Rupert Sheldrake, researcher and proponent of parapsychological (or “psy”) phenomena such as telepathy was non-fatally stabbed in the leg at a speaking appearance in Japan by a possibly schizophrenic attendee who was apparently displeased with some of Sheldrake’s expressed views.
Sheldrake is well known for parapsychology books such as “The Sense of Being Stared At”.
Hat Tip: Skepchick
This short video features former high-ranking Scientologists, Robert and Stacy (Brooks) Young, discussing the application of hypnosis and mind control in the Cult of Scientology. The methods are said to be geared at cultivating the ability to control others and be controlled by others.
For more posts on Scientology, click here.
Page ONE of Ultra-Christian Bob Jones University’s Biology for Christian Schools reads:
(1) “‘Whatever the Bible says is so; whatever man says may or may not be so,’ is the only [position] a Christian can take . . . .”
(2) “If [scientific] conclusions contradict the Word of God, the conclusions are wrong, no matter how many scientific facts may appear to back them.”
(3) “Christians must disregard [scientific hypotheses or theories] that contradict the Bible.”
With a first page like this, it is clear that this book is little more than programming for the cultivation of what should be known as a psychological disorder: dogmatic theism, which may be the most prevalent form of the broader should-be psychological disorder, dogmatism. What the religious right community is doing is full-throttle brainwashing, with the end result ideally being a person who is completely unwilling to think outside of a pathetically narrow and obviously misguided 2000 year old box. In a world that is so divided along religious and cultural lines, how dangerous is it that children be taught that no matter what, their Bible-based beliefs are necessarily 100% correct and everyone is not only wrong, but is hell-bound wrong?
Hat Tip: John Pieret
In Just another cult, PalMD of The Denialism Blog on ScienceBlogs writes about a case in which a young lady who had fallen deep into the depths of acute schizophrenic psychosis because her parents were Scientologists who had fallen hook line and sinker for the cult’s anti-Psychiatry rhetoric. Having been denied access to medical treatment for so long, the 18-year-old had become “completely disconnected from reality” and “was hearing voices, screaming, picking at her clothes and skin, unwashed, and unable to have any coherent interaction with others”. It was this desperate state of affairs that finally led the parents to bring her to a hospital.
Prior to bringing her to the hospital, the parents turned to their Cult of Scientology, who informed them that their daughter could be returned to normalcy using the “church’s” (un-scientific) applied philosophies. They were also told that medical psychiatry would destroy any chance of recovery.
“Psychiatrists had told the parents that they could expect a lifetime of illness, hospitalizations, maybe a job, maybe a life in a group home, and, if there was some luck, a somewhat normal life. Maybe. The church assured them that, through their healing programs, their child would return to normalcy. The demons haunting her would be purged, and she could have the life of a normal, young woman. For a price…
So, as we medicated the patient, in an attempt to reduce her fear and hallucinations, the parents came to the hospital enraged, sure that psychiatry was designed to destroy their child. Also, as parents, they felt it was within their rights to take their child, fly her to California, and enroll her in a Scientology treatment program. But the patient was 18. Without her explicit consent, they had no right to take her out of the hospital until she was stabilized. As any parent would, they had trouble understanding this. I spent hours on the phone and at the bedside with them. Since the parents could not serve as legitimate surrogates for the patient, it was necessary to file papers for involuntary psychiatric commitment. And from there arose the next problem.
My residents contacted the staff psychiatrist. He refused to certify the patient. They paged me. I called the chair of the department. He was at first quite vague, then he explained that Scientologists sue psychiatrists…a lot. But what of your duty, I asked him. He was clearly nervous about the entire case, and told me the rest was up to me.”
For more posts on Scientology, click here.
In an article in Wired, Jack Pitt discusses the research of Laurentian University Cognitive Neuroscientist Dr. Michael Persinger on the “spiritual” brain. Persinger and colleagues have developed an apparatus which by altering electromagnetic brain fields can induce “spiritual” experiences, such as “seeing God” or feeling an altered sense of self and a sense of oneness with the universe. At the time of Pitt’s writing (November, 1999), Persinger had “tickled the temporal lobes” of over 900 people. According to Persinger, different subjects would attribute the unusual phenomenological experiences to their culture’s endorsed spiritual referents (e.g., Jesus, Elijah, the Virgin Mary, Mohammed, the Sky Spirit). Some subjects had more Freudian interpretations (e.g., describing the presence of a one’s grandfather), while UFOists sometimes gave reports that sounded like an alien-abduction story. What appears to be happening is that Persinger’s “God Helmet” is creating the sense of an external presence, which participants sometimes label in accordance with previously held supernatural beliefs. Persinger is pictured left setting up one of his many subjects. Read the rest of this entry »
According to Hebrew University (Jerusalem) cognitive psychologist Benny Shanon, Moses was very probably under the influence of psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments and when he saw the burning bush. In a study published in the Time and Mind Journal of Philosophy, Shanon says that such mind-altering substances played an integral role in the religious rites of Israelites in Biblical times (1). Shanon points out that the acacia tree, mentioned frequently in the Bible, contains one of the most psychedelic substances known to man. Shanon developed this theory after experiencing firsthand the effects of a hallucinogen, ayahuasca, used in religious rituals in Brazil. The experiences of Moses include the hallmarks of a psychelic experience.
(Picture from: The Daily Mail)
Deric Bownds posted on interesting new research showing that language can affect even low-level more hard-wired aspects of our cognition, including colour perception and memory. Language as a vehicle of culture may be even more influential on our cognition than previously suspected. Read on for discussion of the findings and broader issues in cognition. Read the rest of this entry »
Associate Press (via AZ Central) reports that the University of Oxford is about to embark on a nearly $4 million research program investigating why mankind believes in God(s). The US-based John Templeton Foundation providing the financial resources that will enable the Oxford-based Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion to gather anthropologists, theologians, philosophers and other academics together for three years to study “whether belief in a divine being is a part of mankind’s makeup.” Read the rest of this entry »
In this post I will argue on behalf of the legality of abortion. I will consider the issues from the stance of the unborn fetus, the parents, and society. I will also briefly consider the issue of abortion in the case of rape. I will not, however, consider abortion from the perspective of religion. While I am perfectly willing to consider moral arguments from religious texts, I will not give the arguments any special priority simply because they came from the Bible, the Qur’an, or some other religious text. My argument will revolve around rational consideration of human and societal well-being. Read the rest of this entry »
