It Happened to Me: I Joined a Cult in College - xoJane

So yeah, as a teenager, way before I'd even enrolled in college, I was on a quest to figure out spiritual truth, confused, and in a sense, lost. I don't mean in the haven't-found-Jesus-way lost (although fundamental Christians might disagree).  No, I mean I wanted to be certain about my religious beliefs, not in some uncertain limbo where I just celebrated every holiday because it was a holiday. I really wanted to get the significance of it!

Growing up in the south, the lure of Christianity as the answer to my religious questions was inevitable. When I was a college freshman and spiritually curious as ever, I met the group of little zealots of which 'Hilary,’ a sophomore, was the queen bee. She immediately took an interest in me. And as all of my close friends from high school had gone on to different colleges, it was pure bad luck that this was the first big group of peers I called friends.

In real life, groups akin to the Hollywood-concocted Christian Jewels are hardly so black and white in their single-minded intentions. No, they're so much more sophisticated and calculating. Hilary was actually my friend for awhile, as were other members of the group, and it would be about six months of casual get-togethers and outings where religion was seldom discussed before the weirdness began.

,,,

The most harmful effect of any cult is its subtle infiltration of your consciousness and your way of interacting. Most detrimental to me was how deeply the experience made me question my own importance. 

If something good happened to me, I needed to attribute it to God. If something bad happened, it was either due to "Satan" or human sinfulness. Somewhere within that equation, I had stopped factoring in at all. Instead of feeling a holy oneness, for years I just wondered why, if I had no choice, was I even here?

It Happened to Me: I Joined a Cult in College - xoJane

Atheist minister fighting United Church’s effort to fire her - The Globe and Mail

Originally shared by Teresa MacBain, she adds The Step Beyond Fear for perspective:

One of my dear friends from The Clergy Project, Gretta Vosper, did exactly that. She is a pastor who finally submitted to what she knew was real and admitted it to her congregation. However, something amazing happened – instead of kicking her to the curb for her blasphemy, her congregation admitted that they were in the same place as she was. An entirely new journey began for them, one that is serving as a model for other secular congregations around the world today. Gretta and her congregation are living proof that you *can* continue to follow the parts of religious traditions that have value without the need for supernatural beliefs. They took that step beyond the fear, and found the ability to continue in community and fellowship. It can be done, and it’s fantastic when it works.

An ordained United Church of Canada minister who believes in neither God nor Bible said Wednesday she is prepared to fight an unprecedented attempt to boot her from the pulpit for her beliefs.

In an interview at her West Hill church, Rev. Gretta Vosper said congregants support her view that how you live is more important than what you believe in.

“I don’t believe in...the god called God,” Vosper said. “Using the word gets in the way of sharing what I want to share.”

Vosper, 57, who was ordained in 1993 and joined her east-end church in 1997, said the idea of an interventionist, supernatural being on which so much church doctrine is based belongs to an outdated world view.

What’s important, she says, is that her views hearken to Christianity’s beginnings, before the focus shifted from how one lived to doctrinal belief in God, Jesus and the Bible.

,,,

Things came to a head this year after she wrote an open letter to the church’s spiritual leader pointing out that belief in God can motivate bad things — a reference to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

“That didn’t go over well,” Vosper said. “(But) if we are going to continue to use language that suggests we get our moral authority from a supernatural source, any group that says that can trump any humanistic endeavour.”

Rev. David Allen, executive secretary of the Toronto Conference, said he took various concerns about Vosper to the church’s executive, which decided it wanted to investigate her fitness to be a minister.

,,,

Randy Bowes, board chairman at West Hill who led the search committee that hired Vosper, said he’s had no complaints from congregants.

People want to engage in critical thinking as they explore new ways of expressing their faith and values, Bowes said, and that conversation is “alive and rich” within the community.

Atheist minister fighting United Church’s effort to fire her - The Globe and Mail

Show Notes::Call it what it is,,,BULLSHIT!!

http://neuro-physio.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/stroke.jpg

As some of may be aware of, I recently suffered a stroke to which I am now in recovery.  It's slow going and I am looking at it as a new adventure.

Now I will admit there are many matters I am quite ignorant of because, well, it could never happen to me.  Having a stroke and dealing with the aftermath is one of those issues.  So off to Google I went (actually DuckDuck.go), to find basic information.  And boy was that a trip,,,, Facebook was quite helpful as well, but for another reason, that is the topic of which I am going to rant about.

