What's Really Wrong With America

I don't know if anyone found this little gem on CNN's site yesterday, but I think it brilliantly illustrates what's really wrong with America these days. Over 57-bleeping-percent of people who responded to this survey believe that "divine intervention" can "revive dying patients". That's right ... forget doctors, forget technology, forget science ... most of all forget facts ... these folks believe they can pray their loved one back to health even when all empirical evidence suggests otherwise.

However, the root cause of what's really wrong with American is contained in this quote from the author of the study, Dr. Lenworth Jacobs:

Jacobs said he frequently meets people who think God will save their dying loved one and who want medical procedures to continue.
"You can't say, 'That's nonsense.' You have to respect that" and try to show them X-rays, CAT scans and other medical evidence indicating death is imminent, he said.

Excuse me? "You have to respect that" ????? WHY??? Since when is it required to "respect" that fact that someone is an irrational, superstitious person? If the person in question believed that Xenu, or Shiva, or Baal, or Apollo, or Wotan, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster was going to save their loved one, we'd probably call the guys with the little white coats to haul them away.

Why is it that irrational, superstitious beliefs magically become worthy of respect when they reflect a mainstream delusion (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), but are safe to lampoon when they're either long dead or held by a relatively small minority of gullible people??

This level of doublethink and hypocrisy is what's really wrong with America today. Reason is something you reject at your own peril, because reality doesn't much care what you believe. Yet we remain enamored with this notion that belief, in and of itself, has some sort of magical properties. Saying "I believe" is no longer a statement of your personal point of view; it's now become almost a synonymous with "This is reality".

Hence, our presidential candidates (i.e. McBama & O'Cain) have to convince voters of their faith ... rather than defend the failed and unconstitutional policies they will enact. They can hit the stump with vague allusions to poorly-defined concepts like "fairness", "change", "duty", "patriotism" -- and thereby deftly avoid actually declaring what they really think or plan to do. Details and clarity are sacrificed to political expediency and the emotional pacification of voters who make decisions based on everything except reason, logic and good information.

Instead of "respecting" this kind of irrational behavior, we should be debunking it at every opportunity (which, to be fair, is pretty much what CNN is doing here). We should be teaching our children how to think instead of what to think. We should be encouraging critical thinking and questioning.

But the faithful could at least be a bit more honest. If you really believe that "divine intervention" is going to save your loved one, at least have the courage of your convictions. Don't hedge your bets by relying on science and reason until you don't like the answer. Stop trying to have it both ways. Pray your empty little heads off, and deal with the results.

If you don't have the courage of your convictions, why should we act as though they're worthy of respect?

Sniff, sniff .... hack, hack ... everything's fine!

Y'know, there is simply something dangerous about people who are afraid to stand up for the truth ... especially when it's obvious to see and smell.

I refer, of course, to the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, and the kerfuffle caused by some American cyclists who showed up for the games at the Beijing airport wearing masks. This (surprise, surprise) cheesed off the Chinese, and today the athletes issued an apology kissing up to the Commies who run the place and the IOC.

I find this kind of PC nonsense disgusting. Frankly, I don't know what the IOC was smoking when they awarded the games to China in the first place. Sure ... in many ways they have discovered the wonders of free(er) markets and capitalism ... but the price for their prosperity is a one-party dictatorship with an abysmal record on human rights. This is a government that was willing to mow down lots of its own citizens at Tiananmen Square not that long ago, a government that was happy to squash opposition in Tibet, and a government that will arrest its critics at will and incarcerate them for very long periods of time. They've also strong-armed Google to censor its own Chinese site, and continue to employ an Orwellian-style information control system.

On top of that, industrialization has resulted in enough pollution to choke a cockroach. They're poisoning their own rivers and soil and air at an alarming rate, and most Chinese cities exist under a pretty good cloud of airborne pollutants. I know this because I work with a large number of Chinese students, and they all pretty much agree that air pollution is a major issue -- especially in Beijing and other really large cities. Wanna have some fun? Just Google "Beijing Smog Watch" and follow the links.

Hence, I don't blame any athlete for being cautious about air quality. Instead of apologizing to the very government that is to blame for the problem, they should be proudly wearing their masks rather than apologizing for illustrating what everyone already knows: Beijing has an air pollution problem.

Then again, politics and truth have never had a very cozy relationship -- and since the Olympics are the ultimate politics-meets-sports event in the world, I guess we shouldn't be surprised. However, if I were one of the countless individuals who have suffered at the hands of the communist dictatorship that runs China, I'd probably be telling the cyclists to grow a pair.