Virtual Illusions

In practice, many state schools in certain areas blur that division and a survey by Scientific American revealed the extraordinary statistic that just under half those polled believe that God created earth sometime in the last 10,000 years. In a country where a significant number of adults worry about being abducted by aliens this may not be so surprising, but it seems that President Bush has seen fit to pronounce that “on the issue of evolution the verdict is still out on how God created the earth”.

–http://www.money.net/scripts/readyb?28713087

Philosophy/Religion, Quote

“It is a great adventure to contemplate the universe, beyond man, to contemplate what it would be like without man, as it was in great part of its long history and as it is in a great majority of places. When this objective view is finally attained, and the mystery and majesty of matter are fully appreciated, to then turn the objective eye back on man viewed as matter, to view life as part of this universal mystery of greatest depth, is to sense an experience which is very rare, and very exciting. It usually ends in laughter and a delight in the futility of trying to understand what this atom in the universe is, this thing –atoms with curiosity– that looks at itself and wonders why it wonders. Well, these scientific views end in awe and mystery, lost at the edge in uncertainty, but they appear to be so deep and so impressive that the theory that it is all arranged as a stage for God to watch man’s struggle for good and evil seem inadequate.

Some will tell me that I have just described a religious experience. Very well, you may call it what you will. Then, in that language I would say that the young [scientist]’s religious experience is of such a kind that he finds the religion of his church inadequate to describe, to encompass that kind of experience. The God of the church isn’t big enough.”

–Richard Feynman’s ‘The Meaning of it All’

Philosophy/Religion, Quote

I didn’t write this I don’t know who did but I thought it was worth saving.

I wanted to share with you and your readers some interesting information gleaned from “Collier’s Encyclopedia Yearbooks” from the years 1961-63. As you know, the religious right often claims that the upsurge in crime and violence that plague this country did not begin until the Supreme Court removed “God” from the public school classroom in 1962-63. However, I have found information that proves this to be a false claim. The research I have done can be done by anyone who has access to such yearbooks, either at home or a large city library. Another good source would be “The World Almanac” which is helpful with crime statistics on a state by state basis. Some libraries have one for each year since the 1950’s. “The Readers Guide to Periodical Literature” is another good resource, especially if you can find the volumes for the late 50’s and early 60’s.

Anyway, I was reading “Collier’s 1961 yearbook” (Which discusses the final crime statistics for 1959) and it had this to say (Page 173): “Crime registered a new all-time high in 1959, some 69% higher than a decade earlier and 128% greater than the rate in 1940. According to FBI information, the crime rate continues to outpace population growth at a rate of 4 to 1, and serious crime increase 11% over last year’s figures for the first nine months of 1960.” The author of this section, Donald J. Newman, while discussing the numerous murders, forcible rapes and agravated assaults recorded in 1959, writes (Page 174): “Little wonder our world reputation is as notorious for crime as it is famous for technology.”

What is this? America has a reputation for crime? Before the Supreme Court removed “God” from the public classrooms? That can’t be! But wait!According to the same author in “Collier’s” 1962 yearbook (Page 174) he states that America’s commitment rate of 119.8 adult prisoners for every 100,000 persons in population was the “highest” commitment rate than anywhere in the world! He adds (Page 176) of the 1962 edition that crime in the United States increased 100 percent in the major cities since 1951! In the 1963 edition he wrote that crime rates had surpassed population growth at a ratio of about 5 to 1 over the previous five years (Page 185).

What is surprising is these increases in crime came during a religious revival in the 1950’s that had “God” put into the pledge of allegiance, and “In God We Trust” put on the back of our money and a 25% increase in total church membership from 1950 to 1959!

In the 1962 edition (discussing 1960’s stats) he wrote that the rate of crime showed an increase of some 13% over 1959 and some 24% over 1955. The reported robbery rate increased 24% since 1955, while burglary increased 29% over the same period. No crime decreased during this time (Page 172). Collier’s asserts in the 1963 edition that when the “Engel Vs Vitale” case was passed that an estimated 75% of the school system in the SOUTH had chapel services and Bible readings (Page 224). Yet the 1964 edition (Page 238) reveals that the SOUTH has the highest murder rates! (Can’t we play the “post hoc” game too?)

