Re: Superstition (A Halloween Message)

CurtAdams@aol.com
Sun, 31 Oct 1999 13:57:38 EST

In a message dated 10/31/99 5:57:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time, GBurch1@aol.com writes:

> This magazine turned out to be a local ju-ju rag, a vehicle for
> advertisements and "articles" written by the more prominent advertisers.
In
> it were items about angels, feng shui, homeopathy, a tribute to the
> Theosophical Society, an ad for computerized aura analysis, two different
> astrology columns and more of the like.

Welcome to the 90's! Such magazines have been ubiquitous in Southern California at least since I moved here in 87.

>Now turn the clock back even 50 years. The appearance of such a magazine in
>a public place in the United States would be an unheard of thing. Why?
>Because there were just two competing world-views on offer: Mainstream
>christianity (in two main flavors, which seem almost indistinguishable in
>contrast to the gumbo of superstition found in the Indigo Sun) and
scientific
>humanism.

On the whole, I think the variety is good. Religions, as Voltaire pointed out,
become tyrannical when alone, participate in gruesome civil war in pairs, but become well-behaved when facing a slew of competitors. This variety means that even if the superstitious types win the day, we won't face a theocracy, just a lot of airheads.