I got reeled in… I mean, I got reeled in better than a naïve fish spotting a shiny, colourful float and biting it on the hook! Whilst reading a friend’s copy of the Sunday Times a couple of weeks ago, I spotted the advertisement — “750 Free Airmiles with your subscription of the Times.”
Already an airmiles collector, I went for it. Having not had a regular newspaper for years and years, I now get the Times daily and shall do for the next year.
As I turned the pages yesterday, I realised why I stopped reading them so readily… Someone else chooses what is news… And there is so much disharmony and unpleasantness portrayed in a particular way, that you could be forgiven for thinking it was far more rife than it actually all is.
Why am I mentioning this today? Well, I am wading into one of the most contentious issues on the planet today, let me explain…
In yesterday’s World News section, I read about the abortion doctor who was murdered in Kansas a couple of days ago. It is this very hot potato of a subject that seems to show people in big states of continual self-hypnosis and leads to seeming delusion in my opinion.
Before anything else, I’ll frame this blog entry by just emphasising the utter and complete irrationality of murdering someone because you think killing is wrong.
What is it with that thought process?!
I would suggest that it is the same when we look at the many thousands of victims of “collateral damage” in bombings in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
The irrational logic goes something like — if terrorists killed 3,000 Americans in 2001, we’re going to kill many times that number of innocent people in pursuit of said “terrorists”. I just can’t seem to get my head around the logic.
I would suggest that the only way I’d manage to appreciate any of these kinds of logic as I have just stated, would be to self-hypnotise on a regular basis… And not the kind I describe in depth and detail in my books or audio programmes, but the kind that many people do all day every day… Where the internal dialogue and imagery is spiced up with emotion and reading material, and support from other like minds and spiced up further with belief enhancing argument and filtering of all information to fit into my own mindset.
Some very powerful self-hypnosis, which some may simply call self-delusion.
It is just amazing that such an obvious irrational train of thought, such a lack of logic in a thought process can be made valid by our own minds in the right kinds of conditions and circumstances!
if we were to just take one facet of the anti-abortion argument, that abortion is wrong because human life is sacred…
In order to accept this as a firm belief, you almost have to ignore just about every aspect of human life… If human life is so sacred, why are these people not making the same kinds of protests about avoidable poverty?
Or what about the tens of thousands of unnecessary infant deaths due to lack of water purification that costs pennies? The stuff we see on our televisions throughout the Children In Need TV campaigns, and so on.
Why not pursue a cause that can help find bed nets to stop people being bitten by malaria-spreading mosquitos while they sleep in Africa? This and other anti-malaria initiatives would save millions of sacred human lives.
Why not put the same effort into ending wars that are killing thousands every year? I could go on with this list, couldn’t I? And I am guessing that you could too…
Surely, those who say they are against abortion because of life being sacred, yet they do not use any of their drive and energy for any of these other causes, are speaking non-sense, no?
One argument that is often made is that human life is sacred because of our intelligence and consciousness (I mean, is it intelligent to murder someone in the name of another perceived murder?). Hmmm… If this argument is the case, an adult chimp’s life could be seen as more sacred than a brain-damaged infant human’s! The chimp’s intelligence and consciousness could well be more developed than the infant’s.
So if it then just comes down to simply being a Homo sapien that makes life sacred, why is a three week old fetus more deserving of our support, care and energy than a baby born in Africa — or one living in abject poverty just miles from your own home?
I read the newspaper and read that a man was murdered because he was perceived by others to have killed a sacred life. The logic is defied, isn’t it? The self-hypnosis making that argument sit well inside someones mind is some powerful stuff.
I may not read the entire newspaper today… I’ll be flicking through the sports pages first and foremost… 🙂
I only ever read a ‘news’paper when lighting a fire (we have a wood-burning stove that provides us with both warmth and hot water throughout the winter, so lighting a fire is a daily event for about half of the year). I say ‘read’, but it’s more of a reluctant glance as I quickly scrumple up the sheets – I find the choice of newsworthy stories and the style of reporting deeply depressing. I think you have no need to look any further for the sources of the powerful self-hypnosis you describe than in the media itself … and all that ‘mass’ entails.
