Matt Taibi: Jesus Made Me Puke
Mr. Taibi writes with a pre-concieved notion. That's a given I want to acknowledge for a fact. He's a part of this activity and writing about it to confirm or deny his own pre-conception. But that's not the point of his article or why I share it with you.
I should share with you that I have been to several different types of immersion experiences, religious and otherwise. My personal make-up is such that I am a hard to reach subject at such events. For example, I was part of a non-religious experience once where people were made to spontaneously laugh based on a trigger word (not a joke) but I felt nothing. My point is that I am resistant to manipulation, but I know others are not.
To a certain extent, the reaction of people to events like the one you're going to read about is an example of the Abilene Paradox in action.
Here's the point to ponder I took away. You may have others. The health and survival of our Constitutional Democracy depends on thinking, rational citizens who use their intellect and rationality to make independent voting decisions. Voters should make their decisions based on their own process and not blindly follow the direction of others. Yet we see here the cycling through of a group of people to an indoctrination process and a mindless group think that has been translated into allegiance and group action at the polls.
This should be worrisome to all of us.
I do not deny people their faith. You're free to believe what you want to believe spiritually in this country. But isn't it damaging to people's view of faith if they learn their faith has been used against them to manipulate them into political and other types of compliance? And couldn't that damage drive people away from faith? And wouldn't driving people away be hurtful to faith and religion long term?
Maybe that's just one more aspect of why the Founding Fathers sought to establish a separation of Church and State.
Here's a link to Taibbi's article in Rolling Stone Magazine.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20278737/jesus_made_me_puke/print
I should share with you that I have been to several different types of immersion experiences, religious and otherwise. My personal make-up is such that I am a hard to reach subject at such events. For example, I was part of a non-religious experience once where people were made to spontaneously laugh based on a trigger word (not a joke) but I felt nothing. My point is that I am resistant to manipulation, but I know others are not.
To a certain extent, the reaction of people to events like the one you're going to read about is an example of the Abilene Paradox in action.
Here's the point to ponder I took away. You may have others. The health and survival of our Constitutional Democracy depends on thinking, rational citizens who use their intellect and rationality to make independent voting decisions. Voters should make their decisions based on their own process and not blindly follow the direction of others. Yet we see here the cycling through of a group of people to an indoctrination process and a mindless group think that has been translated into allegiance and group action at the polls.
This should be worrisome to all of us.
I do not deny people their faith. You're free to believe what you want to believe spiritually in this country. But isn't it damaging to people's view of faith if they learn their faith has been used against them to manipulate them into political and other types of compliance? And couldn't that damage drive people away from faith? And wouldn't driving people away be hurtful to faith and religion long term?
Maybe that's just one more aspect of why the Founding Fathers sought to establish a separation of Church and State.
Here's a link to Taibbi's article in Rolling Stone Magazine.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20278737/jesus_made_me_puke/print
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