Synanon and Anthropology of Religion
Not a Real Religion?
Synanon began as a support group for drug addicts, as they were not accepted at Alcoholics Anonymous. Synanon began to move in the direction of lifestyle, utopia like living, and having a religious mission. Like the Silk Road as seen in "Religions of the Silk Road," culture, religion, and ideas are constantly changing.
Synanon was never officially recognized as a religion (by the IRS). Although Synanon did not reach the official status, it is very much a cultural religion. Like we saw in "African Traditional Religion and Violence," a religion does not have to have a holy text to be effective, true, and a legitimate religion.
Synanon does not have a holy text, but is still a religion, as it does fit Clifford Geertz's 5 criteria for what a religion is (1) A system of symbols 2) which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men 3) by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and 4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that 5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic). Additionally, in "China Cry" we saw that there can be different levels of "religiousness." By being "less religious" it does not mean you are less accepted or "not a believer." At Synanon there are multiple levels of religiousness. Some choose to stay and live at Synanon, while others come for weekend visits and events.
The Synanon Prayer
"Please let me first and always examine myself. Let me be honest and truthful. Let me seek and assume responsibility. Let me understand rather than be understood. Let me trust and have faith in myself and my fellowman. Let me love rather than be loved. Let me give rather than receive"
Synanon Cult(ure) and Reputation
Synanon culture is very accepting and open to anyone one who wants to join. Founded in 1958 (while racial tensions were high), all races were accepted and coexisted together. As we saw in "Trembling Before G-d," acceptance for who you truly are within a religion is not always an easy thing. Addicts, non-addicts, men, women, person of color, or white, were all accepted. Treatment of women was very forward thinking for the time, in contrast to "The Mahabharata."
People came to Synanon to go through a transformation, although towards the end of the Synanon era, there were some accounts of questionable acts of violence and dictatorship, people stayed because they were devoted. This idea was very clearly illustrated in "Making of a Monk." Although living conditions were not idea, the Monks gave themselves up with the end goal to leave and be better.
Synanon has been under fire with bad press and the misconception that people hated being there. Using the same insight as "Beyond Good and Evil," we must realize we are creating an "us" versus "them" structure, as there is always a strong divide and negative connotation for individuals who choose to be apart of an alternative religion or cult. Realizing there is a divide will help us understand and humanize individuals who engage in a different lifestyle than the average person.
We must consider if the reputation of a religion can be accurately represented by a select few who receive press or bad press. For example, in the article "Sikh Traditions and Violence," we must realize that only a few members of the Sikh faith are violent and responsible for the murders of innocent people, yet the Sikh religion has seen a lot of negative feelings expressed towards them as a whole.