"Skinny Legs and All" - by Tom Robbins

This is a great excerpt that speaks volumes of my own personal experience:

A longing for the divine is intrinsic in Homo Sapiens. (For all we know, it is innate in squirrels, dandelions, and diamond rings as well.) We approach the Divine by enlarging our souls and lighting up our brains. To expedite those two things may be the mission of our existence.

Well and good. But such activity runs counter to the aspirations of commerce and politics. Politics is the science of domination, and persons in the process of enlargement and illumination are notoriously difficult to control. Therefore, to protect its vested interests, politics usurped religion a very long tme ago. Kings bought off priests with land and adornments. Together, they drained the shady ponds and replaced them with fishtanks. The walls of the tanks were constructed of ignorance and superstition, held together with fear. They called the tanks "synagogues" or "churches" or "mosques."

A great analysis on what a "pathology" can be.

This is a post on the extremist views of religious fundamentalists, and how they put "purity" up on a pedestal. In his weekly column this week, Wayne Besen illustrates how this is a "pathology" because a preacher will extol the virtues of "purity" and then in the next breath tell their congregants that they will always "fall short." This ensures that they continue to beat themselves up and keep coming to church to find "repentence." Before I link you to Wayne Besen's article, I would like to tell you a little about an organization that makes frequent use of the words "pathology" and "purity."

This is what NARTH (National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) published on their web page in August 2009.

The American Psychological Association (APA) and other mental health organizations have objected to providing psychological care to those who are distressed by unwanted homosexual attractions on a number of grounds. These objections include scientifically unsupportable claims that:
1. There is no conclusive or convincing evidence that sexual orientation may be changed through reorientation therapy.
2. Efforts to change sexual orientation are shown to be harmful and can lead to greater self-hatred, depression, and other self-destructive behaviors.
3. There is no greater pathology in the homosexual population than in the general population.

I am in the process of researching out a response to NARTH's counterclaim, but for this blog post I want to focus your attention on point #3...about "pathology."

Wikipedia defines a pathology as "the study and diagnosis of disease." I guess what that means from NARTH's position (but NOT from the APA position) is that homosexuality is a disease that propogates other psychological diseases, or "pathologies." In their response to the APA report NARTH writes the following:

"An objective synthesis of the clinical and research literature derived from
hundreds of sources reveals numerous scientific findings:

• Despite knowing the AIDS risk, homosexuals repeatedly and pathologically
  continue to indulge in unsafe sex practices.
• Homosexuals represent the highest number of STD cases.
• Many homosexual sex practices are medically dangerous, with or without
  protection.
• More than one-third of homosexual men and women are substance abusers.
• Forty percent of homosexual adolescents report suicidal histories.
• Homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to have mental health
  concerns, such as eating disorders, personality disorders, paranoia, depression,
  and anxiety.
• Homosexual relationships are more violent than heterosexual relationships.

Societal bias and discrimination do not, in and of themselves, contribute to the majority of
increased health risks for homosexuals. The usual hypothesis is that societal discrimination against homosexuals is solely or primarily responsible for the development of this pathology. However, specific attempts to confirm this societal discrimination hypothesis have been
unsuccessful, and the alternative possibility—that these conditions may somehow be related to the psychological structure of a homosexual orientation or consequences of a homosexual lifestyle—has not been disconfirmed.

Indeed, several cross-cultural studies suggest that this higher rate of psychological disturbance is in fact independent of a culture's tolerance of—or hostility toward—homosexual behavior. We believe that further research that is uncompromised by politically-motivated bias should be carried out to evaluate this issue.

A client's desire to prevent or cease experiencing such a variety of serious medical, psychological, and relational health risks is sufficient reason for anyone to seek and receive competent psychological care to minimize or resolve the desires, behaviors and lifestyles associated with such increased risks. The concerns of parents, family members and friends of persons whose sexual behaviors and/or attractions leave him or her at risk for such harms are understandable and scientifically justified. Mental health professionals ethically may offer psycho-educational and therapeutic assistance to families with such concerns in a manner that respects their loved one's age-appropriate needs for autonomy, self-determination, and confidentiality and that otherwise preserves the integrity of the therapeutic relationship."

Just like the Klu Klux Klan would probably consider a study of the "pathology" that creates the "angry black man" stereotype to be "politically motivated," NARTH will reject any study that is based on the assumption that a man could be born "gay." NARTH (like the KKK,) will not concede that if you deny a class a people status as "human beings," then you just might be putting them at a disadvantage for generations to come. (At least the slaves achieved the status of being 3/5's of a person, but only because their owner wanted their share of taxes and additional voting power. The KKK has never conceded them any status to this day.) I will never pretend that my plight as a gay man is even comparable to the centuries of suffering for the slaves, but it makes my blood boil when a privileged white heterosexual Christian male tries to argue that women, people of color, immigrants, and the GLBT community need to just "get over it."

