Clipmarks | Superstition Clips

You Do That Voodoo So Well

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:43:53 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Voodoo. Scientology. Evangelicals. Personally they all seem like simply the same cloth with different dyes applied. Why should this be a story and our Governor praying for rain treated so differently? The basic concepts based in superstition and magic are only different in ritual.

Clip Source: www.thestate.com

'Voodoo priestess' of Blythewood being linked to Georgia political scandal

A "high priestess of voodoo" from Blythewood is being linked to an Atlanta area political scandal, Georgia media outlets are reporting.

Media accounts say that police reports indicate a George Ann Mills of Blythewood was solicited by Cobb Commissioner Annette Kesting to cause her political rival, Woody Thompson, to “catch cancer” or “have a car accident.”

Kesting ran successfully for the post in 2004 against the two-term incumbent. However, Thompson defeated Kesting in a runoff election earlier this year, according to newspaper accounts.

The scandal became public recently because of a police report filed by Mills related to a bounced check.

According to the newspaper, both Georgia and South Carolina authorities are investigating.

I'm Going for a PHD in Alchemy

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:22:27 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: This stupidity is common across the country. A majority of the population is so ignorant that they are incapable of separating superstition from science.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

North Carolina School Considering Creationism

In Brunswick County, North Carolina, the local school board — and apparently the entire board, not just one or two fringe members — is convinced that public schools need to teach creationism alongside evolution. It's difficult to underestimate not just how bad of an idea this is, but just how poorly this reflects on the school board itself — an institution ostensibly responsible for ensuring the good education of children.

First and most obviously, this demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of basic science on the part of board members. This might not be so bad if it weren't for the fact that instead of admitting ignorance and deferring to scientists, board members want to abuse their power by having schools promote their religion.

Second, this reveals a complete ignorance about or perhaps disregard of the law because every court that has ever ruled on the matter has ruled against teaching creationism, no matter what the circumstances.

Through superstition, conspiration people regain control

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:17:04 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Interesting. the ability of the human to seek and locate pattern, is misused as an answer to the emotional stress that the unknown and other fears impose.

Clip Source: debate.atheist.net

Individuals who lack control seek to find and impose order in the world through superstition, rituals and conspiratorial explanations, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin and published in Science.

“The less control people have over their lives, the more likely they are to try and regain control through mental gymnastics,” said Galinsky. “Feelings of control are so important to people that a lack of control is inherently threatening. While some misperceptions can be bad or lead one astray, they’re extremely common and most likely satisfy a deep and enduring psychological need.”

participants who didn’t have an opportunity to regain feelings of control were more likely to perceive visual images that didn’t exist and to perceive conspiracies in innocent situations, while participants who regained feelings of control by focusing on important personal values were no different from people who never lost their feelings of self-control in the first place.

Tags: atheism, patterns, control

Jesus Horses and Sarah Palin

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:29:20 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Sarah "Speaking in Tongues" Palin explains how she believes that dinosaurs and man lived together.

This is precisely why the taboo of not discussing one's religion is wrong. This woman's viewpoint needs to be brought out and examined in the light of day. She holds ideas that have consequences in an increasingly technological world. By her own statements, she clearly doesn't have a clue what's going on.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Sarah Palin & Creationism: Sarah Palin Supports Creationism, Intelligent Design

Why Vice-Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin Prefers Superstition Over Science

Can anyone rise to a position of power or influence within the Republican Party without first avowing opposition to basic science in the name of religious ideology and anti-intellectual superstition? That seems unlikely and Sarah Palin, vice-presidential nominee chosen by John McCain, reinforces this impression through her defense of creationism against evolution.

When running for governor of Alaska in 2006, Sarah Palin made it abundantly clear that she supported teaching religious ideology in public schools where they should be teaching science and fact:

"I pushed her on the earth's creation, whether it was really less than 7,000 years old and whether dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time. And she said yes, she'd seen images somewhere of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them."

Bill Maher Sets Out to Debunk Religion in Upcoming Flick

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:27:45 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.christianpost.com

Tossed alongside the upcoming line-up of faith-based films is an intentionally controversial “documentary” that is sure to rile many of the millions of Americans who consider themselves to be faithful adherents of a particular religion.

Weeks before the film hits theaters, critics have been quick to weigh in on "Religulous," which Maher himself admitted will offend “any religious person.”

“[Maher] thinks religion is a big crock of spit,” wrote Los Angeles Times blogger Patrick Goldstein, who described "Religulous" as “a comic bookend to Sam Harris' 'The End of Faith,' a humorless best seller that views religion as a bastion of superstition and moral hypocrisy.”

Although Maher was born and raised as a Catholic, the standup comic intellectually gave up on organized religion as a young man and has since been highly critical of it, skewering it as a bunch of ancient superstitions that do more harm than good.

Tags: religion, belief, documentary, controversy

Patriotism

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:26:48 GMT

clipped by: lifecyce1898

Clip Source: www.wisdomquotes.com

Barbara Ehrenreich:

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

David Hume:

The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy.

Edward R. Murrow:

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.

Emma Goldman:

Patriotism ... is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.

George Bernard Shaw:

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.

Sinclair Lewis:

When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.

"Black Fox spotted for first time . ."

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:01:31 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Can't clip the video:
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Black-fox-spotted-for-first.4504963.jp

Clip Source: www.lep.co.uk

Black fox spotted for first time - see exclusive video

It's linked to Gaelic tradition and superstition. But the unlucky black fox has never been spotted in Britain before. Until now.

