Well, one girl in India took things into her own hands and decided to poison herself rather than watch the world get destroyed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7609631.stm
A 'Sick World' indeed.
Ray, if you're reading this; it is folk of your ilk who promote willful ignorance and loathing of science that are responsible for holding people back in Bronze Age superstition and fear. If this little girl had been educated about why the LHC wasn't going to blow up the planet instead of being fed pseudo-science and Doomsday prophecies then she would still be alive. (and no, I'm not blaming Ray for the girl's death - just to be clear on that)
From the article:
"These people are constantly airing series on black magic, blood-sucking vampires; even sensationalising a natural phenomenon such as an eclipse by saying that it means bad omen," she told the BBC.
"Now prophesising that the Big Bang would bring doomsday! Such programmes can have a disastrous effect on an emotionally weak person."It's not just emotionally weak people who are at risk from those with an agenda based on ancient mythology and fear-mongering....
Matt
Posts
That's terrible.
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what else to say.
Oh sheesh. That's awful.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Maragon: I don't know what to add...
When they sensationalize their irrational fears, it makes it vey plain why we oppose them.
ReplyDeleteSame goes for Ray and his minions.
Ray took pride once when I labeled him a fundamentalist, but he did that without realizing that he was in the same file as the Islamic fundies. The revealed religions come out of the same bronze age belief system. They are joined by the hip, yet neither one wants to admit it. The fundie Muslims are different merely because they go more by the OLD testament punishments and prohibitions.
Hey gotta go, hope to be back later, "god willing."
Ya know, I don't think we ca n even tie Ray and His Minions into this. Even on a more general level, I don't think Christianity's anti-intellect stance have anything to do with this.
ReplyDeleteThe poor girl wasn't that bright, and her parents and community probably did very little to to help. She was a product of her genetic heritage and her environment, not religious fundamentalism.
I'm not saying the fundies don't increase the likelihood of stuff like this happening; they do. But in this particular case, I blame her parents far more than the irresponsible media. I'm sure there were "positive" influences around...
I dunno - I think this particular example is a bit of a stretch (re. relating it to Ray's anti-intellectual ministry).
whateverman,
ReplyDeleteI wasn't trying to implicate Ray, his minions or even Christianity in general. It is the mind-set of being stuck in pre-pre-enlightenment thought and promoting and celebrating it as a virtue that worries and saddens me.
I would put the people who were scare-mongering in India as philosophical cousins to Comfort and co. Of course they believe different things; but do you recall Ray's allusion to God being behind the SE Asian tsunami, the Chinese earthquake, Californian wildfires, hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and other natural disasters?
Pointing to the supernatural as an explanation for something or as a reason to be afraid of something is a throwback to the days when we had good reason to be afraid of things we didn't understand; because they could kill us!
The fact that a large percentage of the world's population are still stuck in a culture (of one stripe or another) that supports and promotes ignorance over knowledge, fear over curiosity and mysticism over logic makes me very sad.
I do take your point that the parents are probably more to blame in this individual case, but I see this instance as more of a symptom than a cause.
Thanks for your thoughts.
ExPatMatt said: Pointing to the supernatural as an explanation for something or as a reason to be afraid of something is a throwback to the days when we had good reason to be afraid of things we didn't understand; because they could kill us!
ReplyDeleteThe fact that a large percentage of the world's population are still stuck in a culture (of one stripe or another) that supports and promotes ignorance over knowledge, fear over curiosity and mysticism over logic makes me very sad.
I do take your point that the parents are probably more to blame in this individual case, but I see this instance as more of a symptom than a cause.
You make good points as well.
Have a great weekend...