Sunday, May 27, 2007

Al Gore's Bookl, Assault on Reason, is on my reading list.



A Message from Al Gore to Amazon.com Readers


I've dedicated my book, The Assault on Reason, to my father, Senator Albert Gore Sr., the bravest politician I've ever known. In the 1970 mid-term elections, President Richard Nixon relied on a campaign of fear to consolidate his power. I was in the military at the time, on my way to Vietnam as an army journalist, and I watched as my father was accused of being unpatriotic because he was steadfast in his opposition to the War--and as he was labeled an atheist because he dared to oppose a constitutional amendment to foster government-sponsored prayer in the public schools. The 1970 campaign is now regarded by political historians as a watershed, marking a sharp decline in the tone of our national discourse--a decline that has only worsened in recent years as fear has become a more powerful political tool than trust, public consumption of entertainment has dramatically surpassed that of serious news, and blind faith has proven more potent than truth.


We are at a pivotal moment in American democracy. The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, has reached levels that were previously unimaginable. It's too easy and too partisan to simply place the blame on the policies of President George W. Bush. We are all responsible for the decisions our country makes.


Reasoned, focused discourse is vital to our democracy to ensure a well-informed citizenry. But this is difficult in an environment in which we are experiencing a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time--from the O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson trials to Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith.


Never has it been more vital for us to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from the climate crisis to the war in Iraq to the deficits and health and social welfare. Today, reason is under assault by forces using sophisticated techniques such as propaganda, psychology, and electronic mass media. Yet, democracy's advocates are beginning to use their own sophisticated techniques: the Internet, online organizing, blogs, and wikis. Although the challenges we face are great, I am more confident than ever before that democracy will prevail and that the American people are rising to the challenge of reinvigorating self-government. It is my great hope that those who read my book will choose to become part of a new movement to rekindle the true spirit of America.




Charlie Rose interviewed Al Gore at the 92nd St. Y recently.  Gore brought out the great danger in the lack of reason in public discourse we see today.  He discussed some of the methods use to lull the populace into accepting proposals that are commonly held to have great problems. 


I have felt for some time that our democracy is in danger from the skillful manipulation of the public perception of events and from a profound disregard for the truth in our public discourse.  Gore's book is essential reading.


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Friday, May 25, 2007

References on Victorian Spiritualism

Victorian Magic



Site Contents


"The Art of Magic" by Alexander Herrmann "The magician depends for the success of his art upon the credulity of the people. Whatever mystifies, excites curiosity; whatever in turn baffles this curiosity, works the marvelous."

Robert-Houdin and the Spiritualists "Houdin announced that the spirit was present and in the box, and by way of proof put the question point-blank to the box, which answered by raps. In this manner all sorts of answers were spelled out by the obliging spirit."

"High Caste Indian Magic" by Harry Kellar "Fifteen years spent in India and the far East have convinced me that the high caste fakirs, or magicians, of Northern India have probably discovered natural laws of which we in the West are ignorant."

The Davenport Brothers "The Davenport Brothers are believed to have a mission, but the mission which underlies the untying of ropes, and the blowing of trumpets, can hardly be worth the serious attention of intelligent human beings."

"Medicine Men" by Harry Kellar "There were no ghosts in the Indian country. There was one Great Spirit who ruled the world and was worshiped by all red men of all tribes. The medicine men were the priests or only mediums of communication with the Great Spirit."

"The Magician and the Czar" by Alexander Herrmann "I consider the trick of restoring the shattered mirror as my most famous one. This I had the honor of performing before the Czar of Russia upon an invitation to give an exhibition at his court."

The Rochester Rappers "Here might be evidence of a power equal to the loftiest pretension of magnetic clairvoyance, and certainly out of the course of everyday phenomena."

"Native American Magic" by Harry Kellar "To the Indian, medicine means mystery; it is the essential element of his religion and has a sacred and solemn significance which has for generations guarded its secrets from the curious and unworthy."

"The Magician and the Sultan" by Alexander Herrmann "Constantinople spoke of nothing but 'Herrmann, the Great.' In every kiosk, on every street, and in every bazaar there was nothing talked of but the wizard."

"The Moqui Snake Dance" by Harry Kellar "If this power of the Moqui Indians to make companions of venomous rattlesnakes, to toss them about at will and to join with them in the mad whirl of a dance is not magic, what is it?"

The Fox Sisters "During the summer and autumn of 1849, it began to be whispered about that communications from the spirits of the departed had been and were being received in the city of Rochester, N.Y. - the alleged mediums being three sisters."

"Levitation" by Harry Kellar "The Sultan of Zanzibar described to me and asked me to duplicate the feat of the witch doctors of the east coast of Africa and of Borneo, who, he believed, projected their astral bodies at will, with the curious additional power of imparting to the astral image an aspect so hideous and terrifying that its appearance to human eyes could actually destroy life itself."

Daniel D. Home, the Celebrated Medium "A short time ago the daily papers reported the death of the celebrated medium Daniel D. Home, whose health was known to be in a very precarious condition. Instead, however, of having departed for the spirit-land, he still lives."