The internet can kill my friends, and the fact that it is allowed carte blanche boggles my mind; but that is a whole other topic.


So how helpful was FB, well we have this gem "Natural Remedies to Reduce High Blood Pressure in 5 Minutes".   It starts out by stating, "One of the more dangerous diseases of modern age is the high blood pressure which is caused by increased stress, sleeps deprivation, obesity, salty food, smoking and increased consuming of alcohol."

No, no and no!! these are not causes but contributing factors. In "essential hypertension" which 95% of cases a HBP fall, the cause is UNKNOWN.

Might want to get proper medical advise as to what high blood pressure is because "the muscles get really tense, the blood vessels contract and the pressure increases" doesn't even begin to cover it. Your muscles have nothing to do with it.

As you might well guess, it devolves from there.

A second piece of medical woo was shared by a friend of the show with a warning for me to take my BP into consideration.  It was a photo post of the "New Zealand Journal of Natural Medicine" with all sorts of crap plastered on the cover,  In response, I noted, "are they trying to kill their readers?"

Which then led to a third piece of woo, a meme entitled Mind in Action:

Needless to say, I became quite irritated,,, Hell if I was in my old fundie days, I would most likely be dead or severely incapacitated,,, it's bad enough I'm a stubborn ox (it took Deb and friend of the show Dave Foda over three hours to convince me to go to hospital) but people don't need to be pushing this shit,,,

What I posted,,,

I'd be fucking dead if I relied on god,,, quit pushing shit before you kill someone.  Recent stroke survivor saved by science not an imaginary sky fairy.

It was deleted within 24 hrs

As frustrating and galling as this situation is, there is hope.  There are people actively combating this shit.  People like Professor Stephen and Rachel Brown of AoA.  Individuals like our very own Heretic Woman.  But there are many professionals as well who blog daily about the dangers of bad science.  Who take time from their careers as scientists, doctors and researchers to put forth useful, scientifically solid information for the lay public to devour. But the most important group are the ex-woomeisters and that is what I would like to highlight for a moment in closing.

Amongst all the crap I have came across, this article, IT HAPPENED TO ME: Alternative Medicine (And Poor Critical Thinking Skills) Almost Killed Me,

Back home, I tried more alternative medicine for three more years before ending up in the ICU with acute kidney failure and out of control inflammatory bowel symptoms from all of the useless drugs and supplements I was ingesting without proper follow up with a qualified medical professional.

I decided that perfect health wasn’t possible for me, and decided to have the total colectomy. I had not fully transitioned out of my hatred for modern medicine and conspiracy mindset. I had just decided that I didn’t care about being perfect anymore. I just wanted to end the UC flares and eat food again. I agreed to the surgery and all of its risks.

Now I am healthy. Turns out, there’s this thing called a J-pouch, which I now have. I also finally got real help for my mental illness, too. I made friends who don’t moralize food choices and who accept me as I am. I got married to the best person on Earth.

I still have a very complicated relationship with food. Since my surgeries, I’ve allowed myself to eat an unrestricted diet in order to maintain emotional stability and so I ended up gaining a lot of weight.

I’d like to be thinner, but my mental well-being takes precedence. I have to let go of all of those memories of people complimenting me on how great I looked when I was obviously sick and painfully thin. I had to let go of how pious I felt when I was eating “right.”

Someday, I hope to get to a place where I can handle a real healthy lifestyle without conflating determination with obsession. And maybe…someday…women will be allowed to be fat.

http://konfession.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Religion.jpg

Thankfully I never quite fell into that trap in my younger days.  Yes I was vegan, but not for ethical reason, I just didn't like the taste of animal proteins.  Yes, I dabbled in the woo, but science in the end always won out.  Yes, it is an issue I still struggle with at times and the author of the above offered and explanation of why.

I'm certainly not the first to say this, but alternative medicine is a fundamentalist religion. It is the same sort of victim-blaming, life-shaming, sacrificial culture that my husband dealt with growing up in an evangelical church. We discuss our parallel experiences often. Alternative medicine is a salvation based religion, except that instead of an eternity in heaven, you get perfect health.

Just as we battle religious and political ideology so to must we battle the charlatans of science.  Then maybe, just maybe, we won't have to read about people like Belle Gibson, who according to her mother are allowed to “tell little porky pies”.

