In the New York Times this week, columnist and Nobel prize winner, Paul Krugman, looks at the Republican Party's recent behaviour and wonders if or when they will grow up and stop being crazy.
The Republicans have been holding anti-taxation "tea parties" because it looks like the new Obama Administration will allow the Bush cuts of 2001 to expire on December 31st, 2010 and return to their former levels. The Bush tax cuts, which mainly benefited the top 1% of taxpayers, were never sustainable and lead immediately to huge fiscal deficits that have grown more or less year on year. Besides, as Krugman points out, the pre-Bush, 2000 tax rates were still 10% less than top taxpayers were paying when Republicans' beloved president, Ronald Reagan, was in the White House.
Krugman cites several other examples of apparent craziness: evolution denying, Rush Limbaugh toadying and Republican claims that President Obama is a "socialist" who wants to destroy capitalism.
Krugman ends by hoping the Republicans will get past this crazy phase before they see power again.
I think that is a forlorn hope. Krugman himself acknowledge and provides examples of Republican craziness going back 15 years. I see no reason why their supporters, already beyond the reach of verifiable reality, should return to its embrace.
I've learned that you can't argue rationally with belief. Belief is emotional, not factual. There would be no religion if people were rational about believing things without any evidence and reality. Republicans, as the party of belief and evolution and many other things that fly in the face of verifiable reality, will not be changing and Krugman's hopes that they will are almost certain to be disappointed.
The era we are in now is a contest between verifiable reality and folklore. Reason is in danger of being overturned and we risk being cast backward into some new Dark Age, whether Islamic or Christian or both. Bot are the enemy of reason and seek to overturn reality.
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Unfounded belief is the real enemy
Over at Tumeke!, Tim Selwyn comments on a Washington Post story about Democratic US Presidential candidate, Barack Obama's "battle with the great white heartland".
Racist elements nationally have been running a slur campaign, spreading lies about Obama, saying he is Muslim, comes from Africa, plans to bring his family over illegaly....and much more. These lies have taken root in small towns like Findlay, Ohio.
The report includes a comment from Findlay resident, Gerry Kish, a 66 year old native of Hawaii, who knows these claims are rubbish.
Once again, we see how unfounded belief is the enemy of truth and reason.
This is why so many people are rendered effectively stupid by their own unwillingness or inability to look at evidence and adapt / adjust their world view as a consequence. They are effectively irrational in any number of areas to the extent they can no longer absorb and consider new information.
This is why unfounded belief truly IS the root of all evil, whether that belief is in a deity, or the absolute efficacy of markets, or the utility of overwhelming force as a solution to any problem.
I can see the mechanism for implanting the mental device that enables unfounded belief. In software terms, it's like leaving a "back door" that some hacker can exploit later on to their own advantage.
First you tell your kids about the tooth fairy. Then Santa Claus. Then you move them up to real religion and tell them - as fact - that for which there is no proof at all. You tell this is truth that cannot be questioned. If you've got that far, then you probably have them for life. Their curiosity becomes a source of threat to family and social peace. They learn not to think too hard about the crud being pushed into their heads by people they trust: family, church, friends.
These things conditioning our children to swallow any damn lie from people they trust "just because".
The result is people who don't really want to know the truth. True believers. Now there is an irony that could make you despair if you thought about it too much.
Barack Obama could loose the election thanks to unfounded belief in the minds of people who don't know the truth...and don't want to.
This is why the tactics of people like Crosby / Textor need to be rejected and rooted out. They pander to unfounded belief for electoral advantage. They are, ultimately, enemies of reason and democracy.
Why is this a problem now? It's probably nothing new at all. The bodies buried in ash by the eruption of Pompeii 1900 years ago probably belonged to people who preferred their beliefs to saving their own lives....though I'm sure they didn't see it that way. Many people are like this in many aspects of their lives. Some more than others.
Age is a factor. The older we get, the harder it is to absorb new things. My own father never really 'got' television, never mind the internet. He still doesn't own a TV and refuses to e-mail, though I note he does use the Internet now to check his beloved global airline schedules, the only place they are now available. He likes his house the way it was in the 1940s when he was growing up: quiet. It's hard to predict what people might be open to and way.
I suspect that in some people it may be a sign of stress. People tend to shut down when under stress. They can limit input why trying to make sense of what they are already struggling to deal with. They need time to think and consider and modern life doesn't allow for that unless each of us sees doing it as important and structures our own lives to make that possible.
