It is not a disease to be cured

This week I travel back in time – but only in a figurative sense – to April, and to something which came to my attention that I wanted to write about, but delayed doing so because I wanted to see the outcome.

On April 21st in London, it was planned to organise an event called the ‘Holy Sexuality Conference’ which was to be based on the rather odd belief that homosexuality is a disease that can be cured. So now I go back further in time, to the Victorian era, and their silly beliefs (which I also mentioned last week). No doubt people who look to the past for their inspiration for the future, find in this now remote age, a comfortable place of refuge where they can live knowing that, that which they abhor, is a disease waiting for a cure. And apparently a cure has been found, which is strange, because homosexuality is not a disease!

Thankfully this bizarre and offensive event was not held because the UK Home Office refused visas to the people from the US intent on coming to the UK to promulgate something called ‘conversion therapy’. This by the way has been widely condemned by the medical profession as well as people like President Obama. Nick Glegg, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats here in the UK, said: “If anything needs curing, it is the outdated belief that being gay is wrong or something to be ashamed of. Sexuality is not an illness but an inherent part of who you are.”

It is very much a Victorian belief. It is a belief that was part of callous age, dominated by Social Darwinism, and it has become an era where people today, in their minds, seek refuge, for the certainty of the past has an appeal when confronted with the complexity of life and modern times, especially when the future looks so uncertain, matters being the way they are.

Among the proposed speakers at the cancelled conference was one from that infamous extremist party known as UKIP – did I not tell you that they were a party of racists, nationalists, xenophobes and homophobes – just like the Nazis party in Germany in the 1920s, 1930s and the first half of the 1940s.

So why was I interested to write about this silly conference? There are three reasons. The first is that homosexuality is not the only aspect of human identity that people mistakenly considered as something to be cured. I have already mentioned in a previous blog that the profoundly deaf are also classified as being in ‘need of a cure’, but do not see themselves as in any way requiring a cure. What is needed, they say, is a cure for a society that considers them this way – Nick Glegg’s point. And in the case of the profoundly deaf, it is not religion that is the source of the nonsense, but science – this is because both have more in common than most people think! Of course you will not think this if your name is Richard Dawkins or you are part of his silly ‘science and reason’ movement and are one of his disciples. But people caught-up in ideology and dogma very rarely do any thinking – the whole point of ideology and dogma being that the need to think becomes unnecessary.

This now brings me to my second reason – that there are hidden things that I call ‘Silent Narratives’ at work that lead people to think that gay people, disabled people, and others are in need of cures, and these narratives are based on (perverse) notions of what constitutes a normal human being, from which flows classification, separation, exclusion, persecution, and the labelling of people as being in some way, deficient and not fully human (deficit model thinking). This is an area where European culture excels and is one of the foundations on which the modern world is built – with horrific consequences, as the Holocaust demonstrates. And deficit model thinking can be found in both religion and science – this is because they have far more in common than the ‘science and reason’ devotees understand.

And finally my third and final reason is again something which has been mentioned in previous blogs: gender is not binary. But if you are caught-up in these ‘Silent Narratives’, then you will think that it is, and for those who are of ‘Third Gender’, life is thus made intolerable.

And about all these things I will be saying much more in future blogs. I will also be moving on to address how these very complex ‘Silent Narratives’, which embody all sorts of strange beliefs, influence just about every aspect of Western culture – in particular its technology, its science, its engineering, some aspects of its art, and something called ‘ICT-ART CONNECT’ which now has a new name – STARTS. A rose is a rose by any other name. And one day I will reveal some of the 'Silent Narratives' of the vainglorious ‘enlightened ones’ in DG CONNECT, but I have a feeling that they will not appreciate being made the subject matter of art! Hard luck – when you sow the wind, you should expect to reap the whirlwind! Everything is connected …  

Richard Dawkins making a fool of himself in public – once again!

In my blogs I have several times made reference to nutty professors who make fools of themselves in public. I have mentioned extremists wearing the cloak of respectability. I have asked the question why people who seem so smart, can say such stupid things (“why so smart yet so stupid?”).

