The Rights (and Roles)of Women

Happy Anniversary

Today I have been married to my beautiful wife, Tasha for 8 years. I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my wife and and that I’m very blessed to have her in my life.

Thanks for everything you’ve done for me. Love you.

Hubble shows us galaxies beyond our own.

Now consider our marble Earth in the grand scheme of all of that. It’s humbling to say the least. Just 500 years ago, humans considered the Earth a very significant player in the vastness of space. 1000 years ago, the very SKY of the earth was thought to be the heavens (i.e. space). Not only that, but space (if you can believe humans even had a concept of that) was in fact Earth-centric…that is, the Earth was the center of the “universe”. This was not even considered a belief…it was considered a fact. The “heavenly bodies” revolved around and was dedicated to the Earth. Its easy to see how ancient humans would believe this considering this is how things apparently ARE from the viewpoint of a human restricted to grown level observations and a distinct lack of modern scientific imagination, theory, and tools. So the Earth was the grand stage on which the entire drama of creation unfolded. Then something happened…Copernicus (1473-1543) formulated his theory of a heliocentric Solar System – removing the Earth from not only the center of the Universe – but from the center of our local system…now called the Solar System because of that discovery. This helped garner in the scientific revolution which set the stage for more cosmological discoveries to come. So now when we read ancient texts trying desperately to establish the grand-ness of various anthropomorphic dieties using the then known world (i.e. universe) as their standard – it seems a bit silly. When we consider that for centuries, religions have been fighting and competing for what amount to be invisibly minuscule crumbs of sparse land by contrast to the sheer unimaginable vastness of the universe, we appear to be no more sophisticated than ants fighting for the all important crumb of hotdog bun, cast away on the sidewalk, outside of the Sears Tower – oblivious to just what our surroundings really are and how we over-estimate our importance to those surroundings.

I admit I’m a geek when it comes to this stuff. My wife can attest to the fact that if there’s a discovery program on about space travel or astronomy, I’m glued to the set. One of the first books I purchased for my kids every-growing bookshelf was an Atlas of our Solar System. One of the reasons I’m so fascinated is because of the implications of these discoveries for mankind. Science has always forced us to re-evaluate what we know and believe and pull us out of the darkness of ignorant superstition. A flat Earth was canon – a round Earth was heresy – not anymore. Sperm was considered a “seed” with only the need of fertile “soil” to be planted in – no one had any knowledge of the microscopic ovaries of a woman and how this process required sperm and ovum. Chromosomes were unknown. Know one knew what made a boy and what made a girl. No we know about XX and XY. Just 500 years ago, this was not even a concept. Whether we know it or not, we have updated our understanding of the world around us beyond what was believed by our forefathers. Why we have a tendency to discard what we know in exchange for ancient supersitions continues to amaze me.

1. A movement that separates itself from society, either geographically or socially;
2. Adherents who become increasingly dependent on the movement for their view on reality;
3. Important decisions in the lives of the adherents are made by others;
4. Making sharp distinctions between us and them, divine and Satanic, good and evil, etc. that are not open for discussion;
5. Leaders who claim divine authority for their deeds and for their orders to their followers;
6. Leaders and movements who are unequivocally focused on achieving a certain goal.

Shirley Harrison’s list;

• A powerful leader who claims divinity or a special mission entrusted to him/her from above;
• Revealed scriptures or doctrine;
• Deceptive recruitment;
• Totalitarianism and alienation of members from their families and/or friends;
• The use of indoctrination, by sophisticated mind-control techniques, based on the concept that once you can make a person behave the way you want, then you can make him/her believe what you want;
• Slave labour – that is, the use of members on fundraising or missionary activities for little or no pay to line the leader’s pockets;
• Misuse of funds and the accumulation of wealth for personal or political purposes at the expense of members; and
• Exclusivity – “we are right and everyone else is wrong”.

I personally have seen and experienced these characteristics up close and personal which is why I guess they resonate with me. Just a cursory glance at some of the profiles of cultish behavior are eerily recognizable such as (picking from various lists);

Isolate them in new surroundings apart from old friends or reference-points;

Provide them with instant acceptance from a seemingly loving group;

Keep them away from competing or critical ideas;

Provide an authority figure that everyone seems to acknowledge as having some special skill or awareness;

Provide a philosophy that seems logical and appears to answer all or the most important questions in life;

Structure all or most activities so that there is little time for privacy or independent action or thought, provide a sense of “us” versus “them”;

• Regulation of individual’s physical reality
• “Where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates, what clothes, colors, hairstyles the person wears, what food the person eats, drinks, adopts, and rejects, how much sleep the person is able to have, financial dependence, little or no time spent on leisure, entertainment, vacations.”
• Major time commitment required for indoctrination sessions and group rituals
• Need to ask permission for major decisions
• Need to report thoughts, feelings, and activities to superiors
• Rewards and punishments (behavior modification techniques — positive and negative)
• Individualism discouraged; “group think” prevails
• Rigid rules and regulations
• Need for obedience and dependency

And you get the point. Good stuff right? It’s amazing how we can be manipulated into relinquishing our intellect to those who would use deception and slight of hand techniques to further their agendas. Once one’s reality is swapped out for the groups version of what your realilty should be, it becomes extremely difficult to break free from those mental and emotional shackles. Fortunately now due to the Internet and easy access to information, it has become more and more difficult for these groups to hide the more unsavory aspects of their practices and beliefs. People can now do research on any religious group to read past and present critiques, former members testimonials, and beliefs or claims that have been since debunked and discreditied. Thank God for the Internet.

Can the truth of a small strip of desert 3000 years ago still be considered fact today – or myth? 2000 years ago? 1400 years ago? Is what was canon in antiquity still considered correct? Should our approach to what we hold sacred change the more we learn about the world (and beyond) around us? Do we continue to look defiantly into the hard, cold facts of science, technology, medicine, sociology, and psychology yet simultaneously deny what is right in front of us simply because we feel obligated to continue to use “guidebooks” that haven’t been updated in over a millenia?

I don’t have any agenda. I do not represent any particular group. I have however, spent quite a bit of time, energy and effort dispensing “blue pills” – that is – perpetuating myth, religious slogans, and empty dogma that dulls the senses, arrests intellectual development, and keeps the pill-popper in a constant state of comfortable nihilistic slumber. So if you’re easily offended and want to continue your lifenap – comfortably dreaming about when YOUR idealogy will be victorious and YOUR never-really-existed utopia will be established – go and refill your bluepill Rx somewhere else. For every one else, I offer the Red Pill…