Saturday, January 26, 2008
SIR JOHN TEMPLETON
Yesterday I explored the Templeton Foundation's and Sir John Templeton's enthusiasm for New Thought, its relationship to Sabbatean enthusiast Emmanuel Swedenborg, and Templeton funding. I'd like to add a few more details.
Templeton was a self-made man. He did not inherit his wealth, and he does have a great deal of it. He is considered the ultimate resource on mutual funds.
The biography presented at the John Templeton website offers more insight into Templeton's beliefs.
On page 61 of Lee Penn's book FALSE DAWN he lists the organizations that have funded United Religions Initiative, the syncetistic organization of Episcopal Bishop William Swing. Among them is John Templeton Foundation's Local Societies Initiative. This is hardly surprising given the fact that the URI and John Templeton share a common belief in the wisdom of the world's religions. The Templeton Foundation's biography tells us "Hindus, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims have been on the panel of judges and have been recipients" of the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research of Discoveries about Spiritual Realities". The Templeton Prize is the largest monetary award in the world, exceeding the Nobel in cash value by design. Templeton is quoted as saying that there are other persons alive today "to whom God is revealing further holy truths," and the website tells us that "The John Templeton Foundation donates to many enterpreneuers, trying various methods for over one hundred-fold more spiritual information, especially through science research to supplement the wonderful ancient scriptures of all religions."
While he has been a lifelong supporter of the Presbyterian church, serving on the "board of the Princeton Theological Seminary, the largest Presbyterian seminary, for 42 years." He has also served on the board of the American Bible Society.
Given his financial wherewithall, the prestige of the Templeton Prize, his influence on the Princeton Seminary, this man has had an impact on religious thinking in America today.
Investment University, "A special publication of The Oxford Club", provides "Sir John Templeton's 5-Step Strategy For Financial Success". Take a look at number 5 - "Minimize your taxes". How did he earn all that cash? One strategy that helped was a decision he made in the 1960s. Templeton was born in the small town of Winchester, Tennessee, making him an American citizen by birth. However, he
made a controversial decision. He decided to renounce his U.S. citizenship and move to the Bahamas, where there is no income tax or investment tax. He became a British citizen, and now a Bahamian citizen, and lives tax-free (the Bahamas gets its revenue from high import duties and corporate/trust fees).
Interestingly, his investment record improved markedly after he stopped worrying about the tax consequences of his investment decisions. As a result of tax-free compounding, Sir John Templeton is worth several billion dollars today, and is one of the wealthiest men alive.
However, Templeton does not recommend that American investors follow his lead and switch allegiance to a tax haven such as the Bahamas (it's almost impossible for an American to become a Bahamian citizen today).
Returning to a source I quoted yesterday, the article in Wired, June 1997, we can learn something more about his philanthropic interests. Templeton Foundation has supported a study at Harvard's Mind-Body Medical Institute that focuses on the effectiveness of prayer. Wired tells us
Ironically, this sort of research threatens to despiritualize religion, transforming divine answers to prayers into merely the physiological consequences of beneficial mental states. Harper, at the Templeton Foundation, believes that it should be possible to pinpoint the parts of the brain that are active during worship, and to help figure out how to enhance the activity of these religious organs. "You can basically look at somebody like Mother Teresa," says Harper, "and make testable hypotheses about how a religious conviction develops into a habit of mind and then becomes programmed into very specific circuits in the brain." These studies can lead to better spiritual technologies, including, perhaps, neurochemical aids. After all, anybody who prays regularly knows that it is easier some days than others. Why shouldn't Eli Lilly and Merck compete to produce drugs that stimulate religious concentration?
The question is a valid one considering Templeton's wealth and support of laissez-faire capitalism. The Libertarians would agree. They have long been working to change America's drug policies. In an article at LewRockwell.com Walter Block spells out all of the negative consequences for legalizing drugs but concludes by saying " Yes, by all means, let us legalize drugs. (I told you I’m still a libertarian)."
Perhaps that explains the appearance of Fr. Joseph Ganssle, OFM on the Leadership Council of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative and on another board that is of particular interest to Roman Catholics. According to their website
Fr. Joseph Ganssle, OFM founded and ran IDPI’s predecessor, Religious Coalition for a Moral Drug Policy in the early 1990s. Father Ganssle, a Catholic priest, currently serves on the advisory board of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. He also founded a drug treatment program and served as its CEO for 25 years.
Here is his Acton role. Not surprisingly I noted that Reform Judaism is also represented on this Leadership Council.
The Templeton Foundation Press website provides another curious connection to Catholicism. Check out the "Articles of Distinction" website. Their About webpage tells us "The Science and Religion Articles of Distinction (SRAOD) Web site is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and administered by Templeton Foundation Press. This archive contains articles from a variety of sources." The Publications list includes Crisis Magazine, First Things, and Touchstone. The relationship between the two organizations is not clear to me. There may not be a financial connection. Or then again, there might be.
That's enough for today, but there's more. I'll save it for later.
