On The Front Lines
New to Oldspeak: Paul Rademacher Talks with John W. Whitehead About consciousness, spirituality, Christianity & Out of Body Experiences
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- OldSpeak, an online publication of The Rutherford Institute, hosts an insightful discussion between Paul Rademacher, the executive director of The Monroe Institute and author of A Spiritual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe: Travel Tips for the Spiritually Perplexed (Hampton Roads, 2009), and John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, about the intersections between consciousness, spirituality and the Christian tradition.
The interview, "A Spiritual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe," is available here.
While researching his non-fiction, bestselling book, The Men Who Stare at Goats, author Jon Ronson visited The Monroe Institute, located in Faber, Virginia. The book, now a movie starring George Clooney and Jeff Bridges, chronicles the activities of the First Earth Battalion, a secret U.S. Army program formed in 1979 that attempted to use various methods of "psychic warfare" to combat America's enemies. Although the film is positioned as a satirical comedy, the work being done at The Monroe Institute (TMI) in the exploration of human consciousness is no laughing matter. Indeed, F. Holmes (Skip) Atwater, president of TMI, was a former participant in the Army's attempts to use remote viewing to aid United States intelligence-gathering operations and counterintelligence efforts around the globe for nearly thirty years.
Paul Rademacher is also no stranger to the study of expanded consciousness. In fact, during his 15 years of service as a Presbyterian pastor, he studied extensively in the fields of consciousness and spirituality, seeking to bring together traditional meditation techniques with contemporary expressions of spiritual exploration. Rademacher first became interested in consciousness exploration after a mystical encounter that resulted from a construction accident in 1981. That experience set the course for the rest of his life. Rademacher, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, pursued his doctoral studies at the Ecumenical Theological Center in Detroit, Michigan, where practice in prayer and meditation were emphasized as the foundation for ministry.
In 1987, Rademacher found himself drawn to the writings of Robert Monroe, the founder of TMI. Ten years later, while serving as the senior pastor at Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC, Rademacher attended his first program at TMI, which renewed his interest in the mystical world he had encountered in 1981. Rademacher eventually became an Outreach Facilitator for TMI, bringing together the worlds of spirituality and consciousness by introducing the Monroe methodology to small groups within his congregation. Through courses he designed and taught, the participants were not only able to move personally into profound altered states of consciousness, but were also able to see the connection between these states and what Jesus termed "the kingdom of heaven." Those early seminars form the basis for Rademacher's new book, A Spiritual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe: Travel Tips for the Spiritually Perplexed (Hampton Roads, 2009).
OldSpeak, the online journal of The Rutherford Institute, is dedicated to publishing interviews, articles and commentary on subjects often overlooked by the mainstream media in the areas of politics, art, culture, law and religion. The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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