Heart, Mind, & Spirit

    Anyone may propose a feature article for HMS.
Each proposal will be given a code number,
which will indicates its intended subject area
and the order in which it was proposed.
This will make it easier for subscribers to vote on
which articles they want to read.

    The original subject areas may be expanded
as new interests among UUs on campus emerge.
When a proposed feature article could fit into more than one category,
the author will have to choose the subject area
that seems most appropriate.

    The following are the original subject areas,
with a brief description of what might be included in each.

    Within each subject area, proposed articles are described.
Subscribers vote for their favorite proposals
to select the next article to appear.

    Articles which have already been published in HMS
will be found in the HMS Library.

SR—Spirituality & Religion

S—Spirituality 

R—Religion

Existential Anxiety: Angst

SYNOPSIS:

     Have you ever felt the nameless dread?
Terror and anguish without a cause?
This article gives a name and a careful description
to the nameless threat, our free-floating anxiety,
which we have all felt but perhaps not faced.

     First we must separate existential anxiety
from ordinary fears as clearly as possible.
Then, how do we cope with anxiety?
And is it possible to live beyond angst?

OUTLINE:

I. FEAR & ANXIETY: FIVE DIFFERENCES
    1. Description.
    2. Cause.
    3. Duration.
    4. Scope.
    5. Cure.
II. HOW EXISTENTIAL ANXIETY SHOWS ITSELF
III. ATTEMPTING TO COPE WITH EXISTENTIAL ANXIETY
IV. FREEDOM FROM ANGST

    We may summarize the five basic differences
between simple fear and existential anxiety thus:

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF SIMPLE FEAR

1. Psychological response to danger.

2. Caused by specific threats;
we know why we are afraid;
approaches from a certain quarter.

3. Temporary—lasts only while
the danger is present; may pass by.

4. Limited to the values
that can be reached by the threat.

 5. We know how to cope with fear:
fight or flight.

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF EXISTENTIAL ANXIETY

1. Free-floating 'terror'.

2. No intelligible cause or source;
we don't know why we are 'afraid';
'comes from' everywhere and nowhere.

3.Permanent—ever-renewed inner
state-of-being; does not pass away.

4. Pervades our whole being;
unlimited menace; touches everything.

5. Nothing we do will overcome anxiety;
psychological techniques are useless.

    Here is the text:
Existential Anxiety: Angst.

OUTLINE:

I. RELIGION HAS ARISEN FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH

II. THE MOST COMMON FORMS OF BELIEF IN LIFE AFTER DEATH

        A. Immortality.
        B. Resurrection.
        C. Reincarnation.

III. THESE BELIEFS HAVE NO FOUNDATION

IV. SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS
ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH

        A. Sense Perception—Can We See without Eyes?
        B. Consciousness—Can We Think without Brains?
        C. Memory—Can We Remember
                    without a Place to Keep Our Memories?
        D. Communicating and Relating—Can We Interact without Bodies?
        E. Conclusion: If We Lack Experience, Awareness, Memory, &  Action,
                How Does 'Life After Death' Differ from Death?

V. NEVERTHELESS CONFRONTING OUR DEATHS
MAKES OUR LIVES REMARKABLY BETTER

    Here is the text:
WHICH GODS DO NOT EXIST?
No Gods Can Save Us from Death

8. Existential Spirituality is Very Self-Critical.

LS—Love, Sex, & Relationships

    The Unitarian Universalist movement has taken strong stands
supporting all sex-and-gender minorities.
And we endorse those theories of sexology
that do not attempt to 'cure' or 'correct' sex-and-gender differences
but which seek first to understand.

I.  THE UU MOVEMENT AND VARIOUS FORMS OF SEXOLOGY

II. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE SEX-SCRIPT HYPOTHESIS

III. THE IMPACT OF HAVING A GAY PRESIDENT

IV.  CONCLUSION: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM
IS OPEN TO ALL SEX-AND-GENDER MINORITIES

    To read a draft of this proposed article, go to:
Sex-and-Gender Minorities, Sexology,
and the Unitarian Universalist Movement.