How many of us do that? That's assuming we can and have not been conditioned to avoid thinking too deeply about the lack of evidence for at least some proportion of all the things we believe and act on.
Racist elements nationally have been running a slur campaign, spreading lies about Obama, saying he is Muslim, comes from Africa, plans to bring his family over illegaly....and much more. These lies have taken root in small towns like Findlay, Ohio.
The report includes a comment from Findlay resident, Gerry Kish, a 66 year old native of Hawaii, who knows these claims are rubbish.
She has close friends, she said, who still refuse to believe her when she swears Obama is Christian. Then she hands them the books, and they refuse to read them. "They just want to believe what they believe," she said. "Nothing gets through to them.""Nothing gets through to them". I've seen this same behaviour a thousand times myself in a thousand different ways. At its root is some unfounded belief that has become integrated into the world view of the person concerned and they can't or won't reconsider it in the light of new information.
Once again, we see how unfounded belief is the enemy of truth and reason.
This is why so many people are rendered effectively stupid by their own unwillingness or inability to look at evidence and adapt / adjust their world view as a consequence. They are effectively irrational in any number of areas to the extent they can no longer absorb and consider new information.
This is why unfounded belief truly IS the root of all evil, whether that belief is in a deity, or the absolute efficacy of markets, or the utility of overwhelming force as a solution to any problem.
I can see the mechanism for implanting the mental device that enables unfounded belief. In software terms, it's like leaving a "back door" that some hacker can exploit later on to their own advantage.
First you tell your kids about the tooth fairy. Then Santa Claus. Then you move them up to real religion and tell them - as fact - that for which there is no proof at all. You tell this is truth that cannot be questioned. If you've got that far, then you probably have them for life. Their curiosity becomes a source of threat to family and social peace. They learn not to think too hard about the crud being pushed into their heads by people they trust: family, church, friends.
These things conditioning our children to swallow any damn lie from people they trust "just because".
The result is people who don't really want to know the truth. True believers. Now there is an irony that could make you despair if you thought about it too much.
Barack Obama could loose the election thanks to unfounded belief in the minds of people who don't know the truth...and don't want to.
This is why the tactics of people like Crosby / Textor need to be rejected and rooted out. They pander to unfounded belief for electoral advantage. They are, ultimately, enemies of reason and democracy.
Why is this a problem now? It's probably nothing new at all. The bodies buried in ash by the eruption of Pompeii 1900 years ago probably belonged to people who preferred their beliefs to saving their own lives....though I'm sure they didn't see it that way. Many people are like this in many aspects of their lives. Some more than others.
Age is a factor. The older we get, the harder it is to absorb new things. My own father never really 'got' television, never mind the internet. He still doesn't own a TV and refuses to e-mail, though I note he does use the Internet now to check his beloved global airline schedules, the only place they are now available. He likes his house the way it was in the 1940s when he was growing up: quiet. It's hard to predict what people might be open to and way.
I suspect that in some people it may be a sign of stress. People tend to shut down when under stress. They can limit input why trying to make sense of what they are already struggling to deal with. They need time to think and consider and modern life doesn't allow for that unless each of us sees doing it as important and structures our own lives to make that possible.
How many of us do that? That's assuming we can and have not been conditioned to avoid thinking too deeply about the lack of evidence for at least some proportion of all the things we believe and act on.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
End of the World Resumes as Planned
(Self-appointed) end-times witnesses and God's gifts to mankind, Ronald and Laura Weinland, disappeared from view after absolutely nothing happened on the 18th of April.
Now he's back. His most recent post indicates his prophecy for the end of the world is very much underway as far as he is concerned.
The volcano in Chile was probably a breath of fresh air to the Weinlands. Similarly, the earthquake in China would have been wonderful news. One can just imagine how happy they would be if Israel or the US were stupid enough to unilaterally nuke Iran's nuclear installations.
Never mind that God wouldn't have had anything to do with any of it. Just the usual mix of natural disaster and human stupidity. Timeless.
Now he's back. His most recent post indicates his prophecy for the end of the world is very much underway as far as he is concerned.
May 8, 2008
Laura and I are going to resume making Sabbath visits for as long as we are able to do so. Before the Passover season, it was not yet clear whether we would be able to continue this program, but now it is evident we will have some more time to make such visits. Generally we are not going to make such plans very far in advance for the U.S., and from time to time we may have to make last minute changes.
