 the
Skeptic's Dictionary Newsletter
46
September 9, 2004
I realized early on that it is detailed
scientific knowledge which makes certain religious beliefs untenable. A
knowledge of the true age of the earth and of the fossil record makes it
impossible for any balanced intellect to believe in the literal truth of
every part of the Bible in the way that fundamentalists do. --Francis
Crick
In this issue: A new essay on energy medicine, a
new entry on supplements, a new chapter for an old book, and a few other
changes; some comments on Lee Strobel's The Case for
Faith; ID returns to Kansas schools;
some feedback from Australia, Estonia, and western
Pennsylvania; an atheist dating service;
Peter Lamont interview; a cure for
whatever ails you; promising new program from NOVA;
Carla Baron exposed; New Age
Gnostics; herbal remedies; and
The Skeptic's Toolbox.
Changes to The Skeptic's Dictionary or Refuge
Since the last newsletter I posted
an essay on energy
medicine that is a response to an article that appeared in the Los
Angeles Times on the same subject.
I've posted a new entry on
supplements: vitamins, minerals, herbs, & "natural" products.
I've also posted an
essay by Greg Haskins, who was kind enough to create a 14-page "guide to
critical thinking" based on The Skeptic's Dictionary and my
Becoming a Critical Thinker. (This past summer I revised the critical
thinking text. Chapter one is
available for
preview now. The preview requires Adobe Reader. The second edition of the book should be out next spring.)
The entry on Freud has
been updated to include links to three essays on the issue of Freud's
science or lack of it. Normal Holland defends Freud. Frederick Crews replies
to Holland and Robert Wilcocks piles on about Holland's "wretched piece."
The Aleister Crowley entry
was updated to include a notice that Crowley came in number 73 when Britons
voted on the top 100 Britons of all time in 2002. I also include a link to
an article on Crowley in
The
Guardian by Tim Cummings.
The Atlantis entry was
updated to include
a link to an article about the theory of Swedish geologist Ulf
Erlingsson that Ireland is the site of the real Atlantis.
I also posted several comments on items reported in the mass media:
The Case for Faith Pretty Weak
A reader recommended Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith: A Journalist
Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity. I bought it and
have read the list of the so-called toughest objections and I've read the
entire response to the first objection, characterized by Mr. Strobel thusly:
Since evil and suffering exist, a loving God cannot.
I feel a moral
obligation to respond.
Neither a logical atheist nor a logical Zoroastrian would make the
case against Christianity by maintaining that the existence of evil
and suffering are logically incompatible with a loving God. A Zoroastrian
believes there are two basic principles in the universe, a principle of
goodness and a principle of evil. The principle of goodness accounts for the
good in Nature and the principle of evil accounts for evil. It doesn't
follow from those assumptions that the existence of evil implies either no
God or a non-loving God. A logical atheist would not maintain that evil and
suffering are incompatible with the concept of a loving God as long as
loving is not defined in such a way as to make it impossible by definition.
But if the concept of a loving God means that there might be some unknown or
unfathomable purpose that this loving God has for all the evil and suffering
in the universe, then the concepts are compatible.
Strobel's lengthy response to this objection is little more than a straw
man argument. In fact, it is a response to Charles Templeton's Farewell
to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith. Templeton believes
there cannot be a loving God given the rotten state of our world. Believers
sometimes feel a loving God is present when they witness something extremely
beautiful, like a newborn child or one of the grander sights of Nature. But
that feeling provides no more logical support for belief in a loving God
than the feeling of revulsion at a starving child provides logical support
for the view that there cannot be a loving God. Strobel might have cast some
light on faith had he noted that there are two fundamentally distinct
approaches to God questions: the emotional and the logical. Templeton's
approach is emotional. Emotional responses tell us little more than why a
particular person feels the way he does about an issue. Strobel's response
is logical. He seeks out a Catholic philosopher, Peter Kreeft, who can
easily demonstrate that there is no logical contradiction in maintaining
that a perfect being might have a reason for creating a universe with evil
and suffering. Kreeft's even written a book about it: Making Sense out of
Suffering.
If you already believe in a loving God, you will respond to evil and
suffering emotionally but not in the same way as if you don't believe in a
loving God. If you begin without any strong belief about the existence of
God, it is very unlikely that you will appeal to the existence of evil
and suffering as evidence in support of the view that there is probably a
loving God behind it all.