Australian health and wellbeing blogger Belle Gibson gained a large online following and was due to release a Whole Pantry app and a book on the basis that she had treated her own terminal cancer by shunning medical treatments in place of a healthy diet and alternative therapies. She encouraged readers to lead healthier lives to beat cancer, rather than accepting medical treatment.

It was revealed earlier this year however that Gibson had never been diagnosed with cancer.

Her mother, Natalie Dal-Bello, has now defended her daughter’s actions in an interview with The Herald Sun. She said: “Belle told a white lie, aged 23-and-a-half. So what?

“Belle is allowed to tell little porky pies. Who the hell doesn’t tell a lie in their life? Nobody complained about Belle when she was helping people and now they want to put her under the microscope.”

Sorry to say Ms. Dal-Bello, most people that tell a lie, don't injure or possibly kill people in the process.

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/004327425/1344575752_junk_science_answer_3_xlarge.png

When you see the junk, whether it be science, medicine or religion, call it out.  Call it for what it is,,,BULLSHIT!!

LSU drafting 'academic bankruptcy' plan in response to state budget crisis | NOLA.com

In January I wrote this, ",,,the Reich wants people under-educated or even uneducated and unable to think for themselves; just follow the party line. Consider the debacles that are Texas (formerly under the control of Rick Perry and his crew) and Kansas (still under Brownback's control)."

We can now add Louisiana to the list (remember that Walker's Wisconsin is also playing Jenga with education as well):

LSU and many other public colleges in Louisiana might be forced to file for financial exigency, essentially academic bankruptcy, if state higher education funding doesn't soon take a turn for the better.

Louisiana's flagship university began putting together the paperwork for declaring financial exigency this week when the Legislature appeared to make little progress on finding a state budget solution, according to F. King Alexander, president and chancellor of LSU.

"We don't say that to scare people," he said. "Basically, it is how we are going to survive."
,,,
The Louisiana Legislature is closing out its meetings this week without having made much progress in finding more funding for universities, colleges and others. Louisiana's higher education community is facing an 82 percent funding cut if no extra state money is found.

The change would bring state funding for LSU from around $3,500 per undergraduate student to $660 per undergraduate student next year.

"States around the country spend more than that on their community colleges," Alexander said.

So when will this experiment with conservative economics end?  When will willful ignorance stop being a source of pride?

__

A good education opens the mind to differing world views allowing for solutions to problems through the use of analytical thinking. It provides a flexibility in thought that allows one to adapt and change. Ignorant people have an easier time judging others and perpetuating hate. The more ignorant a population the easier it is for a demagogue to rise to power.

Mike Papantonio - Ring of Fire (paraphrased)

 LSU drafting 'academic bankruptcy' plan in response to state budget crisis | NOLA.com

Papantonio: Dumbing Down America For Political Gain | Ring of Fire

Many times I have commented about the apparent intellectual abyss that is overtaking our country; that this "dumbing down" is a preplanned attack organized by the Reich. I mean how else can one explain the push for creationism in our public schools and the denial of science that is rampant among our elected officials. How else can one explain the controversy surrounding textbooks in Texas with the most recent straw being the inclusion of Moses as a founding father.

In most cases I am preaching to the choir or part of the choir being preached at with very few of us able to combat the insurgency of stupidity. I may look at the night sky in amazement, but I am no Neil deGrasse Tyson. I may be geeky but, I am not Bill Nye. I may be smart but, I am not Lawrence Krauss. These are examples of individuals with the power to change minds, but are people listening? It is one point brought up, in a round about way, by Papantonio in the attached clip.

Papantonio and Berg were talking of the vicious circle that is being created by the Reich's anti-education policies beginning with the intentional underfunding of K-12 and undergraduate programs in colleges/universities and touching on media influence - specifically reality TV (and uhm - the use of pharma-drugs - WTF) - all to diminish critical thinking skills.

Why send kids to college, it's expensive and when they get out they can't make enough money. They are convincing the American public that there is no need for an education; they want that these people to NOT get a college education. Why? It teaches critical thinking. A Liberal Arts education is going to teach you to think in a different way. [Paraphrased]

In other words, the Reich wants people under-educated or even uneducated and unable to think for themselves; just follow the party line. Consider the debacles that are Texas (formerly under the control of Rick Perry and his crew) and Kansas (still under Brownback's control).