LS-6 

SYNOPSIS:

    Because patterns of love and marriage are cultural creations,
we should expect them to change from century to century.

    At the beginning of the 21st century,
some trends can be foreseen for the Western world:

1. The mythology of romantic love will continue to hold sway,
at least over the young and inexperienced.

2. More couples will decide to live together
without getting officially or legally married.
They will be free to create their own relationship contracts
---whether explicit or implicit, written or unwritten.

3. Renewable marriages will become more common.
These are relationships agreed to last for a certain duration,
after which they will either expire or be renewed.

4. Same-sex marriages will become more common and less controversial.
Gay and lesbian couples will feel ever more free
to make their relationships open and public.

5. For those people who have transcended the threat of jealousy,
loving more than one person at the same time will become more common.

OUTLINE:

1. ROMANTIC LOVE.

2. MARRIAGE RESISTERS.

3. RENEWABLE MARRIAGE.

4. SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.

5. POLYAMORY.

TEXT:

"The Future of Love and Marriage" .

PG—Personal Growth & Life-Choices

    I was twelve years old the first time life taught me
to pull back on my cravings.
As a kid I went to extraordinary lengths to own
the bicycle of my dreams,
which was the object of my prolonged and intense craving.
Getting to the other side of that was an enlightening process for me,
and one of the biggest lessons of my life.

    If you would like to read a draft of this article, click this title:
The Source of All Suffering.

  What other choice in life has such far-reaching ramifications
as the decision to become a mother or a father?
Only in the 20th century did modern science make it possible
for human beings to gain complete control over their reproductive capacity.

    This article will explore about 30 reasons FOR having children
and about 10 reasons AGAINST.
Which of these reasons are alive in your head?

I. COUPLES' REASONS FOR HAVING CHILDREN

A. The Survival of the Human Race

B. Giving Meaning to Our Lives

C. Our Affirmation of Life

D. "We Love Children"

E. "It's Natural to Want Children"

F. To Please Our Parents and Grandparents

G. Religious Reasons

H. Saving the Marriage

A. Fulfillment as a Woman—the Maternal 'Instinct'

B. Enjoying Pregnancy and Child-birth

C. "Without Children You're an Outsider"

D. "I Need a Change"

E. "I Want My Husband to Protect Me"

F. As an Alternative to Sex

G. To Have Someone to Love

A. The "Family Man" Identity

B. Someone to Carry on the Family Name

C. Children as a Sign of Financial Success

D. Children as Proof of Manhood

E. Children to Keep His Wife at Home

F. Having Subordinates

A. Not Everyone Can Be a Good Parent

B. Practical and Marital Problems Caused by Children

C. Keeping Our Options Open

D. Problems of Pregnancy and Child-birth

E. Genetic Defects that Should Not be Passed On

F. Not Wanting Full-Time Responsibility for Children

G. Being Committed to Other Purposes

H. Problems Caused by Overpopulation

I. Problems of the Human Condition

J. Our Existential Predicament

MD—Medical Ethics, Death, & Miscellaneous

(1) withdrawing or withholding medical treatments and life-supports,
(2) voluntary death—chosen rationally by the candidate, or
(3) merciful death—chosen rationally by proxies for the candidate.

    However, each of these life-ending decisions is open to abuse:

(1) premature withdrawal of life-supports,
(2) irrational suicide and manipulated or coerced death, or
(3) mercy killing.

    This article will propose ten practical safeguards
to prevent abuse of the right to die
while permitting appropriate and reasonable decisions for death.
Basically the safeguards gather the considered opinions of the candidate,
the doctors, the family, and any ethical consultants who may be involved,
including members of the clergy.
Also there should be appropriate waiting periods, full reporting,
and the possibility of prosecution for those who violate the safeguards.

Scientific and Philosophical Question

about Life After Death

    A one-page outline of this feature article
will appear if you click these blue words:
Scientific and Philosophical Questions about Life After Death.

    Other possible articles can be added to these examples at any time.
Anyone may propose an article on any subject.
Send a short description (similar to the examples above)
to the Heart, Mind, & Spirit webmaster, James Park:
PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU
The subscribers of HMS choose which proposal
will become the next feature article.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.