Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The miracle we need is the extinction of ignorance

When religionists jump up in joy upon hearing a supposed medical miracle what I hear their consciousness/unconscious telling me is:
I'm really so hungry for signs. So without even having the foggiest idea of the thousands of medical events occurring daily worldwide, I find this one--in my medical and scientific ignorance--to be extraordinary and see it as a miracle--a supernaturally caused event. Forget the fact that this medical event is (merely) a statistical outlier (occurring at the tail end of the bell curve--the positive end of course, not the negative). And perish the thought that I'm calling this a miracle not because there is evidence for the supernatural but because I am--in my breathtaking ignorance again of course--at a loss for the real explanation. No one else seems to know or wants to provide a natural explanation, therefore, in unabashed hubris I declare that I do know and that it was caused by G, and mind you not just any G, but my G. It is a miracle because I want to believe it is and I say it is. Now f**k off and leave me to my delusions.

Folks, beware of this mind virus. Prevent infection and save your mind. Inoculate yourself at the nearest critical thinking clinic.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Talking to the wind

Sit down, close your eyes, relax, and be mindful of your breathing. Now repeat after me: "Kalenbo utam, mitao grekkang tho. Kalenbo utam, mitao grekkang tho! Kalenbo utam, mitao grekkang tho!!" Peace unto thee. Your stage 4 cancer is cured.

Can anyone explain and prove to me how mere concentration and utterance of words (in whatever language, terrestrial or otherwise, fictive or otherwise) can possibly affect malignant cells?

If chants and thoughts are indeed effective in curing ailments and disease why then is a faith healing "clinic" in New Zealand offering patients free prayer therapy but advises its patients "to not stop regular medical treatment"? If mumbo jumbo actually can zap cancer et al., what need is there for medication? And if the patient does get well, shouldn't the drugs receive the applause?

I'm sorry but I cannot have any respect for the cockamamie belief in supernatural friends (and in a supernatural family where the father is the son and vice versa) and belief that talking to them will get them to come thru as benefactors--in other words, genies. On the contrary, I only have unbridled derision for such beliefs. In the context of 21st century life, they're pure malarkey.

The anecdotes of cure these faith healers provide are no different from those of other forms of quackery. I could very well market pure water (without saying it's just water of course) aggressively and enthusiastically as a cancer cure, and after I've duped a few dozen into buying, I'd be able to glean more than a couple of positive testimonials which I can then use to further promote my absolutely bogus product.