Kevin Hehir, 48, was out walking in a cemetery with his friend Jeff Brown when they spied the creature lurking among the gravestones.

Kevin, from Ribbleton in Preston, said: "It was on the outskirts of Chorley, I don't want to give the exact location out as it's a very rare fox and I don't want people to go and try and catch it.

"We were walking along looking at gravestones and I spotted it.

"I thought, it's a myth, there's no such thing.

"I took some photos and videoed it.

"It's only a cub, I managed to get right up to it – I thought it was the Devil looking at me. It's definitely a black fox.

"It's really good because I've been told they're very rare and I've got it on video."

In North America, foxes with black coats are often found, with a variable amount of white or white-banded hair in the dark coat.

Halloween Superstitions

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:46:03 GMT

clipped by: CarnivalBorn

Clip Source: hiltonbwi.blogspot.com

• It is believed that if an unmarried girl keeps a rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under her pillow on Halloween night, it is quite likely that on that very night, she would dream of her future husband.

• It is said that if you hear someone's footsteps behind you on the Halloween night, you should not turn back because it may be a dead following you. And if you commit the mistake of looking back, it is likely that you might join the dead very soon.

• People believe that if on the Halloween night, a girl carrying a lamp in her hand goes to a spring of water, she will see the reflection of her life partner in water.

• People have a superstition that if an unmarried girl carries a broken egg in a glass and takes it to a spring of water, she will be able to catch the glimpse of not just her future husband, by mixing some spring water in the glass, but also she can see the reflection of her future kids.

NEELIX-SUPERSTITION

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:45:48 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: LOUDER the BETTER

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

NEELIX-SUPERSTITION

[Video]

Tags: neelix, -superstition, video

Science Battles Ignorance

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:14:16 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: By ignorance I mean literally ignoring reality and substituting myth and superstition. The solution is simple. If the students insist on replacing reality with dogma on science tests let them be graded accordingly.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash

In February, the Florida Department of Education modified its standards to explicitly require, for the first time, the state’s public schools to teach evolution, calling it “the organizing principle of life science.”

But in a nation where evangelical Protestantism and other religious traditions stress a literal reading of the biblical description of God’s individually creating each species, students often arrive at school fearing that evolution, and perhaps science itself, is hostile to their faith.

Tags: school, evolution, biology, florida

What Is Kindness?

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:17:50 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: All persons should

* protect personal life and liberty and prevent torture and extinction;
* practice virtue and resist vice; and
* choose and pursue their values.

Humans should value love, family, fellowship, and industry.

Clip Source: humanknowledge.net

Kindness. Kindness is the most sublime of the virtues. Kindness includes being in a good mood and assuming in others the best motive that is consistent with available evidence.

The virtue of kindness makes humans want to help their fellow humans, especially those in need. A common view is that the best form of kindness is charity. Charity is the sharing of material wealth with the needy. But throughout history the greatest improvements in human well-being have come not from charity but from justice and knowledge. Humanity's surplus of injustice, superstition, and ignorance is a far bigger problem than its deficit of charity.

Tags: kindness, knowledge, virtues, human, charity, justice

Helen Keller on Security: "...It does not exist in nature..."

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:55:45 GMT

clipped by: bbittner
clipper's remarks: One of my favorite quotes.

Clip Source: www.brainyquote.com

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

Helen Keller

Tags: security

Mirrors

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:59:16 GMT

clipped by: soraoathkeeper

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

It is a common superstition that someone who breaks a mirror will receive seven years of bad luck. One of the many reasons for this belief is that the mirror is believed to reflect part of the soul, therefore, breaking the mirror will break part of the soul. However, the soul is said to regenerate every seven years, thus coming back unbroken. To counter this one of many rituals has to be performed, the easiest of which is to stop the mirror from reflecting the broken soul by grinding it to dust.^{[citation needed]} The belief might also simply originate from the high cost of mirrors in times gone past.

Humanism Grows in Scotland

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:42:57 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: A large growth int he number of humanist weddings in Scotland could be another indicator of people's turning away from superstition and myth and towards a philosophy embrassing life.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Wedding couples turn to humanism

The number of humanist weddings in Scotland is on the rise, according to General Registrar Office figures.

It is now the fourth most popular type of wedding to be officially classed as religious - although humanism itself is not a religion.

The Humanist Society of Scotland conducted 710 marriages last year - compared with 82 in the first year they were allowed.

There was also a fall in the number of weddings carried out by both the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church.

The society has predicted that if current trends continue, there will be more humanist weddings than Catholic weddings in Scotland by 2010.

Although classified by the Registrar General of Scotland as a form of religious marriage, humanism is not a religion, but a secular philosophy or belief system.

This was despite a drop in the total number of weddings in Scotland.

Tags: humanism, wedding, trends, scotland

Pinch Punch First Day Of The Month

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:31:50 GMT

clipped by: -pwb3-

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

“Rabbit rabbit white rabbit” is a common superstition, held particularly among children. The most common modern version states that a person should say “rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit” upon waking on the first day of each new month, and on doing so will receive good luck for the remainder of that month.

Traditions also extend to saying on the first of each month: “A pinch and a punch for the first day of the month; white rabbit!” White rabbit is declared to be the “no returns” policy on the “pinch and the punch” the receiver felt. Origins of this saying is unknown. A small concession exists, for recipients of the "pinch and a punch," where white rabbit declaration (no returns) is not made. Recipients may in this case reply with "A flick and a kick for being so quick."