Post by Cary Friedman on Dec 11, 2006 17:37:31 GMT -5
read the entire article at www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/002663865.cfm
BETTER LIVING THROUGH BATMAN
Rabbi’s books turn the Caped Crusader into a nonreligious guide for spiritual health
By Brian Warmoth
Posted December 8, 2006
Adam West turned Batman into a quick-witted dancer. Frank Miller turned him into a compulsive psychotic. And Grant Morrison has turned him into a studly playboy. But rabbi and FBI consultant Cary A. Friedman has not only turned DC’s Dark Knight into a role model and spiritual example in his fifth book, Wisdom from the Batcave, he’s also used the Caped Crusader as the basis for a curriculum being used by law enforcement across the country.
“Batman for me was the only choice,†said Friedman. “I have a lifelong love affair and obsession with Batman.†Friedman grew up reading Batman comics like millions of kids over the course of the character’s history. His favorite runs include those by writers Steve Englehart, Denny O’Neil, David V. Reed and above all, Chuck Dixon.
“I saw that set of moral values come through in Chuck Dixon’s run very clearly,†the rabbi explained. Batman always stood out to him from the rest of the comic book superheroes because of his passion and discipline.
“The appeal that Batman had for me from the very beginning was that, unlike everybody else, he earned what he is,†Friedman stated. The author also found hope and possibility that inspired him to get to where he is now. “What he does is theoretically within the reach of any one person to do,†he said.
“I thought to myself throughout, ‘If I keep studying chemistry, and if I do my pushups and sit-ups every day, who knows what I could do?’†Friedman continued. A former engineer for General Electric, the New Jersey resident holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, a path he credits to the fascinations instilled in him from comic books.
Six years ago, the same stories also led him to become a public speaker who discusses the nonreligious spiritual values he found in Batman while he was growing up. And that practice led to even bigger surprise opportunities that cast Bob Kane’s cowled creation in a very unexpected new role.
“I was speaking somewhere giving a talk on spirituality,†Friedman recalled, “and at the end of the talk a fellow came over to me and said, ‘That was very spiritual. It wasn’t religious, and I’m not religious at all. But I appreciated everything you said. It made sense to me. Could you do that on a continuous, sustained basis?’†Friedman’s new fan worked for the FBI and was looking for someone willing to talk to law enforcement officials. He asked Friedman if he could provide some sort of evidence that he could turn his lecture into an ongoing program.
Friendman had published three books at that point and had an unpublished version of what would later become Wisdom from the Batcave. “I said, ‘I have a manuscript I’m going to send you,’†Friedman related. The FBI approved and invited him to a national conference during Police Memorial Week that year.
“The first day I was there, they were having a conference about undercover police officers. The guy who had been the inspiration for the movie ‘Donnie Brasco’ was there,†the author recalled. He was nervous at first, talking to real-life crimefighters as a man whose knowledge of that world came from comic books. But his pull list had taught him more than he realized.
“One of the people made reference to another agent who had ‘gone native,’†Friedman said. “Literally, that month—I think it was during Ed Brubaker’s or Brian K. Vaughan’s run—there was an issue where Nightwing’s talking to Batman and he talks about someone going native, and there was an editor’s note saying that means ‘someone going undercover that actually becomes who they were pretending to be because they’ve adapted the criminal value system and they’re lost to law enforcement.’ Someone used that reference, and I responded to them. So someone said to me, ‘You really do know things.’â€
That year, Friedman was on a panel for a four-hour broadcast sponsored by the FBI’s behavioral science unit. “People could call in or e-mail or fax from all over the world, and we would talk about spiritual nourishment and fortification for police officers,†he explained. “What they see is very draining. They see the worst of human beings. They see the worst of either what God allows to happen or doesn’t stop. They see things that tax their faith in their own ability to change the world, and they become very discouraged. They need to have some way to replenish their spiritual reserves, and they kill themselves or they drink and get divorced. They do all kinds of things.â€
The material he compiled for that broadcast eventually became another book, Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement, which Friedman said was used by the city of New Orleans to help motivate its police force on the one-year anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Though that text does not cite Batman as its inspiration, Friedman credits his childhood hero for it as well.
“There are 150 police officers every year who are killed in the line of duty and about eight times as many who kill themselves,†Friedman stated. Reaching out to them with a gospel of hope interpreted from the pages of Detective Comics has itself been part of his newfound mission. “There’s my own religious background, which is part of it, and my familiarity with the law enforcement world, but a hefty part of it is the comic book,†he said of the book.