What the APA said in their recent published findings (after an exhaustive two year study of every piece of research out there) is that it is "unethical" to try to tell a patient that his/her feelings are things that he/she are making up in their head. Worse than unethical, it should be illegal! The report is as exhaustive as any science will ever produce, but NARTH is not about science. NARTH is about religion, which is, by its very nature, incompatible with science! They cannot admit that science has now proven that these feelings define a person from birth to be who they are. Trying to change that through therapy will create any number of pathologies that NARTH extolled in the list above, which is what Wayne Besen's article (below) expands on.

I am a noun. I was born a homosexual. I have never known any other feelings than those that I now have. I didn't "learn" this attraction to men as a result of my childhood environment or from any sexual abuse as a child (which NARTH still claims in the above link.) I had originally thought that the Mormon Church had backed away from doing this, but a footnote at the above NARTH link reminds the reader on what the proper use of the word "homosexual" is...that it is NEVER to be used as a noun. Just recently the mailing address for NARTH changed from California to Utah. That wasn't a coincidence.

In closing, please read Wayne Besen's essay on "The Pathology of Purity."

Please note that the essay features a prominent reference to "The Family," which is at the pinnacle of the "right to privilege" for white, heterosexual, Christian men. The very existence of "The Family" is to ensure that this "privilege" is retained through powerful political means.
Link here.

Examples of Designer Viruses

As related in the prior blog post, nothing is quite so insidious as a virus that was deliberately planted in order to control and manipulate the lives of others. If one is willing to look objectively at the foundations of every world religion, the implications are frightening.

Although it is almost never done, there is one thing that should be done by every person who follows a religious belief system, and that is to look back at the very roots of your own religion and see how the mind viruses were shaped and implemented so that they became more and more effective. Once perfected, these mind viruses will control the congregation and spread themselves to others in the general public. At their worst, these designer viruses reach the point of absolute authority and are never questioned. In the case of Jim Jones, it was an especially effective designer mind virus that inspired people to kill their babies, family members and friends, before they committed suicide themselves.

Here is another very recent example of a fundamentalist Baptist pastor who is attempting to use a designer virus.

Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, AZ is calling for the execution of gays. No joke. Listen to the two recordings at the link below and tell me whether this guy is spreading every bit as much hate as the Taliban in Afghanistan...and we sent our soldiers into that country in order to suppress THEIR free speech when it crossed the line into hate.

http://www.akawilliam.com/audio-arizona-pastor-calls-for-the-execution-of-gays/

This guy is actively planting a "designer mind virus" into the Tempe, AZ community and there needs to be a law to suppress that kind of activity. Based upon what his own YouTube posts report, the pastor is going door-to-door spreading his "true Bible" message, which includes putting homosexuals to death! It is putting the lives of American citizens into jeopardy. We all know that the lunatic Fred Phelps barely has one foot outside of an insane asylum, but this guy in Tempe, AZ is allowed to pass as a valid Baptist pastor. I did a cursory search and found no regulatory body within any Baptist assembly who were attempting to censor him or distance themselves from him. His congregation is listed in the largest on-line Baptist Church directory and he is therefore validated by other Baptist congregations.

The audio file also states this: "God Hates Barack Obama, I hate Barack Obama. I hate Him. God wants me to hate Barack Obama." "Someone who commits murder should get the death penalty." I guess in his warped mind President Obama is performing abortions in the basement of the White House.

So what is the connection between hate speech and terrorism? At the end of the day, we all need to realize that the most difficult form of terrorism to control is the kind that inspires one person to act alone. This kind of terrorism was successful in the following assassinations and attempted assassinations within US politics:

1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
2) President John F. Kennedy
3) Robert (Bobby) Kennedy (while running for president)
4) Abraham Lincoln
5) William McKinley
6) John Garfield
7) Andrew Jackson (attempted in 1835)
8) Franklin D. Roosevelt (attempted in 1933)
9) Harry Truman (attempted in 1950)
10) Gerald Ford (attempted in 1975)
11) Ronald Reagan (attempted in 1981)
12) The bombing of the Alfred P Murrah Building by Timothy McVeigh in 1995.

And recently the lesser well-known cases:
1) Dr. Tiller (the abortion doctor,) who was shot inside his own church.
2) Officer Stephen Johns, the Smithsonian guard who was shot by an elderly anti-Semite.

