title: The Rise of New Religions: Nietzsche, Wilber, and Meme Theory
author:  Andrea Diem-Lane 
description: Andrea Diem-Lane is a Professor of Philosophy at Mt. San Antonio College. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she did her doctoral studies under Professor Ninian Smart. Professor Diem-Lane received a B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis on Brain Research from the University of California, San Diego, where she did pioneering visual cortex research under the tutelage of Dr. V.S. Ramachandran. Dr. Diem-Lane is the author of several books including an interactive textbook on religion entitled Glimpses of the Transcendent and an interactive book on the famous Einstein-Bohr debate over the implications of quantum theory entitled Spooky Physics. Her most recent book is Darwin's DNA: An Introduction to Evolutionary Philosophy.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  Tortued
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Part One
  
  
  Battle not with monsters lest you become a monster,
  
  
  and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.  
    
  
  
  -Friedrich Nietzsche, _Beyond Good and Evil_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter One
  
  
  _April 17, 1990_ _  
    
   _Professor Weem commented on my paper to__
  
   _ _
  
  
  the entire class today. He said it was the best discussion of ancient
  religions
  
  
  he'd seen in all his years as a teacher. All of the girls in class hate me
  even
  
  
  more than they did before. Everyone has a crush on Professor Weem. Even though
  
  
  __
  
  __I'm learning more here than I ever imagined, sometimes I just want to go
  home._  
    
  _  
  
  
  Above me, stained glass windows loomed in the darkness, fractured pictures,
  
  
  casting multi-colored bits of light over the wooden pews. Back when the
  
  
  
  
  
  Sol
  
  
  Solis
  
  
  School was first built,
  
  
  and it was a monastery, and this building was the church. Now we used it for
  
  
  assemblies and performances. I was lying back on one of 