“What religion is supposed to do is to inspire us and motivate us to make the world a better place,†Friedman said, “and hand-in-hand with the religious imagery and motivation was the Batman imagery.â€
BETTER LIVING THROUGH BATMAN
Rabbi’s books turn the Caped Crusader into a nonreligious guide for spiritual health
By Brian Warmoth
Posted December 8, 2006
Adam West turned Batman into a quick-witted dancer. Frank Miller turned him into a compulsive psychotic. And Grant Morrison has turned him into a studly playboy. But rabbi and FBI consultant Cary A. Friedman has not only turned DC’s Dark Knight into a role model and spiritual example in his fifth book, Wisdom from the Batcave, he’s also used the Caped Crusader as the basis for a curriculum being used by law enforcement across the country.
“Batman for me was the only choice,†said Friedman. “I have a lifelong love affair and obsession with Batman.†Friedman grew up reading Batman comics like millions of kids over the course of the character’s history. His favorite runs include those by writers Steve Englehart, Denny O’Neil, David V. Reed and above all, Chuck Dixon.
“I saw that set of moral values come through in Chuck Dixon’s run very clearly,†the rabbi explained. Batman always stood out to him from the rest of the comic book superheroes because of his passion and discipline.
“The appeal that Batman had for me from the very beginning was that, unlike everybody else, he earned what he is,†Friedman stated. The author also found hope and possibility that inspired him to get to where he is now. “What he does is theoretically within the reach of any one person to do,†he said.
“I thought to myself throughout, ‘If I keep studying chemistry, and if I do my pushups and sit-ups every day, who knows what I could do?’†Friedman continued. A former engineer for General Electric, the New Jersey resident holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, a path he credits to the fascinations instilled in him from comic books.
Six years ago, the same stories also led him to become a public speaker who discusses the nonreligious spiritual values he found in Batman while he was growing up. And that practice led to even bigger surprise opportunities that cast Bob Kane’s cowled creation in a very unexpected new role.
“I was speaking somewhere giving a talk on spirituality,†Friedman recalled, “and at the end of the talk a fellow came over to me and said, ‘That was very spiritual. It wasn’t religious, and I’m not religious at all. But I appreciated everything you said. It made sense to me. Could you do that on a continuous, sustained basis?’†Friedman’s new fan worked for the FBI and was looking for someone willing to talk to law enforcement officials. He asked Friedman if he could provide some sort of evidence that he could turn his lecture into an ongoing program.
Friendman had published three books at that point and had an unpublished version of what would later become Wisdom from the Batcave. “I said, ‘I have a manuscript I’m going to send you,’†Friedman related. The FBI approved and invited him to a national conference during Police Memorial Week that year.
“The first day I was there, they were having a conference about undercover police officers. The guy who had been the inspiration for the movie ‘Donnie Brasco’ was there,†the author recalled. He was nervous at first, talking to real-life crimefighters as a man whose knowledge of that world came from comic books. But his pull list had taught him more than he realized.
“One of the people made reference to another agent who had ‘gone native,’†Friedman said. “Literally, that month—I think it was during Ed Brubaker’s or Brian K. Vaughan’s run—there was an issue where Nightwing’s talking to Batman and he talks about someone going native, and there was an editor’s note saying that means ‘someone going undercover that actually becomes who they were pretending to be because they’ve adapted the criminal value system and they’re lost to law enforcement.’ Someone used that reference, and I responded to them. So someone said to me, ‘You really do know things.’â€
That year, Friedman was on a panel for a four-hour broadcast sponsored by the FBI’s behavioral science unit. “People could call in or e-mail or fax from all over the world, and we would talk about spiritual nourishment and fortification for police officers,†he explained. “What they see is very draining. They see the worst of human beings. They see the worst of either what God allows to happen or doesn’t stop. They see things that tax their faith in their own ability to change the world, and they become very discouraged. They need to have some way to replenish their spiritual reserves, and they kill themselves or they drink and get divorced. They do all kinds of things.â€
The material he compiled for that broadcast eventually became another book, Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement, which Friedman said was used by the city of New Orleans to help motivate its police force on the one-year anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Though that text does not cite Batman as its inspiration, Friedman credits his childhood hero for it as well.
“There are 150 police officers every year who are killed in the line of duty and about eight times as many who kill themselves,†Friedman stated. Reaching out to them with a gospel of hope interpreted from the pages of Detective Comics has itself been part of his newfound mission. “There’s my own religious background, which is part of it, and my familiarity with the law enforcement world, but a hefty part of it is the comic book,†he said of the book.
“What religion is supposed to do is to inspire us and motivate us to make the world a better place,†Friedman said, “and hand-in-hand with the religious imagery and motivation was the Batman imagery.â€