holiday fun

Many of the articles I write are controversial, so I’m not surprised by any of the responses I get. Since I got one today that directed me to an odd site that was a new age mixture of bible, pseudoscience, and new age prophesy, I thought I would share my response to him in this blog.Hi Juan,
Your recent e-mail directed me to a site that disappointed me, but you asked for my opinion.
Here goes- I understand the human desire to understand the world, but looking for reason in magic, religion, or any supernatural fancy is like looking for facts in the shifting shapes of clouds. One minute you see a pony, the next- a dragon. Fun little game, but more of a form of masturbation than a search for understanding.
As I write this, beneath my hands is a tool created by science. I don't have to tell you the wonders of computers, but I would like to remind you that they do all their amazing tasks based on pure logic. No room for biblical prophesies here.
If you want to know about the natural world, you need to study science. Since you have a computer, you have access to the world of logic, science, and true understanding of who you are and what your place in the universe is. I hope you take the steps to find it. There is no thrill greater than the first understanding that everything makes sense without magic.
I wish you knowledge and peace,
Nancy
I know how tempting it is to tell people who follow religion that they are stupid, that religion is stupid, and that everything they hold dear is stupid, but I think a better approach is to open a conversation. Once I exchanged half a dozen e-mails with a fundamentalist christian who wanted to convince me that evolution is wrong. Finally I had to tell him that if even once the supernatural intersected with the natural world, I would have to abandon logic altogether. By definition, the two cannot coexist. He respectfully discontinued the debate, but I often wonder if he didn’t move just a bit away from magical thinking.
Now that May Day approaches I expect more magical e-mails. I skipped the Easter article this year. It is just too offensive because it openly belittles christian Communion. I don’t think that is a way to introduce someone to the rational world.
Nancy Sherer