New locations were posted today for some upcoming trips.
The volcano in Chile was probably a breath of fresh air to the Weinlands. Similarly, the earthquake in China would have been wonderful news. One can just imagine how happy they would be if Israel or the US were stupid enough to unilaterally nuke Iran's nuclear installations.
Never mind that God wouldn't have had anything to do with any of it. Just the usual mix of natural disaster and human stupidity. Timeless.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Auckland, NZ Dollar, ARTA, End-time silliness
Several things happened (or failed to happen) today that are noteworthy from my point of view.
Last day: Royal Commission on Auckland Governance
Today was the last day for submissions to the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance. I got mine in on time. Did you?
In order to bring some measure of coherence to the Auckland urban area and put us all on the same page, I recommended a single city with Councilors elected from up to 7 wards. There would be between 5 and 9 councilors elected from each ward, depending on the population. These Councilors would be elected by Single Transferable Vote (STV) rather than the current first past the post voting system. STV would allow for robustly democratic and diverse outcomes with more equitable representation among the communities that compose Auckland. The Council should be 35 to 50 (or maybe more) in number. There would need to be enough Councilors to sit on the relevant committees that would capture input and feedback from people and groups in the Auckland region.
I submitted that the Mayor of Auckland should have little, if any executive power and act instead as the Chair of the Council. The Mayor's job would be to find common ground and build consensus and cast the deciding vote, but only if necessary. There should be no "Presidential mayor" that would polarise rather than bring together. The Mayor could be elected from across the city or elected by the Council from among their number. This is provided the Council is elected by STV.
In response to the local governance issue, I said I saw no reason why any part of Auckland would need special laws that could not be passed by one council. There may be special circumstances in some places, but they should be recognised within the regional framework and addressed in that context.
There was more, but that is the guts of it.
NZ Dollar
I've heard some business people complaining that the NZ dollar is "too high" (against the US dollar) and lamenting the policies of the government that made it so.
But let's look at what's really going on.
The NZ dollar has fallen against the Euro from €0.54 two months ago to €0.49 today. It's fallen against the Aussie dollar from AU$0.88 two months ago to AU$0.84 today. The NZ dollar has fallen against the Yen from Y87.5 two months ago to Y81.5 today.
The Kiwi has been declining or stable with respect to the currencies of many countries we trade with other than the US. One of the reasons our currency is desirable is the good performance of our economy against global trends.
It's the US dollar that is going down against everyone - even the Chinese, who have their yuan set to "sticky" mode in relation to the US dollar. In fact, the US greenback has been in serious trouble ever since George W Bush decided to cut taxes while simultaneously exploding a fiscal debt bomb when he invaded Iraq and decided to stay. After the invasion, the US Fed increased interest rates for 11 straight quarters, and central banks all over the world followed suit in order to compete for capital against the black hole of US debt: public and private.
Those higher interest rates in the US, driven by the US Federal reserve rate rises, arguably lead to the sub-prime credit crunch by taking interest rates well outside previously expected bounds.
None of this was in any way controllable from New Zealand or any other country.
I'd like to know why our exporters and the people they trade with still price their products in US dollars.
The Euro would be a much better option. We've been relatively stable against the Euro.
Why do people seem to expect theNZ government to indemnify them against the instability of the US dollar with policies that would keep our dollar going down even faster than the plummeting greenback?
That makes no sense to me. Why would we want to have an economy in even more trouble than the US economy in order to see our currency plummet even faster than theirs? If anyone thinks they have a good answer to that one, I'd love to hear it.
If we had a "40 cent" Kiwi dollar, we could be paying close to NZ$4 for a litre of petrol. A 1kg block of cheese at $13 today would be more like $26. Would your wages track that? I'm thinking not. Hands up everyone who thinks that makes any sense?
ARTA and Children
I finally got a response from ARTA (Auckland Regional Transport Authority) today about Birkenhead Transport not allowing school children on peak-hour buses.
Here is the (anonymised) letter:
Great to hear that children in Birkenhead Transport's area of operation should now be able to board any bus. Thank you, ARTA.
I note the comments regarding operational considerations and the need to support the school buses. While perfectly reasonable on one level, ARTA hasn't dealt with the reality that the school bus they urge us to use leaves at 07:43am and arrives at the school at 07:56am. That's 50 minutes prior to classes commencing. Other options offered on the Journey Planner were to walk the whole way any time you like or take a 7-hour two-step via the morning school bus to Northcote and then take the afternoon (after school) school bus from Onewa Rd to St. Mary's Convent School....then walk 500 metres to Birkenhead College to arrive after classes have ended for the day. That one was just silly.
