Religion & Psychology

Read these critiques and responses in preparation for watching the movie in Session #14. Also glance over the Bleep Study Guide again. NOTE: No reading reflection this time - the questions below and the ones at the very end are for class discussion. We'll be watching a big chunk of the movie (which has J.Z. Knight in full Ramtha mode as one of the talking heads).

For classroom discussion:
1. Why do you think the Bleep movie was so successful?
2. What are the main criticisms that have been published about the movie?
3. Looking over the material on Ramtha, how much of the Bleep movie's premises come directly from the Ramtha movement?
4. Discuss the Ramtha movement and the leadership of J.Z. Knight as an example of a "Shadow Culture" movement. What are some striking features of it? What is the role of spiritual authority and channeling in establishing the movement?
5. What are some considerations about gender in a religious movement founded by a woman channeling a supposedly ancient male spiritual authority?
6. Look at the last site listed and the questions posed.

Critiques and responses to What The Bleep Do We Know and Ramtha

Columbia blog article summarizing critique

http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/blog/archives/000083.html

Another overview of the movie's success and critical responses:

http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/RINVol7No3/ChannelingBleep.htm

The biggest splash in criticism is this Salon article --which includes more details and links that are critical (in short, the movie is being presented as a long advertisement for Ramtha) -- try the link that switches back and forth between Ramtha and J.Z. Powers.

http://salon.com/ent/feature/2004/09/16/bleep/index_np.html

A review that talks about the marketing strategy -- making it clear what niche the film was intending to reach:

http://www.whatthebleep.com/reviews/miami-herald-may-28-05.shtml

Critique of approach as too focused on 'mind' and not 'heart'

http://www.zeropoint.ca/bleepmovie.htm

LONG and very informative history/critique of Ramtha movement, including a discussion of how to test a channel. Skim this unless you are completely captivated by this subject.

http://home.dejazzd.com/jszimhart/ramtha.htm

Here’s the link to the Study Guide again --
http://www.noetics.org/research/files/Bleep_Study_Guide.pdf

As we discussed in class, the Study Guide was put together by individuals from the Institute of Noetic Scienes, which is also a great central collection of Shadow Culture ideas and ongoing research. Here is their website again (http://www.noetics.org/index.cfm).

Here's what the Skeptics Dictionary says about Ramtha --
http://skepdic.com/channel.html

Here's his? her? website -- skip the main page, though, and go right to these histories --
http://ramtha.com/html/aboutus/aboutus.stm
http://ramtha.com/html/aboutus/about-jz.stm

http://ramtha.com/html/pdf/introduction.pdf
This is another summary of Ramtha ™’s teachings and description of Ramtha™ from the Ramtha™ web site (J.Z. Knight). Looking at this will make it clear where many of the What The Bleep ideas came from. What are the core beliefs? What can you guess about the self-development exercises from extrapolating by looking at other parts of the Web site (pictures, trade names of practices, etc.)?