Pulpit Prattle
- Even if the above is going too far Bush's
biblical
language does nothing to raise the level of debate about Islamic
terrorism - in fact the frequent use of such imagery falls straight into
the hands of the bin Ladens of this world - it is exactly their kind of
rhetoric. It allows them to claim that the war on terrorism is a crusade
against Muslims - and listening to the president's language it is hard not
to think he has handed them a priceless propaganda gift.
Religious fundamentalism is one of the greatest dangers in the world today
- it can be seen in such groups as the Taliban who until recently governed
a country and who may yet reappear, the
Hindu fanatics trying to rewrite the history of India backed by many
members of government,(NYT registration required) and a US
administration blinkered by a dangerously ignorant and narrow sectarian
view of the world. As can be seen
from the pernicious nonsense pushed by the The Table of the Remnant page
One Nation
Under God at War and Catholic Planet's view of Bush as
Moses
redivivus there are some who welcome the giant step backwards that
religion-driven government would be for democracy.
God's Back
- On a far lighter note but still with fundamentalism - what is a
dictionary definition of the root of that oft-used word? The Shorter
Oxford English Dictionary defines "fundament"
(in one instance) thus - The buttocks, the anus.
(Middle English) and "fundamentalism"
thus - The strict maintenance of traditional
orthodox religious beliefs or doctrines; esp. belief in the inerrancy of
Scripture and literal acceptance of the creeds as fundamentals of
Protestant Christianity. Strangely enough it is possible to link
these two related words through the use of the Good Book itself - if you
have a warped sense of humor and the time to spare (waste). There is a
curious little passage in Exodus 33 where after "the
Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."
(33:11) it is then stated that Moses says to God "I
beseech thee, shew me thy glory."(33:18) and the deity,
surprisingly says "Thou canst not see my face: for
there shall no man see me, and live."(33:20) "And
the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a
rock. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will
put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I
pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts:
but my face shall not be seen".(33:23) So not only does God forget
that he has just spoken to Moses "face to face" but he also then shows him
his backside! If you think only 80 interprets "back parts" as backside
take a look at these genuine sermons (here
and here)
based upon that very (back) passage. To further sharpen your biblical wits
try this
quiz - 80's result was as follows " Your total
score is 129. You know the Bible well, but if you're going to be a
Christian you have a lot of "interpreting" to do."
Additional backside
musings -There is a tendency for certain fundamentalist religious
groups to call themselves The Remnant this or that as in
The Remnant Saints
(Past View - Remnant Spam Tablet) or as mentioned
above The Table of the
Remnant. In the time of Cromwell in England the members of the
so-called Long Parliament who were left after wholesale expulsions were
called the Rump Parliament. Why rump? According to
this page
"Calling a legislative body the rump might seem more
sensible if you know that, in addition to referring to the hindquarters of
an animal, rump can mean "a small or inferior remnant or offshoot."
Webster's
dictionary has this definition of rump to add "
Fig.: The hind or tail end; a fag-end; a remnant". And the upshot
of this pointless rambling? It looks like all these holy "remnants" are
nothing more than rumps. 80 reckons that The Rumpy
Saints or The Table of the Rump sounds
happily less serious...................
Korantradictions
- Lest folk assume 80 has a purely anti-Christian bias here is a link to
something that could do with a great deal more publicity - over 150 sites
giving an "Alternative View
of Islam". The quality of material is variable but gives a much wider
impression of Islam and its impact on the world than the often restricted
one available from the media. Also, even though it has been mentioned a
couple of times before, do take a look at the
Institute for the Secularization of
Islam web site. Their mission statement's first paragraph should be
read by George W Bush, he may find it enlightening.
"We share the ideals of a democratic society, and a
secular state that does not endorse any religion, religious institution,
or any religious dogma. The basis for its authority is in man-made law,
not in religious doctrine or in divine revelation. In a theocracy of the
type that Islamic fundamentalists wish to establish, sovereignty belongs
to god, but in a democracy sovereignty belongs to the people. We therefore
favor the firm separation of religion and state: without such a separation
there can be no freedom from tyranny, and such a separation is the sine
qua non for a secular state."
Elsewhere on the site is
this page of
Koranic contradictions and inconsistencies - the equal of anything in the
Judaeo-Christian scriptures, and
two fascinating
essays explaining the concept of "jihad" a word that has been heard
far too often in recent years. For more insight on Islam, the Koran,
organized religion and personal faith
these pages are
well worth a look.