I responded and asked politely if the person writing to me had checked the timing of the school buses. It isn't much use offering a school bus at a time so early it has little practical value. Or one that takes all day and arrives after classes end. I included the relevant options (as above).
I'm waiting to hear back.
End of the World
Pastor Ronald Weinland, "end-time witness" and head of the Ronald and Laura 'god-family', hasn't posted anything more on the First Trumpet sounded at the opening of the Seventh Seal since the 18th, so I'm assuming the world is OK for now. Fingers crossed. He was in Palestine for the big (non) event. He should be back in the US by now and may be laying low given nothing whatever happened. The only part of his prophecy that came true was that the few people who were aware of his claims did make fun of him and there was some mocking. Perfectly reasonable under the circumstances, but probably only feeding Pastor Weinland's sense of righteousness. So no more mocking. After that last bit of mocking. No, really.....No more.
Last day: Royal Commission on Auckland Governance
Today was the last day for submissions to the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance. I got mine in on time. Did you?
In order to bring some measure of coherence to the Auckland urban area and put us all on the same page, I recommended a single city with Councilors elected from up to 7 wards. There would be between 5 and 9 councilors elected from each ward, depending on the population. These Councilors would be elected by Single Transferable Vote (STV) rather than the current first past the post voting system. STV would allow for robustly democratic and diverse outcomes with more equitable representation among the communities that compose Auckland. The Council should be 35 to 50 (or maybe more) in number. There would need to be enough Councilors to sit on the relevant committees that would capture input and feedback from people and groups in the Auckland region.
I submitted that the Mayor of Auckland should have little, if any executive power and act instead as the Chair of the Council. The Mayor's job would be to find common ground and build consensus and cast the deciding vote, but only if necessary. There should be no "Presidential mayor" that would polarise rather than bring together. The Mayor could be elected from across the city or elected by the Council from among their number. This is provided the Council is elected by STV.
In response to the local governance issue, I said I saw no reason why any part of Auckland would need special laws that could not be passed by one council. There may be special circumstances in some places, but they should be recognised within the regional framework and addressed in that context.
There was more, but that is the guts of it.
NZ Dollar
I've heard some business people complaining that the NZ dollar is "too high" (against the US dollar) and lamenting the policies of the government that made it so.
But let's look at what's really going on.
The NZ dollar has fallen against the Euro from €0.54 two months ago to €0.49 today. It's fallen against the Aussie dollar from AU$0.88 two months ago to AU$0.84 today. The NZ dollar has fallen against the Yen from Y87.5 two months ago to Y81.5 today.
The Kiwi has been declining or stable with respect to the currencies of many countries we trade with other than the US. One of the reasons our currency is desirable is the good performance of our economy against global trends.
It's the US dollar that is going down against everyone - even the Chinese, who have their yuan set to "sticky" mode in relation to the US dollar. In fact, the US greenback has been in serious trouble ever since George W Bush decided to cut taxes while simultaneously exploding a fiscal debt bomb when he invaded Iraq and decided to stay. After the invasion, the US Fed increased interest rates for 11 straight quarters, and central banks all over the world followed suit in order to compete for capital against the black hole of US debt: public and private.
Those higher interest rates in the US, driven by the US Federal reserve rate rises, arguably lead to the sub-prime credit crunch by taking interest rates well outside previously expected bounds.
None of this was in any way controllable from New Zealand or any other country.
I'd like to know why our exporters and the people they trade with still price their products in US dollars.
The Euro would be a much better option. We've been relatively stable against the Euro.
Why do people seem to expect theNZ government to indemnify them against the instability of the US dollar with policies that would keep our dollar going down even faster than the plummeting greenback?
That makes no sense to me. Why would we want to have an economy in even more trouble than the US economy in order to see our currency plummet even faster than theirs? If anyone thinks they have a good answer to that one, I'd love to hear it.
If we had a "40 cent" Kiwi dollar, we could be paying close to NZ$4 for a litre of petrol. A 1kg block of cheese at $13 today would be more like $26. Would your wages track that? I'm thinking not. Hands up everyone who thinks that makes any sense?
ARTA and Children
I finally got a response from ARTA (Auckland Regional Transport Authority) today about Birkenhead Transport not allowing school children on peak-hour buses.