Prime example,,,

The headline reads: Obama seeking tax increases on wealthy to help middle class: Obama to call for raising capital gains, inheritance taxes to pay for middle-class tax relief

The gist: The centerpiece of the president's tax proposal is an increase in the capital gains rate on couples making more than $500,000 per year to 28 percent, the same level as under President Ronald Reagan. The top capital gains rate has already been raised from 15 percent to 23.8 percent during Obama's presidency.

A right leaning acquaintance's reaction (who I am fairly certain does not make $500,000 and may benefit by some of the provisions proposed): Bullshit! Nobody but the money-wasting government will see any benefit from that. He has already destroyed the middle and lower class!

Way to follow that party line by repeating Fox propaganda and not thinking for yourself. It is this type of mentality the Reich wants. It is this type of mentality that the Reich encourages.

It is important to note that Republicans, including Brownback, held up Kansas and its unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy-elite and corporations as the idealized Republican economic plan for all America to follow. One Kansas Republican even admitted that one of the primary goals of the Koch-Brownback economic plan was cutting government down to size and they have been successful in slashing the state public education system to unconstitutional levels as well as cutting public retirement accounts to pay for the tax cuts.

Despite the abject failure in Kansas, incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Brownback “It’s exactly what we want to do in Washington,” and now that they control both chambers of Congress, it is certainly what they will attempt. The only thing standing between the entire nation, the federal government, and public education going the way of Kansas is President Obama’s veto pen. Because without him as a firewall, the entire nation will become the Koch brothers’ vision of America and will look exactly like Kansas.

People moan and groan about the bankruptcy of Detroit, what are they going to do when a whole state collapses:

Detroit's bankruptcy is by far the largest of its kind in U.S. history, in terms of the city's population of about 700,000 and the amount of its debts and liabilities, which Orr has said could be as high as $20 billion. Because of the stakes involved, and the impact on residents statewide, as well as 30,000 current and retired city workers and Detroit's ability to stay in business, the case could be precedent setting in the federal judiciary. It also could set an important trajectory for the way troubled cities nationwide settle their financial difficulties.

So what is my point.

Recently President Obama announced America’s College Promise, a program modeled on Tennessee Promise as well as a similar program in Chicago. In essence, maintain a 2.5 GPA while progressing through a program of study to be applied toward a four-year degree or an occupational-training program in a high demand field.

Sounds simple enough doesn't it? What could be so awful about returning the United States to its former glory of the world’s most successful economy based on building the most successful education system? Why be stupid on purpose? Because it is the "in-thing" to do, willful ignorance is "a point of pride."

In the face of expertise and facts, being belligerently ignorant—and offended that anyone dare suggest ignorance is less desirable than knowledge—has become the go-to position for many conservative politicians and pundits,,, for modern Republicans, being downright proud of their ignorance has become a badge of honor, a way to demonstrate loyalty to the right-wing cause while also sticking it to those liberal pinheads who think there’s some kind of value in knowing what they’re talking about before offering an opinion.

Marcotte continues,

The thing is, shameless lying and ignorance works surprisingly well as a debate tactic. It’s hard to argue with someone who not only has signaled that he doesn’t care what the truth is but is downright proud of how little he actually knows. Such a person is not amenable to being educated. Once the pretense of really caring one way or another about what is right and what is wrong has been abandoned, all avenue of discourse is shut down.
,,,
At the end of the day, the problem is one of identity. The conservative identity is one of being opposed to everything liberal, to the point of despising anything even associated with liberalism. As liberalism has increasingly been aligned with the values of empiricism and reason, the incentives for conservatives to reject empiricism and reason multiply. To be a “conservative” increasingly means taking a contemptuous view of reality. And so the proudly ignorant grow more belligerent, day after day.

Think about it, how else can one explain the blow-back being pandered concerning President Obama's recent America’s College Promise proposal? Maybe this "loyalty to the right-wing cause" that shuts down "all avenue of discourse" because "being opposed to everything liberal" is to reject critical thinking; "liberalism has increasingly been aligned with the values of empiricism and reason." Sounds a bit familiar doesn't it.

But, but,,,

If the $60 billion over ten years price tag has you worried, consider this. The Joint Strike Fighter (F-35 stealth jet) development budget is now at $400 billion, BUT it won’t have an operational 25mm cannon until 2019.

