Recovery Board
: RfM
Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum.
I don't know how many times I've heard from Mormons that the church must be true, on grounds that (insert the name of someone smart) believed it. Hugh Nibley is probably the most oft-cited name, but other big names in this group include Henry Eyring, Senior, the scientist, Dallin Oaks, and a few others.
But as I think we all have realized now, truth is not established by measuring an opinion holder's IQ, or ranking their successes in other areas of life. What matters is the evidence. And it is perfectly possible for a very bright person to be exactly right on one issue, but completely blind to all available evidence on another; or even to retain vestiges of their native intelligence while progressively abandoning the protocols of critical thought, and therefore, winding up vulnerable to all sorts of implausible ideas and deceptions.
Take the case of the famous Swiss-American psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, best known for developing the "Five Stages of Grief" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model). Kubler-Ross earned a medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1957, and then became a psychiatrist after moving to the United States with her American husband. In addition to doing personal counseling, she was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago and at the University of Colorado. She co-founded the American Holistic Medical Association, and published an influential book called "On Death and Dying". There is no question that Kubler-Ross was a marvelously bright woman.
However, despite her rigorous training in the biological sciences, Kubler-Ross's thinking grew less and less contrained by empirical evidence as the years rolled by. Intrigued by Near-Death Experiences, she came to believe in a life after death - but it was what followed that really makes the point here.
Kubler-Ross came to believe in, and teach, reincarnation, communication with the dead through spirit mediums, and even that spirits could manifest themselves in human form. She even reported meeting, in the flesh, a deceased woman who had temporarily come back to life.
But the nadir of this educated, accomplished, and intelligent woman's intellectual slide came when a transparent charlatan named Jay Barham completely snowed her - and this, despite the warnings of many around her, including her sister.
Barham, a former airplane mechanic, had decided to get in on the burgeoning '70's spiritual movement by - what else? - founding his very own religion, which he called "The Church of the Facet of Divinity". Setting up shop near San Diego, Barham and his wife began to make a name for themselves in southern California New Age circles - especially once Barham began to claim he could communicate with the dead.
Even more intriguing for Kubler-Ross, who became captivated by this man, was that Barham was able to conjure up the spirits of the dead, and help them re-assume their physical form - at which point, they could give "sexual healing" to people still here on earth. Barham would go into a room with his followers, turn the light off and tape the light switch down (since darkness was necessary for the departed spirits to feel comfortable in coming back to earth, and he couldn't risk any "accidents"), after which - if a female follower was fortunate enough, a male spirit would come to the dark room and have sex with her.
That "the spirit" was none other than Jay Barham himself apparently never crossed Kubler-Ross's mind. She convinced her husband to buy forty acres outside of San Diego to use as a retreat, in which Barham would oversee the spiritual healing of Kubler-Ross's "patients". She became his devoted follower, so much so, that even when one suspicious follower finally turned the light on one day, only to find a disrobed Jay Barham ready for coitus, Dr. Kubler-Ross still would not believe that Barham was a fake. She continued to praise his "integrity" - even when it became such an issue that Kubler-Ross's husband divorced her.
Maybe this isn't the most remarkable story in the world, but I think it's worth remembering the next time you hear from a Mormon, a Scientologist, or anything else, that you ought to believe what they believe, only because someon else "smart" believes it, too.
(For more info, see http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074920,00.html)
But as I think we all have realized now, truth is not established by measuring an opinion holder's IQ, or ranking their successes in other areas of life. What matters is the evidence. And it is perfectly possible for a very bright person to be exactly right on one issue, but completely blind to all available evidence on another; or even to retain vestiges of their native intelligence while progressively abandoning the protocols of critical thought, and therefore, winding up vulnerable to all sorts of implausible ideas and deceptions.
Take the case of the famous Swiss-American psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, best known for developing the "Five Stages of Grief" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model). Kubler-Ross earned a medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1957, and then became a psychiatrist after moving to the United States with her American husband. In addition to doing personal counseling, she was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago and at the University of Colorado. She co-founded the American Holistic Medical Association, and published an influential book called "On Death and Dying". There is no question that Kubler-Ross was a marvelously bright woman.
However, despite her rigorous training in the biological sciences, Kubler-Ross's thinking grew less and less contrained by empirical evidence as the years rolled by. Intrigued by Near-Death Experiences, she came to believe in a life after death - but it was what followed that really makes the point here.
Kubler-Ross came to believe in, and teach, reincarnation, communication with the dead through spirit mediums, and even that spirits could manifest themselves in human form. She even reported meeting, in the flesh, a deceased woman who had temporarily come back to life.
But the nadir of this educated, accomplished, and intelligent woman's intellectual slide came when a transparent charlatan named Jay Barham completely snowed her - and this, despite the warnings of many around her, including her sister.
Barham, a former airplane mechanic, had decided to get in on the burgeoning '70's spiritual movement by - what else? - founding his very own religion, which he called "The Church of the Facet of Divinity". Setting up shop near San Diego, Barham and his wife began to make a name for themselves in southern California New Age circles - especially once Barham began to claim he could communicate with the dead.
