philbymon wrote:
Well, he may not have been a "religious person" by your criteria, but he certainly knew how to manipulate the masses in typical religious fashion.
Oh yeah. No doubt. These kinds of nut jobs have messiah-complexes, and it does take on a religious fervor.
philbymon wrote:
When he spoke, he was like a southern baptist minister on crack.
LMFAO!!!!
That's not far from the truth. LOL
What alot of Church attenders would find surprising, is that these types of ministers actually employ subtle forms of hypnosis in their sermons. I don't think they are aware that they are doing that, because few of them have probably studied psychology in depth, and particularly how hypnosis works.
But their speaking technique...
"Friends-AH, I want to tell you-AH, that there's a name-AH, above every name-AH, and you don't have to worry-AH, that you're poor-AH, send in that money-AH, and God will bless you-AH"
I don't know if you are getting the effect in text, but hopefully somehow, you understand from the text I typed, the kind of preaching style I am trying to convey?
It is a subtle form of hypnosis. The monotone delivery of their sermon, along with the REPETITION... the "AH" at the end of every other line for example... This puts the brain in a near trance-like state. It is not like being a zombie, but more subtle. It almost forces you to pay attention to it... like you can't take your eyes off of the spectacle. Hypnosis is achieved in a similar way. A monotone speech, that lulls the brain into a dream-like state, while you are still basically conscious.
Well hell, if you think about MONKS who chant, or anyone who meditates while chanting... this is the same thing. The chanted word... "Ohm" (also spelled OM and AUM)... they just hold out that word, singing like, with a monotone delivery, or staying on the same note. It's a form of hypnosis. Same with Africans that dance themselves into trances. All forms of hypnotic trances.
As I said, I don't believe most ministers realize they are employing hypnosis techniques on their congregations... I think they do it, because it has been done for THOUSANDS OF YEARS before them, and they realize it works. They get their audiences attention.
philbymon wrote: Back when we had prayer in schools, we did not allow racial mixing in those same schools. Nor was it allowed in most other social situations. Yet many ppl think we were "more religious" in those darker days, which I happen to think is a most ridiculous statement,
It is the mantra of most fundamental Christians, but also just people of a certain generation, that the "good old days" were better, and we have gone away from when we had values as a nation. I have argued this same point against those people, even fellow church members.
I would say to them...
"Things weren't BETTER in the past, just different. As many things as you can find BAD with modern sensibilities, I can point out to you the GOOD that came from those same sensibilities.""Nuh uhh Craig! In the past we could leave our doors unlocked at night, and still feel safer!"
"Well, black people weren't safer!""Yes they were Craig! They could leave their doors unlocked too!
"Yeah, which made it all the more easy, for some racist redneck to come in and grab the oldest son and string him up a tree, and hang him, because some white chick that wanted to bed that black man, got found out, and so she claimed rape, to preserve her "reputation"! And it wasn't better for women, who are probably responsible for the low divorce rate, since they were second class citizens and could not function as a single mother so easily, so she got slapped around when the husband felt like it. And in those days, a cop would LITERALLY watch a man PUNCH a woman in the face, and would not intervene at all, because it was a civil matter, or else would tell the man to go calm down somewhere else for awhile. But of course no charges are filed, and he's back to beating her the next week."Women bore the LITERAL pains, of keeping a home life stable. While slaves bore the LITERAL pains of building this country's economy through slave labor. Good if you were a white man, but that's about it.
philbymon wrote:Imho, we are more influenced on a national level by religion today than we have ever been,
Yeah, I can't agree with that at all. Blue laws, drug laws, and much of the rest of it... these are being undone... SLOWLY maybe, but undone just the same, nationwide. There are 4 states pursuing legalization of marijuana as we speak. There are other states pursuing legalization of gay marriages, etc...
philbymon wrote: I find it funny that while we are becoming obsessed with religion on the one hand, we are becoming far less spiritual on the other, as a society.
That's almost a profound statement.
I certainly agree with you, that we are becomg LESS spiritual, and less spiritual as a society... we are losing our sense of COMMUNITY.
philbymon wrote:On another note - talk about your "bad brain chemicals!"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34625652/ns ... ington_dc/
What the hell is wrong with ppl?
Yep. And this is not the first time. There are some disturbed people out there. But what is wrong with people? You could not possibly appreciate my view on this, but as I said before... I feel a change in people over the last few decades, and it is intensifying, and it is not something GOOD that is happening. Superficially, I imagine that the impersonal nature of the internet has contributed to this, where people can be WHATEVER THEY WANT "online" and not suffer the traditonal SHAME, they would, were they to make some of the comments that they do, in person. But in the atmosphere of anonymity that is the internet, you can explore the darkest parts of your being, without any embarrassment or repercussions. Also on the internet are the most graphic depictions of acts that most people only HEARD of before, but likely never saw. Murder, decapitations, executions, sex acts. Take just that last one. Personally, I have never watched a video of beastiality (sex with animals) on the internet, but I GUARANTEE you, that some of the people HERE, have sought them out, whether out of curiosity, or even a personal fetish.
Our brains use "imagery" in powerful ways. Much of our thought process is done with images. Images are very powerful, striking, and often unforgettable, when they enter our brains. We have a generation of people, who from birth, are growing up witnessing such acts on a regular basis. How many veterans are here? The images they have often seen are unforgettable and disturbing to them and often result in PTSD, and other problems. While "seeing" and "being there" are very different... still... How can we imagine that a steady diet of such depravity and shocking visual images, will not have a profound effect on young minds, who are growing up with this... as NORMAL.
philbymon wrote:
Is the increase in these cases being caused by media coverage of these atrocities? Do we really need all of these "truths" assailing us daily in our media, Craig? Is it not possible that the constant flow of info like this causes ever more bad behaviors in our populous?
Well, maybe someone could look it up. But I am aware of a case, many decades ago in the past, where a local minister challenged a big newspaper, to let him edit the news for one week, or one month, whatever it was.
The minister's contention was very similar to yours. That a steady diet of only bad news, would influence others into bad acts, or depression over the "seeming" state of affairs of the community or nation. The basic idea, is that if all you were seeing was BAD NEWS on a daily basis, you would feel hopeless, and depressed, and believe things were actually worse than maybe they really are.
This minister wondered why GOOD NEWS and POSITIVE STORIES, which also occurred in people's lives and in the world, were not given equal footing in the news. Good and positive things happen too, he said, but you are unlikely to ever see those stories on the front page in bold print.
The newspaper accepted this challenge... this experiment... and the minister became editor of the paper for the agreed upon time.
The interesting thing in all this, is that newspaper subscriptions went
WAY UP, not down!!! It actually
INCREASED revenues to the newspaper, to be run in a more positive fashion.
Success right?
Wrong.
Despite the happier people, the increased revenues, the more positive effect on society... when the time period lapsed... the paper went right back to business as usual. Dreary, depressing, or shocking headlines on a daily basis.
Amazing.
.
