Category Archives: Mysticism

My Heinlein quote did not go unnoticed. I was challenged on Hobbes, a local forum, to defend the charge that religion is the “oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.” As if I didn’t have better things to do, I stayed up half the night writing a 3000 word response on the topic of “Prostitution vs. Organized Religion: Which is more productive?” Enjoy – if you dare.
Continue reading “Prostitution vs. Organized Religion” »

I found these gems on some fundie site and just couldn’t keep them to myself:

Continue reading “Which fallacy?” »

I realize that some of the views expressed in this blog are pretty radical, so I’m not surprised to see a large number of flames and negative remarks in my comments from all sides of the political and social spectrum. I tolerate them because the arguments presented by my opposition are often so unsubstantial and dishonest that they bolster my case by contrast. However, I make exception and delete outright lies that a reasonably intelligent person could fall for. One such example is the comment to my last entry, which features a numbers of “quotes from the Talmud” that can be found on a number of websites on the web, and which at least one of my friends has mistaken as a legitimate site.

Well, to clear things up, any such quotes are blatant lies fueled by anti-semitism. For exposés, go here, here, or here. For real quotes from the Talmud, go here or here. The Talmud is an extremely complex document virtually impossible to translate into English, but having studied it myself, I can assure you that such “proof” of hatred of gentiles has been a reflection of the anti-semites own feelings ever since the middle ages. I am no friend of any form of mysticism, but I think the enormous intellectual and economic success of Jewish communities all over the diaspora is indicative of the pro-life philosophy espoused in the Talmud, especially when contrasted to the Augustinian tradition of violent hatred for human life and happiness in the medieval Church. To conclude, I offer this (real) quote from the Talmud: “Live well. It is the greatest revenge.”

Reports MSNBC: “Calls for the U.S. government to be more forthcoming on what it knows about UFOs increased following the release of the poll results. That RoperASW study, sponsored by the SCI FI Channel, shows that 72% of Americans believe the government is not telling the public everything it knows about UFO activity.”

I’m inclined to believe that the majority of Americans actually think that little green men have come millions of light years just to give anal probes to hick farmers. Now, maybe I could see little green men coming millions of light years to give anal probes to VIP’s like politicians (heck, I’d be all for that!) but hicks?? And why do they always crash in the middle of nowhere? If aliens were going to come to earth, wouldn’t they want to check out developed and populated areas like NYC instead of the middle or the New Mexico-frikkin desert?

But seriously, the UFO-mania is indicative of a pervasive mysticism that comes from a today’s flawed philosophical view of the world. Unlike more primitive civilizations, the citizens of America and other industrial nations have witnessed the power of the human mind to create great things, but instead of embracing the creations that have increased the lifespan and prosperity of every man and woman, they have shrunk back in fear of technology and progress and reverted to what can only be called primitivism.

Most “experts” often say that technological progress is happening “too fast” for the average person, but this is utter nonsense. Technologically, I live light-years ahead of most people – not only because computers are my life, but because I eagerly look forward to all the technological innovations that promise to make life better and easier for all. Yet I suffer no techno-phobia, no “deep moral questions,” no desire to embrace environmentalism and yearn for a “simpler time” in which I would live a hard, short, brutal life, but remain “close to nature.” No, these are the acts not of a civilized human but of a caveman dancing around a fire and kneeling to his witch doctor, not someone who employs tools to shape the world to his desires, but a man who is at the mercy of whatever unknown and mystical forces affect his life.

The difference is of course philosophical. I have confidence that the reality I perceive is the only reality possible, that no other mystical realm exists, and that only by employing our minds, not divine (UFO or otherwise) intervention can we improve our well-being. And like me, the men of the mind in every age rejected the mysticism of their day in whatever format, whether it was witchcraft, quackery, environmentalism, or UFO-mania.

To contribute to $1 Million Psychic Challenge, I hereby declare a prize of $500, out of my own funds, to anyone that can demonstrate to me any sort of psychic, hypnotic, levitational, or any* other paranormal ability in a valid, repeatable scientific experiment.

Hello, Miss Cleo? John Edwards? Uri Geller? Santa? Pope John Paul ? — I’m waiting.

Feel free to spread the word…but I’m not expecting too many inquiries…