Here is the (anonymised) letter:
Thank you for bringing to our attention the matter of the school buses
operating in the Birkenhead area.
Following direct communications with Birkenhead Transport, operator for both the regular bus services and the school buses, it has been confirmed that the regular services are available for any fare paying passenger, including school children. Therefore, the service is provided in accordance to existing public transport policies. If any incidence of this policy not being followed does arise, please let us know and it will be treated on an individual basis.
It is important to note, however, that we strongly recommend that school children make use of the school buses available. This responds to operational considerations related to the needs of commuters to the city as well as to the numbers of school children required to justify the existence of a school bus service. It is ARTA's responsibility to monitor that the school bus services are well patronised and therefore guarantee that its provision is an appropriate use of resources.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you will be hearing from us shortly regarding other concerns you have raised.
Best regards
On behalf of ARTA
Great to hear that children in Birkenhead Transport's area of operation should now be able to board any bus. Thank you, ARTA.
I note the comments regarding operational considerations and the need to support the school buses. While perfectly reasonable on one level, ARTA hasn't dealt with the reality that the school bus they urge us to use leaves at 07:43am and arrives at the school at 07:56am. That's 50 minutes prior to classes commencing. Other options offered on the Journey Planner were to walk the whole way any time you like or take a 7-hour two-step via the morning school bus to Northcote and then take the afternoon (after school) school bus from Onewa Rd to St. Mary's Convent School....then walk 500 metres to Birkenhead College to arrive after classes have ended for the day. That one was just silly.
I responded and asked politely if the person writing to me had checked the timing of the school buses. It isn't much use offering a school bus at a time so early it has little practical value. Or one that takes all day and arrives after classes end. I included the relevant options (as above).
I'm waiting to hear back.
End of the World
Pastor Ronald Weinland, "end-time witness" and head of the Ronald and Laura 'god-family', hasn't posted anything more on the First Trumpet sounded at the opening of the Seventh Seal since the 18th, so I'm assuming the world is OK for now. Fingers crossed. He was in Palestine for the big (non) event. He should be back in the US by now and may be laying low given nothing whatever happened. The only part of his prophecy that came true was that the few people who were aware of his claims did make fun of him and there was some mocking. Perfectly reasonable under the circumstances, but probably only feeding Pastor Weinland's sense of righteousness. So no more mocking. After that last bit of mocking. No, really.....No more.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Of "God Families" and "end-time witnesses"
Thursday,April 17th came and went and I don't recall hearing the sound of the First Trumpet when the Seventh Seal was opened....and the world began to end.
"What?" I hear you say? See my previous blog post.
Pastor Ronald Weinland, leader of one of the American "Church of God" sects, now claims he and his wife Laura are the two end-time witnesses and a new "God family", akin to Abraham and Sarah, of Old Testament fame. A 'god family' is a family God has supposedly chosen to work through for a purpose. In this case, the establishment of a 1,000 year age of God's rule. Family will be important in the new age. The age of man's self-rule is now ended, says Weinland.
After nothing happened on Thursday, Pastor Weinland now says:
.......
I can understand Weinland being a little sensitive as absolutely nothing happened on April 17th. If I read this right, God is going to make us all very frightened for laughing at Mr. Weinland when nothing happened on the day he said it would. That was predictable. We're the bad people because he's talking rubbish.
Nothing happened. Except it did actually happen according to Mr. Weinland, in the full article linked to. He is absolutely clear on the event he refers to having actually happened despite nothing happening. It's just that no one but him knows it. If you laugh, God will get you.
Oh.
I'm sure this will get a lot more silly as time goes on and the pathetic Pastor Weinland works out his delusions in whatever public arena he is able to gain access to. I'm just hoping he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else.
I think this episode has captured my imagination because even among the sillier claims some religious folk make, this one stands out. People who are fanatical about their religion - of any type - are also potentially dangerous in their absolute certainty about matters for which there isn't a skerrick of proof and no rational basis for even tentative belief, never mind absolute, unshakeable certainty. Bush invaded Iraq based on no evidence and an unshakeable belief he was right and that God was guiding him. He has said as much. Others do things like fly jets into tall buildings and don't care that they are killing thousands of people. WHATEVER they do, to them, is just part of "God's Plan" and they are God's instruments...etc...etc....and it is all OK. No guilt. No remorse. No responsibility.
