Based on what?

Imagine a deeply engaging debate between two sides of scholars. Trained at the best institutions in the world, these highly educated and intelligent scholars spend their lives charting the known universe, making detailed observations of celestial objects, their characteristics, movements, and so forth. Volumes of data have been compiled and from this data these scholars base their well reasoned decisions but two groups have emerged who are at odds over what the data suggests concerning a single issue. The issue? Whether Pluto in the House of Leo is a sign of fortune or misfortune for those born to water signs.

What's the problem here? You have educated, intelligent folk dedicated to a field of study. Everyone in the field bases decisions on empirical data. The entire process of study and reaching conclusions is completely rational, but most of you probably immediately scoffed once you saw this was about astrology, as you should, and that's because although the exercise of a belief may be rational, the foundational belief is irrational. There's nothing to suggest that anything about celestial objects drives humanity's moods or their likelihood of finding fortune or misfortune (short of them crashing into the Earth or something nearby which would have a physical effect). The basis of the field is faith, so it doesn't matter whether you're combing through the data to determine whether you should play the lottery or if the girl you met at the store would go out with you, the belief that such an answer could be found in this way is irrational, and pure faith. Likewise, with such a basis for your belief, you have no leg to stand on to criticize someone else who may be combing the same data for messages from the dead. Both of your beliefs are based on faith, so regardless of the rational and seemingly scientific approaches either of you make, neither has any kind of authority to dismiss the other's assertions based on their own. In other words, to say reading the stars for messages from the dead is silly because the stars are there to predict the future is absurd.

Take for instance the recent ghost of Michael Jackson story. Imagine if three groups were arguing over it. The first believes it's his ghost because ghosts appear as shadowy forms. The second discounts this as being a ghost because they believe ghosts emit light, and this clearly wasn't emitting light. The third group says the other two are nuts and the debate ridiculous since ghosts can't be captured on film. Who has an objective leg to stand on? No one, because not only isn't there some reference to cite on what the actual characteristics of ghosts are, the very possibility of ghosts existing can't be verified. Again, the argument may be conducted rationally, but what all the arguments are based on is faith, making the entire exercise one of futility, comparable to debating the winner of a fight between Superman and Mighty Mouse.

Isn't protesting a lot of work?

Here's an interesting account of what it's like being the target of religious outrage in Jerusalem by ultra-Orthodox Jews. I just have a few questions about the ultra-Orthodox Jewish position:
• Isn't protesting which involves throwing dirty nappies, lighting things on fire and physically assaulting people work?
• Is work done on Shabbat to fight work done on Shabbat excusable, and if so, what are you using for justification of this exemption?

I can certainly see how someone (or several guys) long ago came up with this Shabbat idea to ensure everybody set aside one day a week to relax. Their intent I'm willing to believe was good, but now look what's happened. What you have is a bunch of sable headed guys consumed with following rules to the letter without ever thinking about them or grasping any understanding of them (reminds me of a Trig teacher from high school who wouldn't let anyone use a calculator so you'd have to understand what's going on when figuring sine, cosine, etc). Hey, maybe there was once a good reason for TPS reports, too.

Or perhaps this is all just another example of people who wish to impose their wishes, in this case one dedicated lazy, do nothing day a week, on others and are using religion to justify it. Well I'm just thankful that a few years ago when Delaware repealed it's blue law forbidding alcohol to be sold on Sundays no one protested by spitting, lighting things on fire or throwing dirty nappies.

I wish it were true, 'cause that would be great!

If your first reaction to seeing something initially unexplainable is, "OMG it's a ghost", what the hell is wrong with you? Why would you leap to such a conclusion first, before considering ANY reasonable explanation? Well I bet I can guess why, and it's summed up perfectly by the goofball at the end of the video who said, "I wish it was him. That would be great."

This is how people "know" such things like their god is real, that they're visited by dead loved ones, that someone's survival from an accident was a divine act (or conversely that a major tragedy was divine punishment, like Katrina being punishment for letting the gays frolic in public), that prayer can heal, that pixies in Iceland are real, Bigfoot and Nessie are real, the New Jersey devil is real (no, I'm not talking about Brodeur), there's a heaven and hell, and so on, because they wish it were true, 'cause that would be great.

Now before this video explanation, the ghost believers would argue that you don't KNOW what's on the video isn't Michael Jackson's ghost, but what kind of an argument is that? Is that an argument for the thing being a ghost? No, it's an argument for keeping people from popping your wish balloon. I'm sure if you look online right now you'll still find people who reject the explanation, and that's because they need that wish balloon to stay afloat and they'll do anything to keep people from popping it.

So before leaping to the conclusion you wish for, take some time to consider the conclusion which is most probable. Personally, I wish everybody would start doing that, 'cause that would be great!

The Holy Land Experience is a church?

Check it out. The Holy Land Experience theme park is a church and as such, receives a healthy property tax exemption. The only catch is they have to offer free admission just one day a year. Pretty sweet deal, right? Well it seems not sweet enough for the Trinity Broadcast Network which owns the park and the ministry. They'd really rather keep the whole free day thing pretty hush hush.

Now follow along here at the explanations from the ministry. First, they only advertise the free day on the local company channel. Now before you cry foul, they claim that the channel "literally covers 100 percent of the greater Orlando area". That's great for the people of Orlando who happen to watch that channel (no word about how frequently or how far in advance they make this announcement, btw), but I guess anyone considering traveling there from outside Orlando wouldn't have a clue. No website announcement?

Ah, but if everybody knew, then they'd have their hands full with the mob since the park "simply does not have the parking, traffic control, comfort facilities and food service capabilities of other venues," and cutely adds, "[w]e trust that the city of Orlando does not want an uncontrollable situation to occur at the park on this day."

So to recap, they get a break to the tune of roughly $300,000 a year on their taxes if they offer free admission just one day a year but won't openly advertise when this day will be each year beyond their own local tv channel, defend this move as effective advertising by claiming that it reaches 100% or Orlando yet at the same time say they can't advertise more or else they couldn't handle the crowds, followed by a little fearsome image of what would happen and "trusting" Orlando doesn't want that to happen like some mafia mooks offering protection because it'd be a shame if anything were to happen to this place. Can you smell the bullshit? It's like a day on the pasture.

This whole thing is a complete sham, and it should effectively make every group angry. Anyone who cares about church/state separation and hates tax exemption for churches should be upset. Churches and other non-profits should be upset with the clear exploitation of the current tax exemption privilege that they enjoy. Families looking to actually make a vacation out of going to this park should be upset because they can't find out when this free day is, and finally the people of Orlando and perhaps the rest of Florida should be upset that at a time like this, when they're going to face a double whammy of increased taxes and a reduction of services from their state and local governments due to the economic crunch, TBN is making out like bandits stealing at least $300,000 of money from the governments' coffers.

Boy, imagine if the Mouse caught on and sought such an exemption. I certainly know people who visit religiously. Would it be such a stretch?