He also mentioned that attacks on police officers by mobs increase greatly in 1961. Los Angeles reported such attacks “tripled” in 1961 while New York reported during the first seven months of 1961 some 1,400 NYC police officers were attacked by similar mobs! (All this while God was still “In” the classroom). Further, in the 1963 yearbook he added that there were 13,190 reported assaults on police officers in 1961, four thousand more than in 1960. “This increase in assaults on the police is consistent with the trend of recent years and is of great concern to law enforcement officials. Many of these assaults involved attacks by groups of otherwise law-abiding onlookers while police were performing routine duties” (Page 187). So much for the idea that respect for authority was lost only after the removal of “God” from the classroom, heh?

These church membership figures are found on page 506 of the 1961 “Collier’s” yearbook. The article on church membership states that in 1900 total church membership was only 36% of the US population. By 1926 the US Protestant membership was 27% of the total population while Catholics were 16% of the population. However, by 1958 the Protestant membership was 35.5% of the population and Catholic membership had raised to 22.2% of the total population (63% combined total of all faiths). The year by year total of the 1950’s shows the “total” numbers of Protestant church membership (and how it grew):

1950 50,021,960
1951 52,162,432
1952 54,229,963
1953 55,837,325
1954 57,124,142
1955 58,448,567
1956 60,148,980
1957 59,823,777
1958 61,504,669
1959 62,543,502

The total population on the other hand increased from 151,325,798 in 1950 to 179,323,175 in 1960, an increase of 18.5% In the 1963 edition the “total” church membership for the year 1961 is given as 116,109,929, up from 114,449,217 in 1960. Total church membership represented 63.4% of the estimated American Population (Page 51%). Donald J. Newman in his article on crime in the 1961 edition of “Collier’s” (Page 179) writes:

“The immediate outlook for crime and delinquency prevention is discouraging. There every reason to believe that crime rates of all kinds will continue to increase during the sixties and that in many areas major crises of a nature now only dimly perceived will occur. Certain problems such as heroin and morphine addiction have every possibility of reaching epidemic states. Youth gangs show no inclination of lessening and we have yet to develop generally satisfactory methods of focusing their activities in Gazooks! That sounds like a newspaper right from our own time! The writer adds that the US adjudicated 200,000 children delinquents in 1940, which increased to 280,000 by 1950 and to a whopping 700,000 by 1958! Newman
writes that these stats came from the “Children’s Bureau” databases and were considered the best available.

In the 1963 edition he writes that 1961 was the twelfth consecutive year of increased juvenile delinquency (Page 187). The problems with schools did not begin with the removal of state sanctioned prayer either, contrary to the claims of the religious right. According to “Collier’s” there were grave educational concerns in the early 1960. In the EDUCATION section the author writes:

“The year 1960 witnessed a continuing concern over the state of education in the nation, along with evidence that changes were demanded by the times. Among major developments during the year were: (1) the 16th consecutive year of increased enrollments in public schools; (2) acute shortages of classrooms and teachers at ever educational level” (Page 203) “Most of the strident voices in criticism of education had become muted. The views of Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover continued to receive some publicity. In testifying before a Congressional subcommittee, he restated his views about the ineffectiveness of American education and the need for a European pattern of academic rigor in the nation’s high schools.”

The quality-in-education theme was also reiterated by the “New York Times”. Taking issue with a statement by President Eisenhower in which he termed as “spurious” assertions about deficiencies in American Education, the “Times” editorialized that such assertions were genuine. It added: “The problem of American education goes deeper than the lack of buildings or lack of equipment or lack of scholarships or even lack of personnel - it involves quality; quality of teachers, quality of instruction, quality of curricula, quality of students, quality of output, quality of standards” (Page 205). On page 208 I read this: “There seemed to be accumulating evidence that discipline was the number one student problem. Dr. Lawerence Vredevoe of UCLA reported discipline to be the chief concern among parents and prospective teachers. Reporting from a study he had conducted, 80% of a group of 3,500 future teachers said poor discipline was their main worry. Of a group of 2,400 parents, 80% listed poor discipline as their chief complaint against the schools. In a group of 160 school administrators, 124 stated that the major cause of dismissal of faculty was ineffective ability to maintain discipline.”