Weinland's particular set of claims and train of events is at one and the same time boringly familiar as a product of religious delusion.....and yet not. This guy is out there.
It reminds me of the time my friend Rick called me (in Toronto) from Vancouver and said he had had a revelation. God had spoken to him and Rick was the new Christ, the Second Coming, and Vancouver was the New Jerusalem. A few weeks later he cut his guts open and disembowelled himself with a kitchen knife to let out the Holy Spirit and save the world from nuclear disaster. Maybe it worked. He didn't die, luckily. A neighbour saw him crawling down the hall of his apartment building trailing his intestines behind him and called an ambulance. They stabilized him and put him on the first plane back to Ontario. Apparently, the people who made that decision didn't realise who they were dealing with. They just didn't want British Columbia taxpayers to have to fund his convalescence and ongoing treatment.
Rick and I talked a fair bit about his new status as the Messiah. But I don't ever remember Rick, Son of God in the New Jerusalem, saying anything about Ronald Weinland. You'd think the Son of God would have mentioned it to me if it was important. Did I mention that Rick appointed me King of Australia and New Zealand back in 1980? It's true.
All bow down. Or God will make you very afraid. :-)
"What?" I hear you say? See my previous blog post.
Pastor Ronald Weinland, leader of one of the American "Church of God" sects, now claims he and his wife Laura are the two end-time witnesses and a new "God family", akin to Abraham and Sarah, of Old Testament fame. A 'god family' is a family God has supposedly chosen to work through for a purpose. In this case, the establishment of a 1,000 year age of God's rule. Family will be important in the new age. The age of man's self-rule is now ended, says Weinland.
After nothing happened on Thursday, Pastor Weinland now says:
.......
" From the beginning, God has revealed His plan for His Family—Elohim. God worked in and through a family as He began to reveal more about his purpose and plan for all mankind. That family consisted of Abraham and Sarah. At this end-time, we have come back to that greater purpose God is working out for mankind by bringing a close to man’s age and ushering in His age with the following 1,000 years, when the focus of Elohim—the God Family will be everywhere on this earth. He is working through a family once again, as God wants mankind to begin to focus on the importance of family on a physical and a spiritual plane.
Having said that, more will be said in the months to come, but now is the time to publicly reveal the name of the second end-time witness. It is my wife Laura. We are a family through whom God will be working to bring an end to this age and setting the stage (and much more) for the age to follow. Many will mock and ridicule, but as we go forward, this time God will place fear in those who mock Him and His servants. Power has been given to make this so.
The glory and the honor is to God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ. And His Kingdom is almost here."
I can understand Weinland being a little sensitive as absolutely nothing happened on April 17th. If I read this right, God is going to make us all very frightened for laughing at Mr. Weinland when nothing happened on the day he said it would. That was predictable. We're the bad people because he's talking rubbish.
Nothing happened. Except it did actually happen according to Mr. Weinland, in the full article linked to. He is absolutely clear on the event he refers to having actually happened despite nothing happening. It's just that no one but him knows it. If you laugh, God will get you.
Oh.
I'm sure this will get a lot more silly as time goes on and the pathetic Pastor Weinland works out his delusions in whatever public arena he is able to gain access to. I'm just hoping he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else.
I think this episode has captured my imagination because even among the sillier claims some religious folk make, this one stands out. People who are fanatical about their religion - of any type - are also potentially dangerous in their absolute certainty about matters for which there isn't a skerrick of proof and no rational basis for even tentative belief, never mind absolute, unshakeable certainty. Bush invaded Iraq based on no evidence and an unshakeable belief he was right and that God was guiding him. He has said as much. Others do things like fly jets into tall buildings and don't care that they are killing thousands of people. WHATEVER they do, to them, is just part of "God's Plan" and they are God's instruments...etc...etc....and it is all OK. No guilt. No remorse. No responsibility.
Weinland's particular set of claims and train of events is at one and the same time boringly familiar as a product of religious delusion.....and yet not. This guy is out there.
It reminds me of the time my friend Rick called me (in Toronto) from Vancouver and said he had had a revelation. God had spoken to him and Rick was the new Christ, the Second Coming, and Vancouver was the New Jerusalem. A few weeks later he cut his guts open and disembowelled himself with a kitchen knife to let out the Holy Spirit and save the world from nuclear disaster. Maybe it worked. He didn't die, luckily. A neighbour saw him crawling down the hall of his apartment building trailing his intestines behind him and called an ambulance. They stabilized him and put him on the first plane back to Ontario. Apparently, the people who made that decision didn't realise who they were dealing with. They just didn't want British Columbia taxpayers to have to fund his convalescence and ongoing treatment.
