tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5973827.post6220402822398240367..comments2024-01-11T07:40:01.736-05:00Comments on The Stopped Clock: This Isn't ReligionAaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16523334580402022332noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5973827.post-5129929680669604032009-08-01T23:54:37.303-04:002009-08-01T23:54:37.303-04:00It's like that joke that ends in the punchline...It's like that joke that ends in the punchline "So God said, what do you want? I sent two boats, the Coast Guard and a helicopter."<br /><br />Btw, tea tree oil is indeed a topical antiseptic. I sure as hell wouldn't substitute it for antibiotics, mind.mythagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07138471078836187498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5973827.post-31843915924786111102009-07-31T16:26:08.365-04:002009-07-31T16:26:08.365-04:00What do orthopedic surgeons do to fix a compound f...What do orthopedic surgeons do to fix a compound fracture, if not <a href="http://www.consumersresearchcncl.org/Healthcare/Orthopedists/images/Broken_fixed_arm.jpg" rel="nofollow">poke it with pins</a>? ;-)<br /><br />More seriously, acupuncture, massage, (dare I say) chiropractic, and similar treatments can offer significant palliative relief. Admittedly, none will cure a compound fracture. For that, you need to take three bee pollen tablets and a ginkgo biloba, then rub the skin with tea tree oil. (Sorry.)<br /><br />Even in terms of prayer, I expect that for some people, knowing that others are praying for them could bring some peace of mind - I'm fine with that, as long as nobody's charging them for the service, even though I don't believe it will improve their medical prognosis.<br /><br />Okay, finally getting around to the substantive point. We have this "First Amendment" thing that limits state interference with religion. I'm wary of the extension of that to some of the individual nuttiness that falls under the umbrella of "sincerely held religious belief" - belief that doesn't have to fall within the parameters of <em>any</em> organized religion or be shared by even one other person. Yet we offer significant protections even in that context under the First Amendment.<br /><br />But I'm not even willing to call that next step, where your "religion" becomes whatever you feel God wants you to do at any particular moment, "sincerely held". Even if you sincerely believe that you are, in effect, God's vessel on earth, and thus that everything you do is somehow blessed by God, that "held" word should mean something - we should not sanction flights of fancy as "religion".Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16523334580402022332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5973827.post-14836383150023181052009-07-30T13:03:25.208-04:002009-07-30T13:03:25.208-04:00. . .as opposed to something equally stupid that w.... . .as opposed to something equally stupid that was "made up" at some point in the past?<br /><br />Sacraficing your child to your "belief's" is inexcusable.<br /><br />The whole "power of prayer" crowd is just as out of touch with reality as the "alternative medicine" crowd. Somehow that whole, let's go pray/poke it with pins/take herbal supplement crowd always manages to change their tune about the time that they suffer a compound fracture . . . which might be what it takes to make old Neumann see the light.<br /><br />CWDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com