The Gilbert Research Survey, which usually polls student opinions, turned to a sample of 900 teachers for their opinions about teenagers. The number one complaint was lack of courtesy and respect for their elders. Other peeves of teachers included carelessness, poor grammar, and incessant talking. The teachers blamed poor parental supervision (Page 208) It became obvious as I read these yearbooks that the problems with our schools DID NOT BEGIN WITH THE REMOVAL OF STATE SANCTIONED PRAYERS FORM THE SCHOOLS. They were already there. The writer even writes on page 208 that the dropout rate in 1959 was almost 50% of all those who had entered the first grade, and 21% of those who had reached the tenth grade! The author adds: “Shortages in school housing, in adequate facilities, and in teaching staff presented one dilemma. The values, morals, attitudes, ambitions, and behavior of young people-particularly the adolescent, presented another. Questions of antisocial and delinquent behavior and the weak holding power of the schools (dropouts) seemed to receive prominent attention (Page 207).

Philosophy/Religion, Politics, Quote

But it seems to me that there is a crucial difference between believing something and believing it utterly. And regardless of his or her beliefs, it seems to me that in a democracy, every citizen has an obligation to recognize that just because you believe something doesn’t make it so. We wouldn’t want to go around beating on each other over a misapplied allegory, a misinterpreted metaphor, a bad translation or a mystical mistake — would we, Mr. Day?

By JOHN MACLACHLAN GRAY
Wednesday, March13, 2002

[ed. I broke up the link because it doesn't work anymore (into the archives and it was messing up the formatting]
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?
tf=tgam/common/FullStory.html&cf=tgam/common/FullStory.cfg&
configFileLoc=tgam/config&date=20020313&dateOffset=%20&
hub=columnists&title=Columnists&cache_key=columnistsThearts%A4t_row=3&start_row=3&num_rows=1

Philosophy/Religion, Quote

Rushworth Kidder:

“When you talk to people anywhere in the world about what they think are the most important values to hand on to the next generation, they will talk to you about five things: compassion, fairness, responsibility, honesty and respect. It’s uncanny the commonality with which those particular five values keep coming up.”

Michael Josephson:

His research resulted in what he calls the Six Pillars of Character, five of which–caring, fairness, responsibility, trustworthiness and respect–are essentially identical to the values identified by Kidder’s organization. The sixth is citizenship.

Philosophy/Religion, Quote

Alabama: Hell Yes, We Have Electricity

Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can’t Be Wrong!

Arizona: But It’s A Dry Heat

Arkansas: Literacy Ain’t Everything

California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than
Your Honda

Colorado: If You Don’t Ski, Don’t Bother

Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedy’s
Don’t Own It Yet

Delaware: We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water

Florida: Ask Us About Our Grandkids

Georgia: We Put The “Fun” In Fundamentalist Extremism

Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha’ami Leeki Toru (Death To
Mainland Scum, But Leave Your Money)

Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes … Well Okay, We’re
Not, But The
Potatoes Sure Are Real Good

Illinois: Please Don’t Pronounce the “S”

Indiana: 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free

Iowa: We Do Amazing Things With Corn

Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States

Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names

Louisiana: We’re Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But
That’s Our Tourism Campaign

Maine: We’re Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster

Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It

Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden’s (For
Most
Tax Brackets)

Michigan: First Line Of Defense >From The Canadians

Minnesota: 10,000 Lakes… And 10,000,000,000,000
Mosquitoes

Mississippi: Come And Feel Better About Your Own State

Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At
Work

Montana: Land Of The Big Sky, The Unabomber,
Right-wing Crazies, And Very Little Else

Nebraska: Ask About Our State Motto Contest

Nevada: Hookers and Poker!

New Hampshire: Go Away And Leave Us Alone

New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer
##$%##! Motto Right Here!

New Mexico: Lizards Make Excellent pets

New York: You Have The Right To Remain Silent, You
Have The
Right To An Attorney …

North Carolina: Tobacco Is A Vegetable

North Dakota: We Really Are One Of The 50 States!

Ohio: At Least We’re Not Michigan

Oklahoma: Like The Play, Only No Singing

Oregon: Spotted Owl… It’s What’s For Dinner

Pennsylvania: Cook With Coal

Rhode Island: We’re Not REALLY An Island

South Carolina: Remember The Civil War? We Didn’t
Actually
Surrender

South Dakota: Closer Than North Dakota

Tennessee: The Educashun State

Texas: Si’ Hablo Ing’les (Yes, I Speak English)

Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus

Vermont: Yep

Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs And Slackjaw
Yokels
Don’t Mix?

Washington: Help! We’re Overrun By Nerds And Slackers!

Washington, D.C.: Wanna Be Mayor?

West Virginia: One Big Happy Family… Really!

Wisconsin: Come Cut The Cheese

Wyoming: Where Men Are Men … and the sheep are
scared!

