Jerrie,
I'm glad you appreciate my differing view and I appreciate yours, but I must disagree with the idea that we shouldn't have discussions that debate political and religious issues. These are incredibly important issues that are central to public history and museums. We have increasingly created a society in which individuals can avoid these sorts of discussions and surround themselves with folks who think and speak as they do. Far from creating a society that is less conflictual, it creates a more polarized society, in which individuals are less able to politely debate important issues. This leads to more, not less of the sort of conflict you seek to avoid here.
Simply put: your question necessarily means we must delve into religious and political issues. That's a good thing, not a bad thing, and we need not run from issues that run the risk of eliciting strong opinions. In fact, that's precisely what we should be doing, both here and in museums.
Mike
________________________________________
From: Museum discussion list [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Jerrie Clarke [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 8:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Letting Paranormal Groups Use the Museum
Thank you for your explanation and comments, Michael; and thanks to all who commented. I was looking for examples and/or policies on paranormal investigators as I make the decision to allow an investigation in my museum and maintain respect to the ancient and current Native Americans and their beliefs and feeling. I've received some good feedback. I'd like to not turn my question into a political or religious argument. We've had too many of them in the past; and anyone who has watched this list for very long will remember that it can get ugly very quickly. Please let's keep this List a nice calm place to ask or answer questions, share experiences, and to express opinions in a collegial manner.
Thanks again.
Jerrie
Jerrie Clarke
Director
Lost City Museum
PO Box 807
Overton, NV 89040
(702) 397-2193
--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 3/31/15, Shoup, Michael Allen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Letting Paranormal Groups Use the Museum
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 4:57 PM
Correct,
science is not precisely a belief system. However, it
frequently requires belief/faith. We could take nearly every
experiment and find faith of some sort that particular
conditions will remain constant as they have been within
the universe for the tiny speck of time for which we have
some shreds of knowledge. These assumptions are rife with
and rooted in faith. If we cannot explain the conditions
which render this apparent
constancy and precision in the universe, we must attribute
our assumptions to a measure of faith. In many cases, a
great deal of faith. And in the case of so many of these
phenomena, we have no explanations for why these apparent
constants are constant. We
just accept it and accept that it will continue. On faith.
Dave's cautionary words that plead for a bit of
humility on this topic are well-founded, as are his
cautionary words with reference to the encounters of Native
Americans with our museums. It should be readily apparent
how problematic an earlier assertion
was with regards to closing off whole portions of museums
to those immersed in the "non-scientific" world of
spirits. The interesting question is why folks are quite
willing to compartmentalize their hostility to supernatural
beliefs, depending upon the particular
audience holding these supernatural beliefs.
From: Museum discussion list
[[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Stephen Nowlin
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 3:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Letting Paranormal Groups Use
the Museum
topladave said:
There is a long and ancient
history in what I call the History of Belief. It spans
everything from belief in Ghosts and the supernatural to
Religions to Spirituality, and you can add the newcomer,
Science, in there too.
----------------------
Science is not a belief system. The so-called concept
of “scientism” is a sham, wielded to imply that the
schism between science and magical beliefs is just an
argument between equals. I may think that resuscitation is
preferable to prayer as an approach
to someone who has stopped breathing — that doesn’t
make me a practitioner of “resuscitationism.” I like
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s quote: “Science is what you
don’t have to believe in for it to be true.”
/stephen
S t e p h e n N o w l i
n
Vice President
Director, Alyce de Roulet Williamson
Gallery
626.396.2397 |
http://williamsongallery.net/google
P a s a d e n a — C I t y
o f A r t & S c I e n c e
From: "topladave
." <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Museum
discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, March
31, 2015 at 10:06 AM
To: Museum discussion
list <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [Caution:
Redirect URLs] Re: [MUSEUM-L] Letting Paranormal Groups Use
the Museum
I cover the whole range of these issues in the online
course that I teach on this topic, and have sections on
"What are Parnormal Investigations?", "Museum
Policies and Programs", and "Pros and Cons of
Investigations".
Let me just reply to one point that has come up. There is a
long and ancient history in what I call the History of
Belief. It spans everything from belief in Ghosts and the
supernatural to Religions to Spirituality, and you can add
the newcomer, Science, in
there too. So while including the paranormal or spiritual
in activities around a Science Museum may not be in context,
it certainly would in an Art or History Museum where there
are topics and themes that can intersect the topic. And I
know a number of colleagues
who argue that Museums should be ALL about Science, While I
love Science and apply it widely in my work as a
conservator, human culture and art has a far wider range of
perspectives and experiences beyond that which can be tested
and measured in labs. I would
proffer that many Native Americans, in particular, do not
have a good history with Science and have fought long legal
cases to repatriate their historic human remains from
"Science". So I would be cautious about raising
that to any Tribe concerning sensitive
sacred collections in your institution. Here is a recent
blog on that issue:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/american-anthropological-association/rest-for-the-king-no-rest-for-native-americans_b_6946396.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Each museum or historic site has to make up their own minds
on whether to allow paranormal investigations, tours, or
programs in your institution. Some do and some don't. In
the online course I teach I do not advocate for any side in
this. I strive to give
museum professionals information so that they can come to
their own policies that best suits them.
If any of you would like your policies or experiences with
this topic to be shared with participants in my course
please contact me off the list. I am always looking to add
to the examples from all perspectives on this.
Cheers!
Dave
David Harvey
Senior Conservator & Museum Consultant
Los Angeles CA USA
www.cityofangelsconservation.weebly.com
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