Of those who have perfected the art of making fools of themselves in public, scientists are at the top of the list so this week I turn my attention once more to the madness displayed by Richard Dawkins – yet another person confusing his self-constructed reality with reality. Yet another person caught up in collective delusion and denial. Yet one more person spouting half-truths and propaganda which have the effect of creating divisions and disharmony in a world that is being consumed and destroyed by ideologically based conflicts.

Recently I came across an article in the Telegraph newspaper with the title “For Once Richard Dawkins is Lost for Words: Atheist’s Arrogance is their Achilles’ Heel, as a Cringmaking Radio Performance has Proved.” If you want an insight into the real nature of Richard Dawkins and his obsessions, and why he brings science into disrepute through his thoughts, words and deeds, you can read the article yourself (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9082059/For-once-Richard-Dawkins-is-lost-for-words.html). Perhaps though, you too are caught up in his ideology and dogma, and your mind, like his, has closed in on fixed opinions, so you do not want to understand how destructive, harmful, and negative Dawkins is?

In a world where extremism of many kinds is on the rise, we all need to begin to understand more about why people are so easily consumed by ideology and dogma, and what this does to them. The study of Dawkins will most certainly help in this for here is a man who well illustrates what ‘reason’ alone leads to.

Every era has its stupid beliefs. Just look back at the Victoria age, which embraced science and reason with great enthusiasm, yet time has shown that much of this was just plain claptrap which often contributed to the callousness of the age. But at the time it all seemed so credible. The example of phrenology is a case in point, as is the nonsense of Frederick Taylor’s so-called Scientific Management, which turned out to be a collection of precepts dressed up to look scientific. I would expect that 100 years from now, people will be looking at Dawkins and wondering why he said and wrote so many stupid things, and why so many people were taken-in by this very ‘Victorian’ nonsense, for this is surely the era in which Dawkins belongs.

One of my central interests is understanding the hidden forces at play which shape human lives, existence, beliefs, etc. which leads intelligent people to behave in stupid ways, and yet to convince themselves that they are being so advanced and sophisticated. This is part of my work on exploring what I call Silent Narratives.

The human mind is indeed a very dangerous thing, being as it is, inclined towards participation in collective delusions and denial. Dawkins and others, like the former chief scientific advisor, well illustrate that being highly intelligent and well educated does not protect one from the lure of ideology and dogma, from delusions, and from the appeal of simple but destructive sole truths that most often accompany Western ideologies.

We live in a time when it is essential to promote understandings among peoples, to encourage inclusion, to foster respect among people with diverse views and beliefs, to promote love … The list is long. Those who are engaged in ‘holy’ (religious or secular) wars against other peoples’ beliefs do nothing but create distrust, discord, hatred, … This list of negatives is also long. In Dawkins you will not find a path that leads to love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, understanding of the need for human life to be regarded as sacred … Once more the list is long.

Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler was a Neo-Darwinist. Science and reason helped to create this monster and was part of the way towards the Holocaust. Religious extremists have certainly committed appalling crimes against humanity, but so have secular extremists. Both continue to do so. The rule of science and reason, if ever such a thing were to come about, would be no different to the rule of religion. People would be slaughtered and persecuted with the same enthusiasm and conviction as they were, and are, under theocracy.

I looked from religious extremist to secular extremist and back again and could not tell the difference. From both poured forth the demons that make Hell on Earth. In both cases the source is the same – the human mind. And it is the human mind that is the problem.

The West is deeply Abrahamic. There are seven Abrahamic worldviews; three religious (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and four secular (Science, Capitalism, Communism, Western Atheism). Seven sources of sole truths; seven sources of demons ready to create Hell on Earth; seven refuges where people can hide from the complexity of human life.

And who among you knows the true nature of being human? Who among you knows the true nature of God? What we do know with certainty is that Richard Dawkins knows neither. He is indeed a very sad case who should be treated with compassion.