Extremism incites hate, and the tool of extremist leaders is the "designer mind virus." Figuratively speaking, it allows the leaders themselves to leave a loaded gun with carefully written instructions on the table and then leave the room. The leader really is not concerned with who it is that picks up the gun, but it was fully their intent to inspire somebody... anybody... to pick up the gun and use it. The designer virus ensures that whoever does pick up the gun will follow the carefully outlined instructions of the "virus." Timothy McVeigh was defending David Koresh as his "religious leader" when he committed the most violent terrorist act ever to take place on American soil prior to Sept 11th, 2001. The bombing was done on the second anniversary of the Waco Siege. He was a man who the courts would determine "acted alone," but it clear that he had been inspired into action by a religious designer virus.

Not all designer viruses inspire hate, but rather perpetuate discriminatory laws that have outlived their time. It took more than 100 years to eradicate the designer virus out of the minds of the US elected officials before the Civil Rights Bill passed in 1964, but that virus still has a firm hold on entire regions of this country.

And now, I will make this blog personal.

Fast-forward to June 28th, 2008. The Mormon Church prophet declared through a "letter from the pulpit" in every California congregation that every faithful Mormon had a duty to see that California's Prop 8 was passed. This proclamation, a designer mind virus of the worst kind, inspired blind obedience from every faithful Mormon. It would mean that loving family members would aggressively campaign against the rights of their own siblings, which is what happened in my case. (See my brother's "Yes on Prop 8" blog, which he wrote after I pleaded with him to not campaign against my right to have the same kind of a marital relationship that he enjoys.)

Prior to the "letter from the pulpit," four of my five siblings had indicated that they supported me in my life as a gay man, with a gay partner. I had asked each of them if they would afford me the same courtesy that they did during my 24 year marriage living with my former wife, and that was to allow Mickey and I to sleep together in their home...in the guest bedroom. Four out of five said they would, and the sister who said she would not only declined because her husband was a bigot. My sister is not...or at least she wasn't until the "letter from the pulpit" came out.

Before writing his blog post my brother Fred did absolutely no research on his own about every point that he made in his blog. He simply regurgitated the "talking points" provided to him by the designer virus that his religious leaders infected his brain with. He ignored the fact that minorities who cannot control the vote are still entitled to equal treatment under the law. He also failed to validate any person in California who was not a Christian. He made the assumption that every American would naturally buy into the idea that the constitution had to ultimately answer to the Bible...which is the mother of all fundamentalist Christian "designer viruses."

Thankfully I have many allies in the on-line community and in esteemed universities around the world who are working feverishly to find an antidote for the religiously motivated designer mind viruses. Time is on our side.

Excerpt: "Virus of the Mind"

I'm reading Richard Brodie's book, "Virus of the Mind," and will be making occasional quotes as they relate to this blog. This is the first of such posts.

As you read this, please bear in mind that the extremist views of fundamentalist religions like the Mormons, traditional Baptists, and the evangelicals are all masters of spreading the designer viruses referred to in this excerpt.

[excerpt - pages 45 to 46]
"Our minds excel both at copying information and at following instructions. Remember the four characteristics of a virus:
- penetration
- copying
- issuing instructions
- spreading
They can penetrate our minds because we are so adept at learning new ideas and information. they are copied by us communicating with each other, something we are getting better and better at. Mind viruses issue instructions by programming us with new memes that affect our behavior. They spread when the chain of events stemming from that new behavior reaches an uninfected mind.

Examples of viruses of the mind range from fashion fads to religious cults. They can be any bit of culture whose existence touches people, causing them to shift their thinking and thus their behavior, eventually causing reinforcement for proliferation of that same bit of culture.

At this point I want to introduce a distinction between mind viruses that arose spontaneously and ones that were invented by human consciousness. I'll call the naturally arising ones cultural viruses and the human-crafted ones designer viruses. A designer virus is carefully crafted to infect people with a set of memes that influence them to spread the virus throughout the population.

Designer viruses and cultural viruses can be equally damaging to your pursuit of happiness, although for many people it doesn't feel as bad to have your life ruined by a natural set of circumstances as it does to have some manipulative no-goodnik get the best of you. But despite the difference in perception, the effect of these two kinds of mind viruses is the same: you unwittingly have a portion of yourself diverted from what you might otherwise be doing with your life, and instead devoted to doing the work of the mind virus.

Memetics provides new insight into the way our minds, societies, and cultures work. Rather than looking at the development of culture as a sequence of ideas and discoveries that build upon one another, what would it be like to view culture as a meme pool, where the ideas in our heads are shaped and transported by various forces, including mind viruses? How many of these viruses are already with us? Are they helping or harming us? Can we control them?

The outer reaches of this line of thought are dark and scary. However, I see much, much more potential for help than harm through understanding the mind virus. And even though it involves thinking about things in unfamiliar ways, I suggest we do whatever it takes to understand it, tame it, and put it to work for the best interest and the best interests of our children--and our children's children."
[end quote]