Regional

French Intellectuals to be Deployed in Afghanistan to Convince Taliban of Non-Existence of God

By
Michael Kelly

The ground war in Afghanistan heated up yesterday when the Allies revealed plans to airdrop a platoon of crack French existentialist philosophers into the country to destroy the morale of Taliban zealots by proving the non-existence of God.

Elements from the feared Jean-Paul Sartre Brigade, or ‘Black Berets’, will be parachuted into the combat zones to spread doubt, despondency and existential anomie among the enemy. Hardened by numerous intellectual battles fought during their long occupation of Paris’s Left Bank, their first action will be to establish a number of pavement cafes at strategic points near the front lines.

There they will drink coffee and talk animatedly about the absurd nature of life and man’s lonely isolation in the universe. They will be accompanied by a number of heartbreakingly beautiful girlfriends who will further spread dismay by sticking their tongues in the philosophers’ ears every five minutes and looking remote and unattainable to everyone else.

Their leader, Colonel Marc-Ange Belmondo, spoke yesterday of his confidence in the success of their mission. Sorbonne graduate Belmondo, a very intense and unshaven young man in a black pullover, gesticulated wildly and said, “The Taliban are caught in a logical fallacy of the most ridiculous. There is no God and I can prove it. Take your tongue out of my ear, Juliet, I am talking.”

Marc-Ange plans to deliver an impassioned thesis on man’s nauseating freedom of action with special reference to the work of Foucault and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

However, humanitarian agencies have been quick to condemn the operation as inhumane, pointing out that the effects of passive smoking from the Frenchmens’endless Gitanes could wreak a terrible toll on civilians in the area.

Speculation was mounting last night that Britain may also contribute to the effort by dropping Professor Stephen Hawking into Afghanistan to propagate his non-deistic theory of the creation of the universe. Other tactics to demonstrate the non-existence of God will include the dropping of leaflets pointing out the fact that Michael Jackson has a new album out and Oprah Winfrey has not died yet.

Government, Religion

God is not sufficient to prevent evil, and is not necessary to create good.

Blake Maddux, Resident of Lancaster
March 4 2002 http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/news/stories/20020304/opinion/1757696.html

Philosophy/Religion

CHENEY’S BRIEF APPEARANCE, RETURN TO SECURE LOCATION MAY MEAN SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER, EXPERTS SAY

White House Downplays Veep’s Influence Over Seasons

Vice President Dick Cheney emerged from his secure, undisclosed location to make the rounds of the morning news programs this Sunday, but then immediately returned to his hiding place — indicating that America may be in for six more weeks of winter, according to experts.

While appearing with Tim Russert on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” observers say, the Vice President seemed distracted, looking over his shoulder repeatedly as if trying to see his own shadow. A review of the broadcast indicates that Vice President Cheney, in fact, appeared to locate his shadow towards the end of the program.

He then abruptly concluded the interview, cancelled an appearance with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and returned to his secure, undisclosed location, which is believed to be underground. Experts were divided as to impact of Cheney’s brief appearance and sudden disappearance upon the duration of the current winter season.

“You can read anything you want into Cheney seeing his own shadow and going back underground,” one Cheney-watcher said. “Yes, it may mean six more weeks of winter, but it may just mean that he’s trying to stay as far away from this Enron mess as possible.”

At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer attempted to downplay the increasingly widespread impression that Vice-President Cheney can influence the seasons.

“Vice President Cheney is a respected voice within this Administration, but he does not control the weather,” Fleischer told reporters. “Only the President can do that.”

Government, Holiday

A woman takes her 16-year-old daughter to the doctor.
The doctor
says, “Okay, Mrs. Jones, what’s the problem?”

The mother says, “It’s my daughter, Debbie. She keeps
getting these
cravings, she’s putting on weight, and is sick most
mornings.”

The doctor gives Debbie a good examination, then turns
to the mother
and says, “Well, I don’t know how to tell you this,
but your Debbie is
pregnant - about 4 months, would be my guess.”

The mother says, “Pregnant?! She can’t be, she has
never ever been
left alone with a man! Have you, Debbie?”

Debbie says, “No mother! I’ve never even kissed a
man!”

The doctor walked over to the window and just stares
out it. About
five minutes pass and finally the mother says, “Is
there something
wrong out there doctor?”

The doctor replies, “No, not really, it’s just that
the last time
anything like this happened, a star appeared in the
east and three
wise men came over the hill. I’ll be darned if I’m
going to miss it!”

Religion