UK General Election: Britain’s shame at the level of support for the racist party known as UKIP

The UK General Election results are now known. The excellent news is that the (now former) UKIP fuehrer, Mr From-a-far-away-age, was not elected to Parliament. Unfortunately they did however win a seat elsewhere, but thankfully only one.

Overall though it is a shameful result for Britain, as 12.6 percent of those voting, cast their votes for the extreme nationalist party known as UKIP. This amounts to approximately 3.8 million people supporting a racist party. This is an appalling result for decency and respect for fundamental human rights, which UKIP party representatives continually violate via their racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic comments. It is shocking that so many people support such a nasty party that advocates classification, separation and exclusion – a party where racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia are part of the daily outpourings from its members.

On May 7^th 1945, Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to the allied forces. The surrender marked a great victory over the evil Nazi ideology founded on nationalism, racism and perverse notions of normality which resulted in the murder of anyone who did not fit with this dogma. Seventy years later, on May 7^th 2015, 3.8 million British people voted for a party similar to the Nazis. The difference between the two only lies in the fact that UKIP have not yet achieved power and have not therefore demonstrated their true nature. At the moment they are trying to hide behind a cloak of respectability. This however is the party where the neo-Nazi element in the UK can take refuge for they know that it is an organisation where they find a warm welcome. And if you doubt this, just note the words of one of its election candidates concerning his Conservative opponent of Asian origin: “I’ve got 400 years of ancestry where I live. He hasn’t got that.” “If this lad turns up to be our prime minister I will personally put a bullet in him.” “His family have only been here since the 70s. You are not British enough to be in our parliament.”

The above words are exactly the sort of thing that Nazis said in the 1930s. This particular unsavoury UKIP candidate clearly would be well qualified to join a British version of the Schutzstaffel, if ever one were created. Evidently there are people in UKIP who want to create such an organisation.

If you voted for UKIP you voted for a neo-Nazi party. Shame on you!

Evidently we have learned very little from the past and some are willing to place their votes behind a party that uses propaganda and half-truths to stir up nationalist and xenophobic feelings. This is exactly what the Nazis did in Germany.

Now is not the time for complacency. UKIP remain a fringe group, but a very dangerous one, and the threat is that they may move from being a collection of fringe lunatics, to being a mainstream party. The danger that UKIP poses needs to be recognised and understood. Now is the time for action not passivity. My message to the new Government, as well as to the President of the European Commission, is that we should be taking strong measures to counteract nationalistic and neo-Nazi sentiments.

Words alone though are not enough. Public relations campaigns and education will certainly help, but we need to start thinking beyond the binary mind-set that offers the choice of Europe or the nation state, on which extremists like UKIP thrive. Moving beyond this stupid binary perspective however means also looking at the outdated models upon which government at all levels is based. These models are still grounded in the Victorian era. It is time to move on and to create organisations and structures suitable for the 21^st century. Many however, especially those with a vested interest in maintaining the status-quo, will, I suspect, resist such calls for reform! People like to keep things as they were in the past, which always looks more attractive than an unknown and uncertain future, which may be one of the reasons why extremism, both secular and religious, is on the rise.  

As I have said before, Europe and the Western world is creating the social, economic and political conditions in which extremism will develop and thrive. You know already about the religious extremist because they are continually in the news, but as UKIP demonstrates, political extremism is also on the rise, as is secular extremism, which nicely links to next week’s blog.

Now is the time for peaceful resistance. Time now to turn away from all forms of extremism – and that means you, if you one of those caught-up in religious, political or secular extremism and have become blind to the fact that it is extremism.

UK General Election and the nasty extremist party that is UKIP

I tend to avoid making comments on political parties, but sometimes it is necessary to do so, especially when extremists are on the loose masquerading as respectable politicians. Hence here follows my comments on the nasty extremist party known as UKIP.