Manipulate This
- There is no doubt that for some health problems physical manipulation
can be beneficial. A sound knowledge of medicine is required for
manipulation can be dangerous and crippling if misapplied to certain
conditions which have not been accurately diagnosed. The most popular form
of such treatment is chiropractic - so what theory and knowledge underlies
this increasingly popular, not to say lucrative, practice? The rather
grandly named
World
Chiropractic Alliance tells the
story of the invention of chiropractic by one D D Palmer, a
practitioner of magnetic
healing who learned his spinal manipulation was good for a surprising
range of problems including but not limited to "flu,
sciatica, migraine headaches, stomach complaints, epilepsy and heart
trouble." Palmer apparently decided to find the basis of the success he
claimed to have with his treatments, only after setting up a
chiropractic infirmary and enrolling students. (Seems a little strange to
approach things in this way but doubtlessly more financially rewarding.) "He
realized spinal adjustments to correct vertebral misalignments, or
subluxations, were eliminating the nerve interference causing the
patients' complaints." Here is a favorite buzzword,
subluxations, of which more later. It is
interesting that Palmer seems to have associated such afflictions as 'flu
and heart trouble with "nerve interference".
Medical Jealousy
- Naturally in this somewhat partisan account by the WCA any doubts
about Palmer and his treatments are dismissed thus "The
medical community, afraid of his success and discouraged by its own
failure to heal diseases, joined the crusade and wrote letters to the
editors of local papers, openly criticizing his methods and accusing him
of practicing medicine without a license." But of course all
great men are misunderstood by jealous lesser types - even if they
really were practicing unlicensed medicine (for which Palmer was
successfully later convicted). It only adds(?) to Palmer's reputation
that he "defended himself against the doctors’
attacks by presenting arguments against the medical procedures of
vaccination and surgery." D D's son, known as B J, who carried on
his father's work is credited "with developing
chiropractic into a clearly defined and unique health care system."
Unique maybe but clearly defined?
Nonscience - What is the science behind chiropractic? According to
this page from WCA it is backed by much anecdotal evidence, "Nearly
everyone has heard at least one story testifying to the power of
subluxation correction", although it rightly states that "In
health care, these accounts are considered "anecdotal evidence" and,
although they can be a very strong indication of chiropractic's value,
they don't take the place of scientific research." This is
weaselly stuff - on a page titled "The Science
Behind the Subluxation" why even mention anecdotal evidence
at all? In
fact this page has zero science content but plenty of hand-waving. But
what about this word
subluxation
? (also see
here) The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives "(Med.)
a partial dislocation". Somehow that doesn't sound so
impressive.This
explanatory page discusses the spinal column, the spinal cord and
the nervous system in basic terms and then starts shading off into vague
descriptions of "energy flows". 80 assumes
this is just bafflegab for nerve impulses which can be disrupted by
vertebral dislocations - which, according to the WCA give rise to "pain,
soreness, irregularity, weakness, digestive disturbances or other health
imbalances." The mechanism by which these "imbalances" manifest
themselves is not, at least to this reader, made clear. Disturbingly the
page ends by giving us this distinctly hokey warning about
our bodies cells and organs "Because of vertebral
subluxations, they will not be receiving a normal flow of energy. The
instructions from the body's Innate Intelligence will not be getting
through properly." Again, is this flow of energy what anybody
else might describe as nerve impulses - and what on earth is the body's
Innate Intelligence? It must be very
important to rate the capital letters - not even subluxation gets that
treatment. The WCA
describes it in terms that would not be out of place in any New Age,
pseudoscientific context " Living things are like
microcosms of the universe. We've seen how they are each endowed with a
portion of the Universal Intelligence, called the Innate Intelligence." The final paragraph gets down to hard tacks and the real
business behind chiropractic "You -- and your
entire family -- need to visit a chiropractor regularly to make sure you
can all lead a healthy, subluxation-free life." Certainly not on
the evidence offered here by the World Chiropractic Alliance.
Here are a couple of choice statements from these clowns "In
fact, it's important to understand that chiropractors don't treat
illness. They locate and correct subluxations in order to help restore
the normal flow of life energy throughout the body." and "everyone
needs to make sure their bodies are free from subluxations and able to
function at peak performance. That's why we ALL need regular
chiropractic visits." Finally, this little gem of responsible
explication "Because subluxations can destroy a
person's health without any visible signs, they are often called "the
silent killer.""