Now, if you’d like to be sure you aren’t contaminated by this powerful hypnotic force, I’d be happy to relieve you of your Times papers for our fire this coming winter 😉
Thanks Kate… I’ll save them up for you… Well, that and eating Fish and chips out of… 🙂
Why do I feel like I’m back at the “Questiontime” political debate in Hereford I attended a few months back (met the new poet laureate though which was fantastic!) where every member of the audience said they hated the media and journalists? I basically whistled a lot and headed for the door as quickly and quietly as possible.
Oh yes, he’s back. There is actually only one coven in Cornwall who know how to make a charm to keep me out full stop. Seriously, I’ve been away for a bit. Suffered from a quite serious bout of depression and sank into a bit of a mental breakdown for various reasons. Yeah, it wasn’t fun. Days of constant crying etc. I’m on the mend now, thankfully but still got a long way to go. But have started to rebuild my life, relationships. There’s this guy who does really good recordings that really help…I can’t think what his name is…Adam something? Seriously Adam, you remain an inspiration to me and I hope that, whilst I was under the influence of the greatest darkness to come over my life so far (god, you could make a lot of dodgy comments about that sentance) I didn’t say anything that offended or bothered anyone. I’m not that kind of person.
As a boy, I was fortunate. I loved Doctor Who. I wanted to be like The Doctor. Who wouldn’t? New woman every couple of months and a massive house that can travel anywhere in space and time. And, if you get a bald spot, you just regenerate. Oh no, hang on, you might end up as Colin Baker instead. Ok, the comb-over will have to do. The Doctor was against violence. I won’t hold an actual gun and I feel uncomfortable holding a toy gun whilst playing a video game. I’m against violence because of my own decisions. But I cannot ignore the powerful influence of one of my heroes. Nor can I ignore the influence of another of my heroes: Martin Luther King.
Abortion is a difficult issue. If a woman was pregnant with my child and she said she wanted to get an abortion, I’d most likely be against it because it would be just as much my child as hers and I’d want my say. I have to admit that, in those circumstance, my normal views on the issue might not apply.
The anti abortion lobby is a complex thing. Some people may, for whatever reason, view abortion as being wrong. After all, it’s not a diserable thing and it rarely has no after effects or consequences and it’s not something most people chose to do lightly. There may be some people who view abortion as being wrong but would never harm or seek to harm anyone. I might disagree with those people but I cannot judge them.
Unfortunately, that’s not where it stops. There is a lunatic wing of the anti abortion lobby. It’s not surprising that these people have twisted logic because their arguments have been based on a whole load of misdirection and lies. For years, they’ve been telling people that they want to protect the unborn child. But, in reality, this “lunatic wing” is only concerned with regaining control over what women do with their bodies. That’s why the logic of their actions makes no sense. Because their whole argument is a lie. They’re not trying to do what they say they’re trying to do. For the lunatic wing, it’s got very little to do with the unborn child.
A lot of the lunatic wing of the anti abortion wing is fuelled and powered by the lunatic wing of the Christian Church. Not the Christian Church itself. The majority of Christians may have their views and opinions but Christ’s message was of tolerance, love and compassion not of blood, death and darkness. I’m talking about the people who are cloaking themselves in an ideology, religion etc to pursue their own agenda. These people pervert the Christian message and use it for their own ends. The power of women and the divine feminine terrifies them and they are desperate to reduce equality and use laws, pressure etc to take as much control as they can over women’s lives.
The unfortunate thing is, sometimes, ordinary people can get dragged along by these “dark prophets”. There’s little that can be done to stop it but an idea is only dangerous if it becomes dominant. So long as alternatives exist, have their power and are broadcast, there’s a defence. Which, ironically, is why we need the newspapers.
Before you give up your Sunday Times to be burned, please remember that intelligent, enlightened hacks do exist and, if you continue to write these uplifting, inspiring, positive blog posts, we will stand with you and echo the sentiment of your words.
Marty it is nothing short of utterly wonderful to have you back in action.
Thank you for your fabulous contribution. I agree with what you say on the abortion issue.
My newspapers? If I am honest, there are many things in the newspaper that I do enjoy regularly at the moment and as you say, there is also a lot of intelligence and inspiration to be had from many writings.