Rick and I talked a fair bit about his new status as the Messiah. But I don't ever remember Rick, Son of God in the New Jerusalem, saying anything about Ronald Weinland. You'd think the Son of God would have mentioned it to me if it was important. Did I mention that Rick appointed me King of Australia and New Zealand back in 1980? It's true.
All bow down. Or God will make you very afraid. :-)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
World (begins to) end on Thursday.....and other news. Plus a song.
I haven't read any newspapers this morning, so I'm probably missing a HUGE story.
I do know Sir Doug Graham has resigned as Chair of the failed finance company Lombard Finance. I have a lot of respect for Graham as he was the Minister of Justice in the last National government who oversaw the move to MMP and also the Treaty Settlements minister who moved the treaty settlements process into a higher gear.
On to the real news: The world begins to end on Thursday.
Yes. You've (probably) heard it here first. "Church of God" pastor, Ronald Weinland is telling anyone who will listen that the end time is here and now. In fact, in this radio interview with a UK Sports station last week, he declares that the first of the "Seven Trumpets" heralding the end times will occur in the Middle East on April 17th. Day after tomorrow. As I write this post, Mr. Weinland is likely on board a jet making his way there to bear witness. Now I'm not sure which one of the 400-ish "Church of God" fragments Weinlands leads. After Worldwide Church of God founder, Herbert W Armstrong, died in 1986 and his son, Garner Ted Armstrong, was discredited through gambling and sex romps with co-eds at the church's "Ambassador College", the church sort of fell apart.
Anyway, Weinland says we will see the first of the "Seven Trumpets" day after tomorrow, then the proverbial will REALLY hit the fan in 2008 and by the end of this year we will see the "the demise of the United States and beginning of man's final war." Ultimately, I think he says there are supposed to be maybe 3,000 people who will go forward into the new world after the apocalypse to come. I may be a bit hazy on the details here as these "Noah's Ark" earth-cleansing apocalypses tend to blur one into the other. You can download Robert Weinland's book here. It's in English, Dutch, Spanish and Italian, so presumably these folks will have an edge as the lights go out. You best get to it or you may not have time to finish it unless you're among the 3,000 in which case it will be history not prophecy, so why bother.
The YouTube version:
Savage Teen Beating and Aftermath
The other news item that got me this weekend comes from the United States. Eight teenagers (6 females / two males) invited a girl they all knew over to one of their grandparents home then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of her in a sustained attack over a 30-minute period. She suffered concussion and bruising over her entire body. They could have killed her. They videoed the whole thing so they could upload it to YouTube or whatever later. This Fox News item on Youtube is one of the better overviews I've seen of this horrifying crime. (Fox? Yeah...I know). Don't watch if you're squeamish. It's not pretty.
The US public is outraged and some are baying for more blood - this time the perps'. The parents of the perpetrators are defensive and obviously shell-shocked. This article on Tampa Bay Online is fairly comprehensive with respect to the response. If you've been following it, you've seen the court appearance and the circus surrounding the release of each on bail. The parents of the victim, understandably and justifiably distraught, blame the Internet for what happened.
It gets worse. A US-based talk-show host known as "Dr. Phil" has apparently paid for or otherwise secured the bail of one of the girls charged in return for an exclusive on her story. The video of a Dr. Phil minder blocking access to the girl by other media is eye-opening on several levels.
I'm hoping this whole episode of teenage rage doesn't become a political football. Gangs of kids have been beating on other kids since forever. It's not right. Never was right. The media circus around this story is bad enough without the additonal dimension of cheque-book pseudo-journalism causing more damage to all concerned - perps, victim, the parents of both, while the "blame the internet" knee-jerk mantra gets more tuneless utterance.
Zimbabwe
Looks like the expected partial recount in the presidential election in Zimbabwe will give the Mugabe regime one more opportunity to stuff the ballot boxes enough to see their man win. Voters are already being softened up by a preliminary campaign of violence and intimidation. The opposition has called for a general strike to begin today. Mugabe's forces are mobilising to meet the challenge, setting up police checkpoints.
South African President, Thabo Mbeke, who had attempted to mediate and been ignored by Mugabe, has proven himself yet again to be an impotent apologist for Mugabe. It is damaging Mbeke's reputation at home
What would you do if you lived there? Would you have yet reached the point where you could no longer afford to be beaten down? Would you be at the point where you felt you had nothing to lose?
