The Inevitability and Necessity of Ritual

DRC Sponsor: Don Holmertz

Dr. Laird Edman, a cognitive psychologist and recently retired college professor, will talk to us on research he has done about why religious and secular rituals are so meaningful to us. Almost all important events in the life of a person or family, in communities, and even nations, of every culture and religion down through human history, are marked by some kind of ritual…even when we don’t notice we are doing it. He will show that while the reason why we do our rituals “this way” is usually lost to us over time, they are essential to who we are and where we belong by helping us with the meaning, changes, and challenges during our lives.

Dr. Erdman holds a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota. His research has been published in journals and books including The Psychology of Religion and Spirituality and The Oxford Handbook of the Cognitive Science of Religion. He has taught at various institutions and is presently a professor emeritus of psychology and a research professor for Northwestern College in Iowa, and also served as a visiting scholar at Oxford University. He is a member of the American Psychological Association's Council of Representatives and serves on the executive committee of the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

For more information on Dr. Erdman's research please visit his website at https://www.lairdedman.com.

---

**Please complete your meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advace to all members by email.