only for its marketing utility, but in its broader cultural resonance. It is not unreasonable to suggest that the three-word gem invented by Dan Wieden in 1988 stands above all other slogans, as judged by any sensible criteria of advertising success. The network of meanings surrounding Just Do It turns out to be much more complicated than we might imagine, given the simplicity of the text in question. This essay will offer a variety of approaches in an attempt at full analysis. As interpretive perspectives shift, different elements take priority in the generation or delimiting of meaning: authorial intentions; readers\u27 responses; socio-political contexts; and affiliations with deep structural patterns. All of these interpretive coordinates will prove useful as resources for probing the cultural entanglements of Just Do It