I guess we'll find out over the next several days.
...and now the song....
Meanwhile, this song intruded into my world today and I decided I really like it. Have a listen if you haven't already. The band is Opshop and the song is "One Day".
I do know Sir Doug Graham has resigned as Chair of the failed finance company Lombard Finance. I have a lot of respect for Graham as he was the Minister of Justice in the last National government who oversaw the move to MMP and also the Treaty Settlements minister who moved the treaty settlements process into a higher gear.
On to the real news: The world begins to end on Thursday.
Yes. You've (probably) heard it here first. "Church of God" pastor, Ronald Weinland is telling anyone who will listen that the end time is here and now. In fact, in this radio interview with a UK Sports station last week, he declares that the first of the "Seven Trumpets" heralding the end times will occur in the Middle East on April 17th. Day after tomorrow. As I write this post, Mr. Weinland is likely on board a jet making his way there to bear witness. Now I'm not sure which one of the 400-ish "Church of God" fragments Weinlands leads. After Worldwide Church of God founder, Herbert W Armstrong, died in 1986 and his son, Garner Ted Armstrong, was discredited through gambling and sex romps with co-eds at the church's "Ambassador College", the church sort of fell apart.
Anyway, Weinland says we will see the first of the "Seven Trumpets" day after tomorrow, then the proverbial will REALLY hit the fan in 2008 and by the end of this year we will see the "the demise of the United States and beginning of man's final war." Ultimately, I think he says there are supposed to be maybe 3,000 people who will go forward into the new world after the apocalypse to come. I may be a bit hazy on the details here as these "Noah's Ark" earth-cleansing apocalypses tend to blur one into the other. You can download Robert Weinland's book here. It's in English, Dutch, Spanish and Italian, so presumably these folks will have an edge as the lights go out. You best get to it or you may not have time to finish it unless you're among the 3,000 in which case it will be history not prophecy, so why bother.
The YouTube version:
Savage Teen Beating and Aftermath
The other news item that got me this weekend comes from the United States. Eight teenagers (6 females / two males) invited a girl they all knew over to one of their grandparents home then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of her in a sustained attack over a 30-minute period. She suffered concussion and bruising over her entire body. They could have killed her. They videoed the whole thing so they could upload it to YouTube or whatever later. This Fox News item on Youtube is one of the better overviews I've seen of this horrifying crime. (Fox? Yeah...I know). Don't watch if you're squeamish. It's not pretty.
The US public is outraged and some are baying for more blood - this time the perps'. The parents of the perpetrators are defensive and obviously shell-shocked. This article on Tampa Bay Online is fairly comprehensive with respect to the response. If you've been following it, you've seen the court appearance and the circus surrounding the release of each on bail. The parents of the victim, understandably and justifiably distraught, blame the Internet for what happened.
It gets worse. A US-based talk-show host known as "Dr. Phil" has apparently paid for or otherwise secured the bail of one of the girls charged in return for an exclusive on her story. The video of a Dr. Phil minder blocking access to the girl by other media is eye-opening on several levels.
I'm hoping this whole episode of teenage rage doesn't become a political football. Gangs of kids have been beating on other kids since forever. It's not right. Never was right. The media circus around this story is bad enough without the additonal dimension of cheque-book pseudo-journalism causing more damage to all concerned - perps, victim, the parents of both, while the "blame the internet" knee-jerk mantra gets more tuneless utterance.
Zimbabwe
Looks like the expected partial recount in the presidential election in Zimbabwe will give the Mugabe regime one more opportunity to stuff the ballot boxes enough to see their man win. Voters are already being softened up by a preliminary campaign of violence and intimidation. The opposition has called for a general strike to begin today. Mugabe's forces are mobilising to meet the challenge, setting up police checkpoints.
South African President, Thabo Mbeke, who had attempted to mediate and been ignored by Mugabe, has proven himself yet again to be an impotent apologist for Mugabe. It is damaging Mbeke's reputation at home
What would you do if you lived there? Would you have yet reached the point where you could no longer afford to be beaten down? Would you be at the point where you felt you had nothing to lose?
I guess we'll find out over the next several days.
...and now the song....
Meanwhile, this song intruded into my world today and I decided I really like it. Have a listen if you haven't already. The band is Opshop and the song is "One Day".
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