Here is a question for you. What level of woo would make someone undateable? What about unfriendable? Do you have a limit that you’ve drawn in your life or do you have a lot of woo woo people around you that you interact with? How do you get on with them? Do you find it difficult? Do you argue with them or are you silent about your woo disbelief?

Woo can be defined as anything supernatural, irrational or lacking in evidence. So it would include religion and any kind of pseudoscience.

On a side note, is there anything that could be defined as woo that you still believe in? If so, why?

For me, I’ve somehow whittled down my friend list from all woo-lovers to all skeptical atheists. I didn’t do this deliberately, but I guess with my skeptical talk and constant questioning (not aggressively, but I really did question all the woo I previously embraced), my woo-loving friends all went their separate ways and avoided me within months of when my quest for knowledge began.

I didn’t have many friends for awhile but then found the Morgantown Atheists where I found several people that have become good friends. Also, having HDC has let me meet new people who were rather like-minded as well.

With extended family, I still have to deal with woo, both religious and supernatural. They know Butch (my awesome husband) and I are die-hard atheists so we have come to an unspoken agreement that we don’t talk about religion. Or politics just to be safe and have nice dinners together. :P

I think I’m lucky in most respects. My skeptical atheist friends keep things lively by being smart and reason-based (most of the time, we’re not perfect, of course). And my extended family gives me an occasional glimpse into woo-land so I get to see what the majority of people are dealing with and believing. It’s enough.

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The Secret, which is all about the Law of Attraction (not a real law, or even real), is still bullshit. But Elizabeth found a great video from Australia that will make you laugh. It explains how The Secret works. It’s about 7 minutes long:

Notice how in the demo clips it’s always about some materialistic thing like a bike or a necklace? How shallow and self-serving! Why don’t all believers in this stupid lie wish for world peace or clean drinking water for everyone? Or everyone to be disease free? Instead they have to have a new Shiny. Pathetic!

Oh, and see the waves of rays coming out of the peoples’ heads? That doesn’t happen. That’s a special effect. So when you wish for something your thoughts don’t actually leave your head. Just in case you were wondering. Don’t believe me? Ask a neuroscientist. They have proof your thoughts don’t leave your head by magic (they only leave your head when you speak, write something down or perform an action based on those thoughts)

Oh OH! And when you ask for something, then believe it’s already yours, there’s no invisible man in the sky that says to you, “Your wish is my command.” You know that, right? The Universe doesn’t have a log of every time you wish for that new Ferrari. It doesn’t wait for the wish requests to reach 1,000 before it has it shipped to you. (Don’t move your house because it will get delivered to your old address! LOL!)

Other posts about The Secret:

My friend AJ sent me this picture and I had to share it with you, after my brain stopped fizzling:

crucifix-christmas-tree

What is the reasoning here? “Let’s celebrate the birth of our savior, but let’s make sure we focus on his crucifixion at the same time? What would easter look like then? Would you have to mix holiday symbols there too?

Update: Here’s the news story that explains the above image.

Of course, the bible mentions the “christmas” tree in the old testament, and they aren’t too keen on it:

Jeremiah 10:2-4: “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” Read the rest of this entry »

funny-pictures-cat-activates-secret-doorI belong to a book club that has been reading Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language by Robert J. Gula.

I really wanted to share part of chapter 17 with you. Mr. Gula lists the most important principles to be gleaned from the rest of the book. I highly recommend getting the book and reading it. It has really helped me think more logically. The other thing it’s helped me with is to realize when someone has used a logical fallacy on me. I might not remember the name, but I remember that it is nonsense. It sort of gives me a red flag when someone uses bad logic in an argument. I think that’s pretty invaluable.

So here’s the list of important principles from Robert Gula: Read the rest of this entry »

mother mary, cool my house down!Supposedly the virgin mary has appeared on an air conditioner in Texas. Apparently America is getting bored with these sightings since they’ve become so common lately, because this is on the local news down there, but I haven’t heard of it spreading yet.

Personally, I think it looks more like an alien coming out of somebody’s stomach.

EDIT: Upon reflection, I am really thinking it looks like those things from Harry Potter, what the hell were they called? The soul eater things that guarded the prison? It totally looks like one of them.

Here’s the whole writeup from the above link:

Valley resident finds what she believes is an image of the Virgin Mary on her air conditioning unit.
Antonia Ruiz Hernandez says the image has actually been on the unit for a couple of years.

Why the image appeared, Hernandez says, “I don’t know probably a miracle in there. God can do everything if you pray a lot.”
Hernandez has built a makeshift shrine around the air conditioning unit.
She lives along Mile 10 in Mercedes and says people are welcomed to stop by her house and take a look for themselves.

So, god can do everything if you pray a lot. Is that so? I just had the weirdest idea. I’m sure it’s not something I can do. Maybe I can enlist the help of a devout christian? Ash, maybe you can do it! :D What I am wondering is, if you prayed for one simple thing every day, how long would it take for that thing to come true, for god to make it happen?

If I prayed to god earnestly, as a test, I have a feeling he wouldn’t listen to me, since I’m a rather vocal atheist (and god doesn’t exist). But if someone really believed, and really prayed every day, are there rules that say that god would answer? Or are there so many excuses and loopholes that no matter how many years passed, no one would ever hold god to one simple prayer?

Are there any devout christians willing to pray for a miracle as an experiment? Let me know! Of course, there will be controls and such, and we can’t just take your word for it. This would be a real, albeit unofficial, experiment.


a-rescue-mission

I think I understand what it’s like to be lost in a world of woo thinking. Maybe even an inkling of what it’s like to believe in Jesus as your personal hero.

Butch, my awesome husband, came home Friday night and told me he felt awful. He and I both got a cold about 3 weeks ago and he shook if off in about 4 days while I suffered with a nasty chest cold, congestion and laryngitis until just the other day. I didn’t want to hear that he was sick again. It was my birthday weekend, we were supposed to go out to dinner on Sunday (last night), and I was hoping we’d both be feeling well for a change.

Alas, it was not to be. He had a fever, the chills, and was completely miserable. And here’s where I realized I felt totally helpless. I can’t stand seeing someone I love sick. When Butch or my dogs or someone I care about has a problem or is in pain, I want to fix them. I want to make them at least feel better. But sometimes there’s nothing you can do. Read the rest of this entry »

skewed perceptionsThere is no plainer way to say it, The Law of Attraction is complete pseudo-scientific nonsense.

Here is the premise of the Secret, as well as other systems that use the principle of the law of attraction. You can call it whatever you like, positive affirmations, the power of positive thinking, Bernie Siegal’s Love, Medicine and Miracles, Deepak Chopra, and on and on.

Put on your thigh high wader boots, and cover your ears, the bullshit meter is about to sound off loud and long: Read the rest of this entry »