UKIP is a racist, xenophobic, homophobic (and many other nasty things) party that attracts people who wish to classify, separate and exclude people. Do not be fooled by its smiling, laughing, jovial fuehrer (Who are you? Who are you? Answer: the man who makes mainstream politicians look sensible!). We will not be experiencing laughter and joviality if this band of nutty extremist ever gain power, for their world, their ‘Little Britain’, will be a place of persecution and suffering for anyone who does not comply with their perverse views of normality. Once in power, the need for the pretence of respectability will disappear, and then we will see the true nature of this nasty party.

It is the nature of democracy that such extremists can form political parties and participate in the democratic process. And it is our duty as citizens to humiliate these nasty and deluded people when we cast our votes.

This is reason why people should participate in the election and vote on May 7^th. The election is an opportunity to humiliate and reject extreme nationalist parties advocating 1930s policies based on classification, separation and exclusion. If you do not vote, or you vote for such parties, you participate in opening the door to these extremists.

Next week we will discover just how many people voted for the extremists. Knowing that there is still a significant racist, xenophobic, homophobic stream of thought in the UK, it may well be the case that UKIP will attract a percent of the vote that will be counted in double figures. We do not though have a proportional system of representation, so the vote is unlikely to be translated into Members of Parliament. The result will however serve as a warning that we need to be continually vigilant against UKIP and other extremists, and continually work to ensure that they never gain any hold on power (the former chief scientific advisor and her nutty supporters please take note for you too are extremists).

Here it is worth recalling that, initially, the Nazi Party in Germany did not do well in elections. But social, political and economic conditions were such that eventually they gained power. This is the danger that UKIP  (and other extremists) pose. So on May 7^th, please send this nasty party and its fuehrer to where they belong – oblivion. There are plenty of decent parties to vote for.

I stood among the ruins of European civilisation ...

I stood among the ruins of European civilisation and marvelled at its achievements for the remnants of these were all about me. I was impressed, for a moment, until I realised that I was standing among what was left of that which, I imagined, its citizens believed would last forever. “What could possibly go wrong?” they must have thought, at least those few willing to partake in such self-reflection, “for we are militarily powerful and economically successful, and we lead such a good life, which the rest of the world …”

Such thoughts, perhaps, run through the minds of all those who find themselves living the good life as a result of military and economic might (for the two go together), and who use scientific, engineering and technological achievements to construct for themselves a world of power and riches (for the two go together). How easy it must have been for the vainglorious inhabitants of this European civilisation to think that the future would be a continuation of the past, only better, with more riches and the higher standard of living that goes with this. Yet I stood among the ruins of their civilisation.

As I stood there I realised that I was viewing the achievements of arrogant peoples with an over inflated opinion of themselves, who, in true European style, lived life like a plague of locusts and made of this a virtue. These people were aggressive, violent and warlike. They conquered others, enslaved people, and took for themselves that which did not belong to them. And those who opposed were crushed. Resistance was not tolerated. And this is how it was for many centuries, until, with the barbarians at the gate and society falling apart, it eventually all came to an end – as do all civilisations.

Why people of the modern world think that their fate will be any different to that of other civilisations that have risen and then fallen is no mystery. Like the Ancient Romans to whom I refer to above, the fate of the Western world will be as it has been for other past civilisations, for the seeds of destruction are sown by actions that are grounded in the animalistic behaviour that is ever present. Only by choosing to walk a different path will Europe and the West survive. The barbarians are already at the gate. Society is becoming dysfunctional as more people pursue the acquisition of money and material gains. And people are retreating into familiar and destructive patterns of behaviour as they seek to reduce the bewildering complexity of life to simple views that encourage extremism (e.g. Dawkinism based on scientific ideology and dogma, or UKIP political dogma based on classification and exclusion).

Like the Ancient Romans, the modern European, those of the Western world, think highly of the Ancient Greeks. Why this is so makes no sense, for these people, like the Ancient Romans, created a barbarous way of living, which was not that different to the so-called barbarians found elsewhere – barbarity with fine clothes and a face of learning one might say.

As for modern Europeans, they are also in many respects no different – being somewhat like Ancient Greeks wearing modern clothes, who should be seen not in a binary way, e.g. in comparison with modern barbarians such as Islamic State, but as potentially, people capable of the same atrocities – all it takes are the right circumstances, as is evident from the example of Nazi Germany. And one of the surest ways that will lead to a repeat of this is through science and reason, for many adherents of this dogma have already lost sight of reason (e.g. Richard Dawkins).

