Superstition

[JR]

Introduction

In many of my pieces, I have gone to great lengths to investigate the arguments of religion, and to debunk their claims. Often times, there will be the argument that Reason is somehow incapable of understanding supernatural things, and therefore we ought to rely upon Faith for belief -- or accepting something as true in spite of the lack of evidence. Other times, there will simply be the redundant arguments, which the Universe has heard thousands of times; arguments such as "how did the Universe get here without a god?" or "how did life come here?" I have answered such arguments with clarity and logic just as many times as they have been raised. While my attack on religion was in full force, I noticed that it wasn't religion alone, the well-established sects or churches or organizations that were among the irrational institutions of man, but I noticed there was a great deal of superstition among commoners. These superstitions, much like a plague were widely believed, no matter how ridiculous or outlandish they were. I was almost skeptical that people could so widely believe something like superstitions -- but then again, it is quite true that people widely believe religion, and defend it mercilessly.

This paper serves as a compliment to my papers which make an attack on orthodox and organized religion. Whereas before I specifically attack religion and supernaturality as being scientifically unsound, I now make attacks on superstitions. The foundation is similar, though: I disbelieve in superstition for the same reasons that I disbelieve in religion -- they are both founded on illogical premises or the idea of Faith. Since this paper will be an attack on superstition and the supernatural realm, there ought to be a defense of the idea of a natural realm. This shall be the next section of the paper...

On the Natural Order

When we watch natural phenomena occur in our world -- ourselves little more than the bright-eyed children of the Universe -- we have always wondered why it happens. Where did the spark come from that lit the fire? From what region did the winds come to blow the clouds? This brown dirt below me -- where did the earth come from? Questions and questions, the curiosity of the human mind never ceasing. As science progressed, experiments were conducted, hypotheses formed, and theories created. For every question that was answered, there were five new questions arrising. They desired to know more about the answer, about where whatever it was came from, how it can be used, if it can be harnessed. Technology walked hand in hand with science, as it brought to the species many labor-saving mechanisms. This would bring about an Industrial Society, with an unfortunate rise of Capitalism. The curiosity of mankind would not remain under restraint. We wanted to know. We had to know.

As our scientists drew conclusions with the comparison of different sets of data, a child would sit on their front lawn and marvel at the night sky, wondering what causes the stars to twinkle. As the experiments went on with control and test groups, an adolescent would wonder why certain pills made him feel so good on the inside, if there was a chemical makeup to the soul. And as NASA launched another space shuttle into the black abyss, so that it may collect information, there was a man in the city who wanted to know what caused the sex urge.

Superstitions

There are numerous superstitions in our modern world. It is an unfortunate plight, too. In a very realistic sense, they can be referred to in their own regard as "mini-religions." Few buildings have been dedicated to them, but they still make up a part of the infection in a person's mental faculties. When I was in New Orleans for a period of several months, I came into contact with many superstitions and myths. I was surprised that many of the people believed all of them. In my search for a Rationalist, I found few -- none that I can remember at present time. In the hundreds of people I met, there was no respect for the aged thinkers of Paine, Ingersoll, and McCabe. There was no knowledge of such beings. Here, I expand upon and dispell the superstitions of our society.

Tarot Cards...

It is believed by a great deal of society that paper cards are capable of reading the future -- that the order and type of cards that are drawn will accurately predict the future. The drawings on these cards, the swords and pentacles, they are nothing but an organization of ink on paper. The paper itself is nothing more than processed tree pulp. The physical parts of the card are nothing more than what they appear to be. They are a part of this physical Universe and are equally subject to its laws. If you randomly pick a card from a deck, it is because of how you saw the deck, the way your eyes read the light that entered, the condition of the chemicals and hormones in your brain, and the eventually conclusion of the reactions of those chemicals and electricity to the decision. Thus, the randomly picked card is not a reflection of an unseen, potent, spiritual beings -- rather, it is a simple process of the brain's functions.

