A Little Slice of the Lord's Work?
A pizza delivery guy came into work last night and wound up getting no answer from the 2 rooms he was delivering to. On his way out, he noticed I was reading Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural, and remarked how he likes to listen to that late night AM radio show that discusses paranormal issues. Before I knew it, he went off on a tirade about how the supernatural exists and how all these scientists and psychologists who try to explain it away with brain disorders and natural phenomena are wrong. He also revealed to me that he used to work in the ministry (bet there's an interesting story as to how he left it to deliver pizza, but I knew better than to ask) and he saw stuff like demonic possession and healing first hand, assuring me that it CANNOT be explained and that people shouldn't try to understand the supernatural.
I thought about engaging him in this conversation, speaking my mind, and explaining that yes, all this stuff can and has been explained away, and no it isn't in fact real, and yes, the stuff they've talked about on that radio show has, in fact, been disproven again and again (i.e. crop circles, pyramids, ESP,etc.).
Why didn't I? Because it's draining to try to argue with someone who has made up their mind in the absolute about the supernatural as I have about the natural. Because, as Karissa has demanded of me during our more academic discussions, I don't have the proof in front of me--I don't have the medical journals, the diagrams and archaeological reports, the carbon and/or potassium-argon dating results that coroborate geological stratification, the statistics, graphs, or results of various medical tests on thimerosol--to show that I'm not just full of shit--I don't have anything other than a Skeptical Inquirer. Because I only had 5 more hours of my shift, and when I let myself get into discussions of this nature in the past, I would get behind on my work and then feel agitated that the person I had been debating with still thought I was wrong.
So I smiled and nodded, screaming inside my head for him to just go away so I could domy security walk already. He didn't pick up the little demon that was surely putting that scream in my head.
I shouldn't complain too much, though, because he gave me one of the pizzas he was supposed to deliver (neither room ever answered my calls) for listening to him proselytize.
I thought about engaging him in this conversation, speaking my mind, and explaining that yes, all this stuff can and has been explained away, and no it isn't in fact real, and yes, the stuff they've talked about on that radio show has, in fact, been disproven again and again (i.e. crop circles, pyramids, ESP,etc.).
Why didn't I? Because it's draining to try to argue with someone who has made up their mind in the absolute about the supernatural as I have about the natural. Because, as Karissa has demanded of me during our more academic discussions, I don't have the proof in front of me--I don't have the medical journals, the diagrams and archaeological reports, the carbon and/or potassium-argon dating results that coroborate geological stratification, the statistics, graphs, or results of various medical tests on thimerosol--to show that I'm not just full of shit--I don't have anything other than a Skeptical Inquirer. Because I only had 5 more hours of my shift, and when I let myself get into discussions of this nature in the past, I would get behind on my work and then feel agitated that the person I had been debating with still thought I was wrong.
So I smiled and nodded, screaming inside my head for him to just go away so I could domy security walk already. He didn't pick up the little demon that was surely putting that scream in my head.
I shouldn't complain too much, though, because he gave me one of the pizzas he was supposed to deliver (neither room ever answered my calls) for listening to him proselytize.
posted by BoneDaddy at 7:08 AM
7 Comments:
WOW! I don't know if I have much else to say than that?! Maybe just one thing: that was a huge, explicitly, clear and through tangent! WOW!
I am so proud! You are learning so well that it's just not worth it sometimes. I knew I could teach you something by being so stubborn. :)
Although you should remember that even if you have the "proof" in front of you it doesn't mean they'll believe you. People can fabricate stuff you know. ;)
Tab-
Like I said, I would love to know how he went from ministry to pizza, I just don't have all day to hear it.
Karissa-
That's the other frustrating part--I know that no amount of explanation will work on some of these people. These are the kind of people who criticize the Skeptical Inquirer for being "too rational". Seriously, low-rise jeans for MEN?? The world needs more rational thinkers.
Define, "proof"....did you notice the comment on my blog above yours (today)...I asked my kids and they knew of him not, do you?
The spice that makes the world worth/frustrating to live in. :)
Its funny because I believe in so many things that people can't explain. But mental episodes or not I totally believe in ghosts. (I may belong in an institution but only time will tell, lol) But I lived in a haunted house.
(Say things like "I believe in ghosts" online and no one will ever hire you for anything ever)
Ron-
Proof would be a rational explanation whose results can be replicated under similar conditions. For example, in one "haunted" house being investigated by a Skeptical Inquirer writer, voices could be heard in the hallway of the house. After listening to the stressed out homeowners describe this, he sat in the hallway, and heard nothing. He sat there again, nothing. He sat there again, finally heard voices. He admitted being confused, but after hearing more voice AND the faint barking of a dog, he sent the family outside to the sidewalk near the house, and asked them to talk in normal voices. When they did so, he could hear them within the house, even make out some of what they were saying. Turns out the sound just happened to carry into a particular part of the house, something to do with physics. I've experienced it myself when stocking the second floor housekeeping closet at my motel, and I can hear voices from just one room halfway down the hall.
Oh, and I haven't heard of the guy. He must have been doing a little blog-surfing, maybe?
--And mayb proof should be switched to evidence.
Proof is somthing NEEDED to convince someone of something, which would imply a bias. Evidence is simply something which reveals something else.
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