"The Whirling Fakirs of Calcutta" by Harry Kellar "The old man and his three assistants whirled faster and faster, with a rhythmic motion. Suddenly, to our great astonishment, we became aware that there was only one form visible, that of the old man."

Dr. Von Vleck, the Spiritual Medium Detective "Dr. Von Vleck will perform and fully explain the 'wonderful manifestations' exhibited by the Davenport Brothers, Dr. Slade, the Fox family and other notorious professional mediums.

Spiritualistic Humbugs "The believers in spiritualism flatter themselves that they are the pioneers in a new field of discovery, and they consider all who do not believe in this humbug, as conservative and so behind the progress of our age that they can not see the truth."

"Fakirs of the East" by Harry Kellar "With horrible contortions and the appearance of great agony, which the old fakir assured us was only an appearance, his assistant returned to the land of the living."


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Sunday, May 13, 2007

Sacred Stories from Many Faiths

Sacred Stories from many traditions are told on this site.  I have only had the chance to read one story so far but the site looks great.


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Bible Study in the age of the Internet

Bible Map allows two versions of the Bible to be used.  All place names provide links to their locations on the map.  This gives meaning to campaigns, cities, place names.  It is a very nice site.


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Thursday, May 10, 2007

The Pope's Biggest Worry

Pope Benedict arrived in Brazil on wednesday.  People came from all over South America to greet him. His main concern in the region is the growth of Protestant Evangelical Churchs.




On the plane from Rome, Benedict said the exodus of Catholics for evangelical Protestant churches in Latin America was "our biggest worry."


But he said that the spread of Protestantism shows a "thirst for God" in the region and that he intends to lay down a strategy to answer that call when he meets with bishops from throughout Latin America in a once-a-decade meeting in the shrine city of Aparecida near Sao Paulo.



Aol News





It will be interesting to see how this chief concern for loosing members reflects in the policies of the church in the region.  The Pope's hard right stand on abortion and the policies of some Mexican regions will be of interest. 


The Pope said that church law demanded the excommunication of any doctors, nurses, politicians who took part in abortion any part of providing abortions.  That law does not seem to be enforced in the United States.



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Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Christopher Hitchens in god is not Great

Christopher Hitchens states:




The argument with faith is the foundation and origin of all arguments, because it is the beginning—but not the end—of all arguments about philosophy, science, history, and human nature. It is also the beginning—but by no means the end—of all disputes about the good life and the just city. Religious faith is, precisely because we are still-evolving creatures, ineradicable. It will never die out, or at least not until we get over our fear of death, and of the dark, and of the unknown, and of each other. For this reason, I would not prohibit it even if I thought I could. Very generous of me, you may say. But will the religious grant me the same indulgence? I ask because there is a real and serious difference between me and my religious friends, and the real and serious friends are sufficiently honest to admit it. I would be quite content to go to their children's bar mitzvahs, to marvel at their Gothic cathedrals, to "respect" their belief that the Koran was dictated, though exclusively in Arabic, to an illiterate merchant, or to interest myself in Wicca and Hindu and Jain consolations. And as it happens, I will continue to do this without insisting on the polite reciprocal condition—which is that they in turn leave me alone. But this, religion is ultimately incapable of doing. As I write these words, and as you read them, people of faith are in their different ways planning your and my destruction, and the destruction of all the hard-won human attainments that I have touched upon. Religion poisons everything.




Since Christopher Hitchens is a neo-con.  I will have to put move time into this strange twist of fate.  In the meantime, see god is not great for views on religion from a neo-con point of view.


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Bishop Shelby Spong Speaks on Fundementalism





Bishop Shelby Spong speaks on the evils of fundamentalism in a recent article on his site:



I want to examine the claim that the Bible is the "inerrant Word of God" from a different angle. I do this not only because that idea in and of itself is irrational, but because biblical literalism has been the source of so much overt evil in human history. Anti-Semitism, the conflict between science and religion, the debilitating prejudices of racism, sexism and homophobia are all rooted in the literal Bible. Biblical inerrancy is not a benign pious claim of "conservative Christians," it is an expression of ignorance, the evil of which should not be underestimated. The stakes of this debate are, thus, very high.


An inerrant Bible attributes to God behavior that by any contemporary standard is nothing other than immoral. It feeds the kind of religious bigotry that lies behind religious wars, religious persecutions and even the Inquisition. It encourages people in their tribal needs to rejoice in the suffering of their enemies. It reveals a deep and radical inconsistency in the way the Bible is understood. It is surprising, even discouraging, that inconsistency never seems to be a problem for fundamentalists who employ the most convoluted thinking imaginable to keep their minds from seeing what is obvious to everyone else.




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Bishop Spong points out some of the great difficulties caused by the adherence of a great deal of humanity to a fundamentalist view of humanity.  Their's is not a rational approach in what is supposed to be a rational age.  Their approach is summed up by the common quote "the Bible says it; I believe it"  .   As a group, fundamentalists know very little of how the Bible came to be.  Deep inspection would not be welcome in many of their congregations.  Those, who do value inspection of the Bible's formation should become knowledgeable of Bishop Spong's work.


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