Sam Keen

[kayatl 4]

Back in the 70's, Sam Keen's "To a Dancing God" was quite the popular book, in Episcopal circles at least. On a whim(insomnia) I looked the guy up, and was quite surprised at his evolution as a former: theologian, contributing editor of Psychology Today, spokesman for the mens' sensitivity movement, atheist, and current birder, trapeze artist , and Mr. Reverend!

He was born in the South into a Scottish Presbyterian family, went to Harvard Divinity School, received his PHD from Princeton, and played the professor game for 20 or so years at Presbyterian Theological Seminary and other esteemed institutions. Meanwhile he married a "pagan" named Heather, had three children, and divorced.

Every new phase in his life caused him to write a book. His entry in Wikipedia was pretty sketchy so I have decided to add to it while improving my research and writing skills.I went to the nearest theology library which has all sorts of stuff. Anyone read any Sam Keen?

[glintofpewter 145]

No, haven't read him of course, but I liked this video taken at the FCC Berkely church his wife pastors.

 

http://fora.tv/2010/03/11/Sam_Keen_In_The_Absence_of_God

[minsocal 51]

I liked this from Renewing Our Sense of Wonder:

An Interview with Sam Keen

 

"Keen believes that our lives are shaped — and occasionally misshaped — by the stories we tell about ourselves. It's only by becoming intimately acquainted with these narratives — as they have been handed down from our families, our cultural backgrounds, our religious beliefs — that we can begin to live consciously and, as the Sufi poet Rumi said, "unfold our own myth." Unless we understand our lives as a kind of autobiography in the making, we're likely to take refuge in other people's stories, in ready-made ideologies, and in unexamined systems of belief."

 

http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/keen.html