Even more intriguing for Kubler-Ross, who became captivated by this man, was that Barham was able to conjure up the spirits of the dead, and help them re-assume their physical form - at which point, they could give "sexual healing" to people still here on earth. Barham would go into a room with his followers, turn the light off and tape the light switch down (since darkness was necessary for the departed spirits to feel comfortable in coming back to earth, and he couldn't risk any "accidents"), after which - if a female follower was fortunate enough, a male spirit would come to the dark room and have sex with her.
That "the spirit" was none other than Jay Barham himself apparently never crossed Kubler-Ross's mind. She convinced her husband to buy forty acres outside of San Diego to use as a retreat, in which Barham would oversee the spiritual healing of Kubler-Ross's "patients". She became his devoted follower, so much so, that even when one suspicious follower finally turned the light on one day, only to find a disrobed Jay Barham ready for coitus, Dr. Kubler-Ross still would not believe that Barham was a fake. She continued to praise his "integrity" - even when it became such an issue that Kubler-Ross's husband divorced her.
Maybe this isn't the most remarkable story in the world, but I think it's worth remembering the next time you hear from a Mormon, a Scientologist, or anything else, that you ought to believe what they believe, only because someon else "smart" believes it, too.
(For more info, see http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074920,00.html)
Whoa. Never knew that about her. And great analogy between Kubler-Ross, Kate Kelly, and other intellectuals, both male and female, who are firm believers.
REMEMBER:
Just because someone says it does not make it true
Just because many people believe it does not make it true
Only when supported by empirical evidence can the possibility of it being true be accepted and only then after much study and investigation.
Just because someone says it does not make it true
Just because many people believe it does not make it true
Only when supported by empirical evidence can the possibility of it being true be accepted and only then after much study and investigation.
And many smart people have gone for it. If there are any true mystics, they are tainted by they shysters.
From the Wikipedia entry:
Many scientists who investigated the phenomenon also became converts. They included chemist and physicist William Crookes (1832–1919), evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) and Nobel-laureate physiologist Charles Richet. Nobel laureate Pierre Curie took a very serious scientific interest in the work of medium Eusapia Palladino. Other prominent adherents included journalist and pacifist William T. Stead (1849–1912)[20] and physician and author Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930).
From the Wikipedia entry:
Many scientists who investigated the phenomenon also became converts. They included chemist and physicist William Crookes (1832–1919), evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) and Nobel-laureate physiologist Charles Richet. Nobel laureate Pierre Curie took a very serious scientific interest in the work of medium Eusapia Palladino. Other prominent adherents included journalist and pacifist William T. Stead (1849–1912)[20] and physician and author Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930).
One of the challenges growing up "slightly non-Mormon" in Utah is the pressure to answer the "unknowable" questions in the areas identified, spiritual beliefs, the purpose of life, the nature of the universe, etc.
It wasn't the atheists who led me away from some variety of New Age Christianity; I'd been raised with those beliefs, and there was just enough realization of "the power of faith" (whether it was authentic or merely "placebo effect") to leave me wanting something more even as I recognize the necessity of atheists' voices in critical thinking processes.
It was the obvious charlatans among the faithful themselves (and every one of the televangelicals falls into this category, IMHO. We've had folks come here raised in such environments who've told of chicanery and underlying agenda of rampant cynicism). I was introduced to Kubler Ross in the early 80's when she was still alive, and I later read a Playboy interview with her that detailed the beliefs in reincarnation, etc. that she later came to adopt. Even though I read that "as a believer," I was inclined to think she may have slipped over the edge.
Provisionally, my take is this is case study in just how powerful death and the knowledge of our own deaths figure in our thought processes. She worked extensively with the dying, and it's pretty obvious this left her vulnerable.
That doesn't detract from her work in identifying the five stages people go through; that is a particularly useful model.
I'm inclined to think that the PTSD literature offers some insights into this one. Here's the link to the Wiki article which was cited above...
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074920,00.html)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2014 01:02PM by SL Cabbie.
It wasn't the atheists who led me away from some variety of New Age Christianity; I'd been raised with those beliefs, and there was just enough realization of "the power of faith" (whether it was authentic or merely "placebo effect") to leave me wanting something more even as I recognize the necessity of atheists' voices in critical thinking processes.
It was the obvious charlatans among the faithful themselves (and every one of the televangelicals falls into this category, IMHO. We've had folks come here raised in such environments who've told of chicanery and underlying agenda of rampant cynicism). I was introduced to Kubler Ross in the early 80's when she was still alive, and I later read a Playboy interview with her that detailed the beliefs in reincarnation, etc. that she later came to adopt. Even though I read that "as a believer," I was inclined to think she may have slipped over the edge.
Provisionally, my take is this is case study in just how powerful death and the knowledge of our own deaths figure in our thought processes. She worked extensively with the dying, and it's pretty obvious this left her vulnerable.
That doesn't detract from her work in identifying the five stages people go through; that is a particularly useful model.
I'm inclined to think that the PTSD literature offers some insights into this one. Here's the link to the Wiki article which was cited above...
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074920,00.html)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2014 01:02PM by SL Cabbie.