Strobel's naiveté about philosophy will probably endear him to readers
who are equally unsophisticated, but anyone who's gone through Intro to
Philosophy will not find Kreeft's attempt to use the existence of evil as
evidence in favor of the existence of God to be that wondrous. The
argument goes something like this: Evil exists and outrages me.
Therefore, I recognize there is a difference between good and evil.
Therefore, I must have a standard by which I judge good and evil. That
standard is God. The argument fails because it begs the question. It
assumes God exists and is the standard by which good and evil are judged in
order to prove that God exists. An atheist might maintain that the standard
is feeling or utility, not God. Atheists don't deny there is a real
difference between good and evil, but we deny that we need God, loving or
unloving, to either determine what that difference is or to help us figure
out what we consider good and evil.
It is true, however, that there have been philosophers who have argued
that God can't be all-Good and all-Powerful because of the existence of evil
and suffering. The argument states that if God is all-Good, he would prevent
evil if he could. So either he can't and isn't all-powerful. Or, he can but
won't, in which case he is not all-Good. Again, this argument fails because
one can imagine God as having some good reason for allowing evil and
suffering.
Personally, I reject Christianity and all other religions not because
evil and suffering exist but because none of the stories religions are based
on resonate at all with me. Stay tuned. Strobel next takes on miracles and
refutes the argument that since miracles contradict science, they cannot
be true.
Intelligent Design in Kansas Again
You may recall that the folks in Kansas had a school board that voted in
intelligent design a few years ago. Then an election followed that left a
majority of the state board of education in favor of teaching just science
in the biology classroom. Half of the 10 board members are up for
re-election every two years. Now, another election has tipped the scales
back in favor of the ID folks.
In District 6, Kathy Martin, an ID Republican and retired science
teacher from Clay Center, defeated incumbent Bruce Wyatt of Salina by a
vote of 22,432 (61 percent) to 14,393 (39 percent), according to
unofficial returns on August 4. Martin will have no opponent in the
November election and will return the board to a 6-4 majority for the ID
folks.
Feedback
Linda Harris writes: "I actually bought a copy
[of The Skeptic's Dictionary] from Boffins bookshop here in Perth, Western Australia only yesterday and I can't
put it down!" I'm glad to hear it, Linda. Another reader was surprised
to find a copy in a bookstore in Estonia. Anybody find a copy in India or
Saudi Arabia? *** D. S. Fischer writes: "Just thought I'd drop a comment
about Sylvia Browne's prowess [as a psychic detective]. I am originally from
Western Pennsylvania and a couple of years back there was a case there where
an elderly woman was missing. The woman's relatives got Sylvia involved and
Sylvia claimed she saw her in a nursing home in Florida. As it turns out,
they found the woman buried in a shallow grave a couple of miles from where
she lived. The last I heard the deceased woman's relatives were going to sue
Sylvia for emotional distress. On another note I just bought my 8th copy of
the Skeptic's Dictionary. I have a habit of leaving it on my coffee
table and visitors to my home always want to borrow it. I end up giving it
to them, I feel it's a small sacrifice to end ignorance. Keep fighting the
good fight." The news about Sylvia doesn't surprise me, but every time I
get a letter from someone who has bought multiple copies of The Skeptic's
Dictionary to distribute to friends, relatives, libraries, etc., I am
moved and inspired to keep fighting the good fight, as D. S. puts it.
Dating Site for Atheists
Adam Pedersen has
established Secularity.com as a
place for atheists to meet. "Secularity is a brand new meeting ground for
the secular community. Meet compatible people who share a belief in the
human spirit--not the supernatural! Membership is free to
atheists and other
freethinkers." I don't know what Adam is charging believers who want to
meet atheists for fun and conversion. Interview with Peter Lamont
I didn't interview Dr. Lamont, but this interview with a former president of
the Edinburgh Magic Circle is quite interesting. He is the one who tracked
down the Indian rope trick
hoax. I highly recommend you check out this two-part interview.
Part one (on
magic and psychic phenomena) and
part two (how
magicians use psychology as an important tool in their performances and what
constitutes magic.).
Molo-Cure
I received an offer from Melissa Ritchie, Executive Advertising/Marketing Director
of Molo Cure to advertise on my
website and pay me $10 for each sale
I generate. What is Molo Cure? According to the Molo website
"A.M.P. Molo-Cure® is not “Aloe Vera” as Aloe is commonly understood. A.M.P.