Now more than ever we need a different approach and this means dealing with extreme ideologies like – capitalism, Dawkinism, neo-Darwinism, Western secular fundamentalism, religious fundamentalism, scientific extremism, communism … The list is long for many are the simple sole truths where people find refuge.

Now is the time for The Tao and about this I will have more to say in the future.

The Western world and its stupid binary choices: capitalism vs. communism

I grew up in a period of history known as the cold war which was primarily an ideological conflict between capitalism (with the US in the lead role) and communism (led by the Soviet Union). Most people in the Western world, and since end of the communist era, those in the former Soviet Union and its Eastern European puppet states, prefer the capitalist ideology. And one of the reasons for this is the way that Soviet style communism was implemented – by coercion, the use of state terror, and the persecution of those who questioned and rejected the communist sole truth.

Yet capitalism is also a tyranny with its own sole truth, but one of a different kind, which requires people to subscribe to collective delusions, to ignore the many destructive aspects of the system, and to turn a blind eye to the fact that a minority of the world’s population live in relative luxury at the expense of the majority who will never achieve this lifestyle. It also requires from some, as you will increasingly witness in the coming years, the payment of the ultimate price when called upon to do so – peace is just the period when the citizens of the capitalist world are waiting for the next war, which is invariably linked to ideology and the control of markets and resources. Resource and ideological wars are your future – they have already started.

Capitalism, it can be said, makes a virtue of living life like a plague of locusts, with little or no thought for the future. Such a way of behaving however has no future. But do not worry, for you can forget all the problems that this system creates by immersing yourself in materialism, through your latest Apple device, and so forth. Just keep telling yourself that “the emperor is wearing a fine suite of clothes.”

What history now shows, for those who care to step beyond the ideologies of communism and capitalism, is that neither system is viable as a model for a sustainable civilisation. The time has come to move beyond this stupid binary choice and to the re-conceive human civilisation along completely different lines.

Capitalism vs. communism is a stupid choice - it is no choice at all. Real choice has yet to appear in our world.

And more about the West’s other ideological battles and its stupid binary choices which are not choices at all, will follow in due course.

This is the world that men have created, along with those women who choose to behave like men.

Fukushima in the news yet again!

Fukushima, the world’s first triple reactor-core melt-down nuclear power disaster has been in the news again this week with a report published in The Guardian newspaper that traces of radioactive contamination from the stricken plant have been detected off the coast of Canada.

As is now fairly standard, scientists are saying that the levels of contamination are safe, but this is not the point. The issue is that there are consequences that arise from disasters such as Fukushima, and the denial or dismal of such, is convenient for those in industry and science with vested interests in maintaining this dangerous form of power generation.

The scientists in question did not have anything to say about how the apparently safe levels of contamination might affect human health in the longer term, when combined in the human body with all the other unnecessary sources of radioactivity that the body is exposed to as a result of science. This of course is virtually impossible to assess, which is why it is ignored. Those scientists who do ignore this may well be party to placing our health, and that of future generations, at risk. This is something to consider next time you hear those words “I am a scientist, so I have no bias or axe to grind”. More likely this means that “I am part of a vested interest and quite frankly I do not care for the bottom line is that Fukushima and other such places are about making money.” Someone gets rich at the expense of others – most probably the unborn. It also means “I am a scientist so while it may seem that I am smart I behave as though I am stupid, because my life is controlled by ideology and dogma.”

Fukushima also illustrates that the other delusion, that the ‘risks can be managed’, is patently not true. But again, the vested interests do not care because … you know why.

Once again scientist’s Will to Power is seen for what it is, and now is the time to deal with this while we can. A new approach that goes beyond the ‘risks can be managed’ and ‘there are no consequences’ has to be developed. But do not look to science for such developments for science is lost to the power of money – fortune and glory is what modern Western science is about.