Interested in this, I asked my friend to give me a reading. One of the cards he drew was The Moon, which was a bad omen of things to come. He was all ready to put his deck away and await another interested truth seeker, when I asked him to give me another reading. Somewhat baffled by this request, I explained that I was just curious to see the consistency of the readings. He gave me another reading, as I desired, and one of the cards drawn was The Sun, which was a good omen of things to come. The cards The Moon and The Sun are opposites. I asked if he could explain it, and he could not. For Tarot Card readings to be accurate, I would have expected that the second reading to be identical to the first, when in fact it was the opposite. The reason for the readings being what they are has nothing to do with mystical powers, but rather with the physical actions which are applied to the cards.

Palm and Face Readings...

Much like Tarot readings, there is the idea that you can read a person's history through the lines and indentations on their hands. My response to this claim is not dissimilar to my response to Tarot Card readings: a person's hand is made of flesh and blood -- it contains no spiritual entity, it acts not as a haven for divinity. The markings and lines upon a person's hand are not the cause of the gods using stenzils upon flesh, but rather rather the use of the hand is the cause of its condition. Every guitar player will confess to have callouses on their fingers. Carpenters will have more scars upon their hands, as the years of labor have eroded away at the once pristine skin of a child. Any worker whose life has been dedicated to manual labor will be able to confess that the markings upon their hands have not been from the gods or spirits, but rather from years of using tools and the rare mistakes that do occur. To any man who believes in the Natural Order, a papercut is nothing more than an abrasion of the skin. Yet to those who postulate on the thoughts of the gods, it is a sign of conflict, a sign of relationships, a sign of good fortune, a sign of bad fortune -- whatever the mind of the reader will choose to believe about it. I cannot condone Palm or Face Readers in any contemplatible manner -- they will take things that are wholly natural and give to them the rights of divinity, without the authority of evidence -- without the reason of proof.

Magic, Prayer, Voodoo, and Spells...

Among the obvious of superstitions, there is the idea that one can alter the physical Universe at the whim of supernatural activity. With the exception of Deism, every religion has this component to their ideology. Christianity, for example, has the idea of prayer, that by whispering words to the darkness of the Universe, a wish might be granted. Intrinsically, it is no different than a ritual sacrifice of Voodoo, or a Paganist spell, or heretical magic. The only difference is in the process of how it is done. A spell may require focus upon a candle, whereas a prayer requires focus upon clasped hands. The idea of both is essentially the same: humble pleas to the god, gods, or spirits, that they will grant some desire. The church was notorious for its burning of Harry Potter books, but it didn't feel the need to expand upon the fact that their prayer is no different than a spell, except in process. Since I have not found any "pile of mounting evidence" for the accuracy of spells, I have not found a single reason to believe in it. Much like the other myths of culture, it lacks one primary foundation: evidence. Due to this, it will never find respect from Rationalists. Unlike all other fields of science -- which may offer their accuracy through demonstration, observance, tests, experiments -- prayer, magic, and spells are different in that the basis evidence for them is personal testimony. On this account, the personal testimony of primitive humans on spirits, goblins, dragons, ghosts, and other absurdities is equally proving of the existence of such beings.

Fairies...

I once believed that every person, no matter what faith and no matter what religion they believe, held some sort of degree of rationality or logic or respect for evidence. Through debate, I have managed to at least throw doubts on to everyone's creed, no matter which creed it was. At most, I have convinced a few people that religion in general is unable to demonstrate itself as reasonable, logical, or believable. To a great deal of those I debated, they left the debate with their religion, but with a more logical, rational view of the mechanics of the Universe. I always believed that people had some respect for evidence as a reason to believe. To what degree this respect was, I was uncertain. But then, I came to the city of New Orleans, and I found out something particularly disturbing: almost everyone I came into acquiantance with believed in the existence of small fairies that lived within the air ducts of apartments and -- allegedly, though the fairies may deny it -- stole shiny objects. Upon hearing this, I thought it was a fine, neat novelty, but little more than that. As I met more and more people from the city, all of them seemed to hold a firm belief in the idea of fairies, one person even claiming to me that they managed to train their fairies not to steal their shiny things, while another one told me how they left chocolate and wine out for the fairies which was consumed by the next day (with no notice of this person's four roommates, needless to say). I have heard testimonies to the witness of these fairies, but when these people told me they were under the influence of psychodelic drugs at the witnessing, they felt that it was just a coincidence. The utter disrespect for Reason and Logic was appalling. I could not find one logical soul among the mass of superstition and myth. Instead, the belief in fairies was but a currency in their superstition. Everyone believed it, but there was no evidence to support it -- and I could not believe it.