Molo-Cure is the STABILIZED healing agent, which has been extracted from the
Aloe Plant. It takes approximately Eight gallons of Aloe Vera to make just
one ounce of A.M.P. Molo-Cure®. (1000 to 1 potency.)"
According to the website, this A.M.P. Molo-Cure will cure
just about anything that ails you. It is the panacea we've all been looking
for. Plus, it has no side effects! I was especially impressed by how Molo-Cure
informed me of how screwed up the AMA and the FDA are! It was a great
temptation but I had to say no to Ms. Ritchie.
Origins
Origins, NOVA's two-part
four-hour special about the origins of the universe, earth, and life, airs
on September 28-29, 8 to 10 PM.
Andy Knoll
discusses how life began. This looks like one of the few don't miss
television programs.
Carla Baron
A group affiliated with the Center for
Inquiry, called the Independent
Investigations Group, has issued a report on the claims of
self-proclaimed psychic detective Carla
Baron. She's appeared recently on Court TV and was featured on ABC's
Primetime Thursday. The investigation found that her claims are unfounded or
fabricated. The group investigated fourteen specific cases that Baron claims
to have worked on, including the O.J. Simpson, JonBenet Ramsey, and the
Elizabeth Smart cases.
If you haven't heard of Baron, she's the one who appeared on a British
television show called "Dead Famous" where she allegedly
channeled the spirit of
Jim Morrison. (I wish I were making this up!)
New Age Gnosticism
I received an email from someone concerned about his son getting involved in
a group of New Age Gnostics. I checked out their website at
www.mysticweb.org and found a group
devoted to OBEs in the form of
astral projection. The
group is devoted to anything that can get them out of this ordinary world
into a parallel universe where things are much better.
Lucid dreaming is high on
their list of things to learn. I think the attraction to such groups goes
way beyond the desire to travel that many young people have. The members of
this group are convinced that there is a double universe to the one we
experience and that each of us travels to the astral plane when we sleep.
Dreaming is an OBE. They practice visualization and creative imaging to take
them on trips from Australia (where they are based) to Egypt and other
exotic places without having to get on an airplane. (It's a nice way to
avoid all the inconveniences of air travel, especially the new security
measures that require elderly people to be humiliated by wand waving agents.
I don't know about you but I feel a lot more secure when I see a cane taken
from an old man and placed on the conveyer belt for deep analysis.) Anyway,
back to the Gnostics. That's what they call themselves, though they don't
trace Gnosticism back to ancient times. Rather, their hero is
Samael Aun Weor, whose parents called
him Victor Manuel Gomez Rodriguez, (1917-1977). He published over
sixty books on Gnosis and the Esoteric Path., books on
tarot,
tantra, astral travel,
kabalah and dozens of other
occult subjects.
The hope that there is something more than this ordinary existence drives
many people to seek transcendence. A little ignorance of physiology and
a few other matters leaves them vulnerable to those who offer followers the
path to transcendence via dreams, visualization, meditation, etc. Wally
Sampson recently turned me on to a book called
The Psychology of Transcendence by Andrew Neher. The book might help
seekers understand what they are going through without feeling foolish.
Neher explains various physiological and conditioning effects in
transcendental experiences. He explains how such experiences must be
understood in their cultural context. He then relates the science to various
mystical, psychic, and occult experiences. I think this would be a good book
to help people understand that there may be naturalistic explanations for
their extraordinary experiences. He does this without belittling or
underestimating the value or power of the experiences.
Jim Lippard
comments: "The approach of [Andrew Neher] is open-minded, to the extent of going too far.
For example, claims of abilities to hear microwaves, or that some have
hearing so sensitive that they can hear the subvocalized motion of the vocal
cords which normally accompany thought (in effect hearing others thinking),
are accepted uncritically. Aside from this, the book provides a unique, and
very useful, approach to the investigation of extraordinary claims."
Ginkgo Biloba and AIDS
Eric from South Africa writes:
I thought you might be interested to know that my mother was recently
hospitalized due to a severe allergic reaction after taking ginkgo biloba.
It is worrisome that the purveyors of ginkgo biloba do not provide
information about the possible dangers of taking this substance.
