Mystical religion is particularly bad for stupid people

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From Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam:

Not everybody was capable of philosophical thought, however, so Falsafah was only for an intellectual elite.  It would confuse the masses and lead them into an error that imperiled their eternal salvation.  Hence the importance of the esoteric tradition, which kept these dangerous doctrines from those unfitted to receive them.  It was just the same with Sufism and the batini studies of the Ismalis; if unsuitable people attempted these mental disciplines they could become seriously ill and develop all kinds of psychological disorders.

Berry Go Round

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The latest edition of Berry Go Round is up at Foothills Fancies.  Sally did a fantastic job of finding terrifically interesting posts (including my post on the fossil Archeopteris, of course).  One of my favorite submissions describes a potential identification for a very puzzling fossil from January’s Berry Go Round host.

To show that I am not hopelessly biased towards fossils, I’ll point you to another favorite at A Digital Botanic Garden on a particularly lovely Arisaema species.  Arisaema is in the Araceae family, which I find endlessly fascinating.

An Outside Perspective

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I grew up in an extremely conservative, strange, and cult-like church.  It took me a long time to figure out that there wasn’t something wrong with me, that the problem was the church.

When I was in elementary school, the music minister’s wife, Patty Jo, disappeared.  We learned years later that her husband had killed her after years of abuse.  Quiet Moments tells the story from the perspective of Patty Jo’s niece, who wasn’t a member of the church.  This is how Patty Jo’s niece described the church:

Members of Rick and PJ’s church were huddled around the front of the church as if forming a human shield….The church members watched us warily, even stared, and were reluctant to talk with us… The unfriendly atmosphere made me feel creepy…

The River of Life Church was located in a private community called Sonshine Farm. It was surrounded by houses owned by members of the church, most of whom lived within walking distance.  The women of the church wore little or no makeup and simple clothes, were as unfriendly as the men, and seemed to be comfortable that their husbands were in charge.  Their lack of friendliness made me feel put off.  Unlike those women, PJ was a friendly, gracious person, always the perfect hostess.  But like them, her domestic talents of sewing, crafting, and painting and her dedication to her husband indicated to me that, for reasons I didn’t fully understand, she fit in pretty well….

Some of the men had long beards, which isn’t strange. What was strange was that they always wore dark glasses and neither they nor the women ever made eye contact with us.  There was a hippie type of look and a seemingly strong nonconformity to everything.  They clearly didn’t like to welcome anyone who didn’t fit the mold of their ways, and they seemed wary that we might find out something that they knew.

Patty Jo was very gentle and kind and I cared for her as a child.  I remember being so upset and confused when she disappeared.  I don’t remember Patty Jo’s family, but I was there that day. It’s fascinating to read how someone else saw those same events and vindicating to see how apparent the wrongness of the church was to an outsider.

The Catch

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Yesterday I was supposed to go to a meeting about my research and take an exam.  This weekend I had two migraines, but they weren’t very bad, so I pushed through them to prepare.  Working through those migraines is likely why I got the kind of migraine on Monday that made it impossible for me to attend the meeting or take my exam.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have worked through those migraines on the weekend and rested more.  I probably would have been well enough to take my exam and go to the meeting, but I would have been unprepared.

Perhaps I should have started preparing earlier.  I do try to stay a little ahead and avoid procrastination, but with so many migraines, I feel like I’m just playing catch-up all the time.

This semester I’ve been pretty frustrated with migraines.  I’m behind at work, in my classes, and have piles of paperwork I need to take care of.  At least the weather looks nice this week – some sunshine & migraine free days should go a long way towards cheering me up.