Faith Healings...

There has been a great deal of investment in the methods of "alternative medicine." It is unfortunate that people will spend large sums of money for a method that is not supported by evidence or data. I once read a Faith Healer's book, who described the world as "in the madness of modern medicine." I do not need to expand upon the marvels of modern medicine. The "madness" of modern medicine has doubled the age that people live to, provided cures to thousands of diseases, saved millions of lives -- what modern medicine has done can be found in the documents and scientific journals of centuries, whereas what Faith Healing has done can only be discovered from the mouth of the Faith Healer you're talking to. When Faith Healing is capable of completing a sex change operation, then I'll be surprised. Until that moment, it is nothing more than ignorance strewn into a commercial industry. Much like Tarot readers, Faith Healers can make a lot of money, and it is at the cost of a person who worked for what they had. Perhaps, though, the old addage is best quoted here: "A fool and his money are soon separated." When a person spends hundreds of dollars for a Faith Healing, for a service which has no evidence or science behind it -- other than abstract theories about an unseen Universe -- then society is being robbed, and the robber is none other than superstition.

Karma...

Among the many ethical theories of philosophy, there is one heavily based on mysticism and unseen powers: Karma. According to this idea of Karma, all things that happen within the Universe are the cause of an ethical reaction. Bad people will have bad things happen to them and good people will have good things happen to them. The reasons why this system is idiotic are endless. Stalin, for example, gained control of an entire nation, and remained as one of the most powerful and wealthy leaders of the world. Stalin was not a good person. In fact, the reason why he maintained control of the nation was for a very opposite reason: he was a bad person -- torturing and murdering families, burning down homes. He was not good yet he had good fortune. If someone wins the lottery, or finds good fortune in some manner, would it be reasonable to conclude, "They must be an ethical, moral person, because only good things happen to such people"? Certainly not. Fortune is blind. If a doctor is operating on a person, should the doctor say, "Well, if this person is bad, they will die anyway, and if this person is good, they will survive. Whatever I do is irrelevant, because this person's ethics will determine their fate."? If Karma is real, then whatever the doctor does -- be it operate or simple stand idle -- has no effect on it. Of course, Karma isn't real, because there is a very controversial statistic, that taking proper medication and having necessary surgery actually can save your life, whereas the absence of such medication and surgey would lead to a person's eventual demise. To all the Third World Countries, where people are born into poverty, living a hand to mouth existence, should we turn our heads away, and say, "They are bad people, and they deserve what they have, because that is the way of Karma."? Certainly not. The reason why anything happens to anyone is due to the natural laws governing the physical Universe.

Conclusion

It seemed almost that the diseased mental faculties of superstitious people was something that kept them apart from each other. These people didn't hold respect for each other -- but when it came to loving and devotion to the unseen, they were all humble and willing. One friend told me that because of a Tarot Card reading, they decided to end a relationship, whereas another told me that "witnessing a ghost" caused them to refuse to be with other friends. One person's testimony was that their lover was a gift from the gods -- not a real, living human being, with thoughts and desires of their own, capable of affection and love, but just a gift from the gods. In the well established field of philosophy, there is the idea that we may exploit and extort from others (i.e. "Capitalism") because it is the way of god. At the most extreme, I have heard people claim to me that they are immortal, and will not allow themselves to become attached to those who are "but pitiful mortals." In all these experiences, religion instigated feelings of unhappiness, inadequacy, and aggression. There are those rare cases where religion acts as a socially binding concept, where the followers treat every man as their brother, but this is due to the social aspects of the society and morality -- not its proclamations on matters of religion. In almost every instance, I find that religion is a cause of strife and lack of brotherhood among creatures -- I find that it tears lovers apart, gives friends a reason to fight, offers nothing of interest to the angels of mercy -- it is the reminiscent gravestone of civility.

www.punkerslut.com

For Life,

Punkerslut


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has been writing essays and poetry on social issues which have caught his attention for several years. His website punkerslut.com provides a complete list of all of these writings. His life experience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, dropping out of high school, getting expelled from college for "subversive activities," and a myriad of other revolutionary actions.