This recalls the African Potato (hypoxis hemerocallidea) which was
promoted as an immune system booster. The South African Minister of
Health, on several occasions, spoke of the virtues of this plant, and
recommended it for people infected with the HIV virus.
However, it has been known for some time that consumption of hypoxis
damages human bone marrow and suppresses the immune system. According to
Professor Patrick Bouic of the University of Stellenbosch, a study into
hypoxis was stopped a decade ago, after its effects on bone marrow became
apparent.
AIDS dissident and advisor to the South African Health Minister, Dr.
Robert Giraldo, recently recommended that HIV+ patients take a mixture of
olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and African potato.
To recommend that HIV+ people consume a substance known to suppress the
immune system in a country with an estimated 7 million HIV+ people,
strikes me as being criminally irresponsible.
It strikes me that way, too, Eric. As Randi might say: eye of newt, toe of frog....
Readers might be interested in this article on the
dangers of so-called "dietary supplements." A young woman was covered
head-to-toe in a rash, complete with itchy pustules on the soles of her feet
after switching multivitamin brands to one with added ginkgo. In rare cases,
according to this article, ginkgo can be contaminated with a poison ivy-like
substance.
I have written before
about the harmful policies regarding AIDS of South African President Thabo
Mbeki. On September 5, 2000, I reported that Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South
Africa's Minister of Health, was spreading the word that the
Illuminati introduced
AIDS to Africa through the smallpox vaccine in 1978 to reduce the African
population as part of a worldwide conspiracy. He also claimed that the cure
is known but is being kept secret until the death goal is met. Take two
cloves of garlic and call me in the morning.
The Skeptic's Toolbox
I met Wally Sampson at the Skeptic's
Toolbox, where he was one of several teachers for a very enlightening
and enjoyable weekend in Eugene, Oregon, at the
CSICOP-sponsored conference in
mid-August. Wally
brought up the idea of a list of key books that should be in libraries and one of the
books he mentioned was Neher's book on
The Psychology of Transcendence. This is a great idea.
Unfortunately, the book is out-of-print, as are two other books I would like
to see in libraries,
Jim Alcock's Parapsychology: Science or Magic (Pergamon Press 1981)
and
Milbourne Christopher's ESP, Seers & Psychics (Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
1970). I have my own list of "essential" books
posted online.
Naturally, it's biased and personal. (By placing my own book at the top of
the list I do not mean to imply that it is the best or most essential. My
book is at the top only because it is my website and, like anyone else who
has published a book, I like to promote my work.)
Those who attended the Toolbox will probably recognize the influence that
Loren Pankratz's talk on hypnosis had on my essay on energy medicine. The
title of this year's Toolbox was "The You You Don't Know." Participants were
presented with the latest research in cognitive science, social psychology,
and neuroscience regarding ways in which our thoughts and actions are
controlled by brain processes that are beyond our awareness. The tendency to
rationalize, to fabricate reasons to justify our beliefs or actions after
the fact is just one of the interesting consequences of our complicated
psychological makeup. Another is the tendency to falsely attribute the cause
of our behavior to some outside agency, often an occult or paranormal one.
Being unaware of nonconscious influences on our thoughts often leads us to
misinterpret experiences. Of course, misperception and distorted memories
also play a role in our rationalizations and misinterpretations of
experience. Our lack of knowledge about basic sensory processes, the
illusions created by our brain that allow us to perceive a colored,
three-dimensional, rather stable world, and many other factors that affect
our ability to understand our own experience were just some of the topics
that were covered at the workshop.
One of the more interesting moments of the weekend occurred when Ray Hyman
held up a book by Webster Riggs, who attended the workshop, entitled
The You You Don't Know: Covert Influences on Your Behavior published
by Prometheus Books. Ray swears that he and the other organizers did not
consciously choose the title because of the book. We all agreed that this
was a classic case of
cryptomnesia. My wife and I happened to be sitting at the same table as
Webster on the night of our banquet. I found him so interesting that I
ordered his book. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to read it yet but
Webster assured us that there is something in the book to offend everyone.
I think it would be a rare person who could come away from this workshop
without questioning how much control we have over our beliefs, not just our
paranormal and supernatural beliefs, but all our beliefs. On the
other hand, as
Jerry
Andrus put it: we can only be fooled because of our wondrous, beautiful
brains.
For more on The Skeptic's Toolbox, read my
review of the 2003 sessions.
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