"Even though the Joint Strike Fighter, or F-35, is supposed to join frontline U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadrons next year and Air Force units in 2016, the jet’s software does not yet have the ability to shoot its 25mm cannon. But even when the jet will be able to shoot its gun, the F-35 barely carries enough ammunition to make the weapon useful."
,,,
Another senior Air Force official with stealth fighter experience agreed. “From an air-to-air standpoint, an argument could be made that the F-35A not having a functional gun—or any gun, for that matter—will have little to no impact. Heck, it only has 180 rounds anyway,” he said. “I would be lying if I said there exists any plausible tactical air-to-air scenario where the F-35 will need to employ the gun. Personally, I just don’t see it ever happening and think they should have saved the weight [by getting rid of the gun altogether].”

However, the Air Force official said that very fact the F-35 will not have a functional gun when it becomes operational is symptomatic of a deeply troubled program. “To me, the more disturbing aspect of this delay is that it represents yet another clear indication that the program is in serious trouble,” the official said. F-35 maker “Lockheed Martin is clearly in a situation where they are scrambling to keep their collective noses above the waterline, and they are looking to push non-critical systems to the right in a moment of desperation.”

"Symptomatic of a deeply troubled program." Might that be due to the fact that "[t]he U.S. was ranked 17th in an assessment of the education systems of 50 countries, behind several Scandinavian and Asian nations, which claimed the top spots." Or maybe it's a bit more obvious, like an agenda. This is from the 2012 Texas Republican platform (p. 12).

Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

Obviously the Texas GOP doesn't think to highly of public education - just read the rest of their platform and you will understand - and critical thinking is just plain ole scary shit.

Instead of spending tax payer money ($14 million+ and climbing) on a faux Benghazi scandal, maybe time and money should be invested in making this bold proposal feasible instead of going the way of Kansas, which ALEC ranks a D+ in their 19th edition of the "Report Card on American Education."

Papantonio I think sums it up well [again I am paraphrasing]:

A good education opens the mind to differing world views allowing for solutions to problems through the use of analytical thinking. It provides a flexibility in thought that allows one to adapt and change. Ignorant people have an easier time judging others and perpetuating hate. The more ignorant a population the easier it is for a demagogue to rise to power.

To which Berg added, "fear and hate are the easy answers."

Papantonio: Dumbing Down America For Political Gain | Ring of Fire

Discovering Reason: How to Manipulate the Public so You Can Rule the World

Want to start your own religion, here's how,,,

• First, it is important to understand what people value most. Once you understand this you can begin to control people for your benefit through manipulation,,,Instilling fear will get their attention and they will be more likely to listen.
• The best way to do this is to come up with a belief system that will dictate how people should act and think, include a simple list of do's and don'ts.
• Be careful not to provide too much knowledge otherwise they will be able to figure out it is a lie,,,you may have to invent some sort of a life after this life,,,
• So another great way to gain followers is by promising them good things. Tell them their lives will be improved if they believe you.
• However, because this is just a lie you fabricated, many people’s lives will not get better and some will even get worse. When this happens, tell them they will receive their rewards after they die.
• Another way to gain followers is to tell them they are bad people if they do not follow these beliefs. People are generally good and like being nice to others, so they will want to be associated with other people who have a label associated with being “good”.
• You will need to encourage your believers to meet up regularly in order to continually teach them more about this belief. This also helps reinforce to them that this belief is right. It is also highly encouraged to teach them when they are young before they develop critical thinking skills,,,
• When teaching this to others, be careful to not make any claims that can be tested otherwise people will test them and see it is not true. Give yourself plenty of wiggle room incase new discovers are found by the non-believers.
• If you run into a person who asks for evidence to prove what you are saying is true, tell them it must be taken on faith alone or they have to believe it first in order for them to see it is true,,,
• If people start to question the validity of your beliefs, you can say things such as, “well if you don’t believe this, what if you’re wrong and it is true?” This will get your followers to say to themselves, “oh yeah, I have nothing to lose by believing this and everything to gain”.
• Always remember, it is easier to join the crowd than it is to be an outsider. For this reason you must encourage your followers to share this belief with others, if you don’t your belief system may see a drop in numbers and your followers will be the outsiders and can even appear delusional and all your hard work will have been for nothing.
• If you find yourself having troubling coming up with a belief that will manipulate people, try creating a spin-off of a current belief system people already follow.

Discovering Reason: How to Manipulate the Public so You Can Rule the World