Facebook Follies: I live for Christ

Today's Facebook Folly, posted by several friends:

I live for Christ. He is my way, my light, my strength, and my savior.

Facebook Follies: With God all things are possible

Today's Facebook Folly (weird formatting and punctuation--or lack thereof--in original, I assure you):

Keep this going!!!Heavenly Father, walk through my home and take away all my worries andany illnesses, and please watch over and heal my family, in Jesus name,Amen. This prayer is so powerful. Stop what you're doing & set thisto your status. Watch what He'll do...With God all things are possible

I did not keep this ^^^ going. The irrationality stops with me.

Chain emails: In God We Trust (Not Really)

Let's start with the premise that, with extremely rare exceptions, anyone who sends out chain emails is clueless (and those rare exceptions are usually folks who are just plain evil). I mean, who really "thinks" and comes to the conclusion that "everyone in my email address book would love to get this!"?

Now, sometimes, I admit, the people who send out chain emails are only following instructions. You know, the instructions that say: "Send this to everyone you know!!!!" 

So they do. Without ever checking first to see if what they're being asked to forward to everyone is true, accurate, or up-to-date. (I know googling must be hard for these people, since they never hesitate hitting the "Forward" button in the name of caution.) Or without considering whether the content of the email might be offensive to any of the recipients (it goes without saying that the email will be annoying to most (all?) of the recipients.)

I don't remember the last time I received a chain email that wasn't a hoax, a lie, a prayer or other religious message, medical woo--or most terrible of all--filled with a disturbingly large number of photos of incredibly cute kittens and puppies and ducklings and hamsters wearing tiny clothes, and unicorns, and pretty glittery flowers, or gifs featuring kittens and puppies and hamsters wearing tiny clothes and unicorns and pretty glittery flowers. With music. *shudder*

Among my recent examples, this rant:

----Forwarded Message----

From: Clueless Friend
Sent: Recently
Subject: Fw: It has begun...Refuse new coins!

It has begun...Refuse new coins!

True Americans will refuse these!

REFUSE NEW ONE DOLLAR COINS
This simple action will make a strong statement.  

Please help do this.. Refuse to accept these when they are handed to you.  

I received one from the Post Office as change and I asked for a dollar bill instead.  
The lady just smiled and said 'way to go' , so she had read this e -mail.  

Please help out..our world is in enough trouble without this too!!!!!

U.S. Government to Release New Dollar Coins

You guessed it

 'IN GOD WE TRUST'
                      IS GONE!!!
                     
                    If ever there was a reason to boycott something,
                    THIS IS IT!!!!

                    DO NOT ACCEPT THE NEW DOLLAR COINS AS CHANGE

                    Together we can force them out of circulation..

      Please

send

to all

on 
your

mailing

list!!!

(Typically kooky formatting from the original, just wish I could put the "Please send to all on your mailing list!!!" in the size 72-gazillion font from the email. It was very impressive. No wonder Abbie did just that without research--or apparently thinking.)

So, anyway, my friend Abbie, a habitual chain email forwarder, after receiving the email (from someone who had received it from someone, who had received it from someone...well, the email had clearly been forwarded many times, because none of the forwarders--clueless all--know how to send out blind emails or edit them, as evidenced by the fact that the email Abbie forwarded to me contained several repeats of the message (and really, once was bad enough), once for each mailing list to whom this vital, urgent message had been forwarded, along with the email addresses of umpteen dozens of people I don't know), did exactly as instructed, and sent that email to everyone on her email list, me included, without checking to find out that--wait for it--the email is a lie mistake. 

A Google check, which took a prodigious amount of time--something like 10 seconds--would have brought up, in the #3 spot, a link to snopes.com. Clicking on that link--perhaps as long as another second--takes you to a page that says 

Claim: New dollar coins were designed with the motto "In God We Trust" omitted.

FALSE

And then, on the same page, there's sample email with the false claim which says in part:

Who originally put 'In God We Trust" onto our currency?

My bet is it was one of the Presidents on these coins.

Get that? The writer can't be bothered to do research, but instead, "guesses" and guesses wrong. (Surprised? Me neither, either that the writer just "guessed" rather than doing actual research 'cause that's really hard, or that the guess was wrong.)

Here are the facts, not my guess:

The American Numismatic Association says:

The motto “In God We Trust“ was first placed on U.S. coinage in 1864. An era of high religious sentiment surfaced during the Civil War. Many citizens desired that their religious beliefs be reflected on the nation’s currency. The two-cent piece was the first coin to bear the motto.

So the motto "In God We Trust" began with the religious pushing their own agenda. I am shocked! Staggeringly, stupefyingly shocked!

And the U.S. Mint (on its kids pages, so it's not real challenging to comprehend) lists this "Fun Fact" #22:

"In God We Trust" was first used on coins during the Civil War. This inscription was added to the two-cent piece of 1864. But it didn't become necessary to add it to all coins until 1955. The inscription "E Pluribus Unum," which means "One from Many" (as in one country made from many states) was first used on the gold $5 piece of 1795. 

And helpfully, for those whose reading abilities are shaky, Snopes provides a photo of the edge of the coin, clearly (and unfortunately) showing the words "In God We Trust":

As does the U.S. Mint.

And there's this information on the Mint's "Presidential $1 Coins" page:

In 2009 "In God We Trust" was moved from the edge to the face of the coin.

So, Abbie forward this email that contained false information, and the asinine assertion that "True Americans will refuse these" to me. 

Even though I've repeatedly asked her not to send me chain emails.

Even though I've repeatedly strongly suggested to her that she check out the facts contained in the chain emails that she sends to everyone on her mailing list.

Even though she knows that I'm an atheist.

Even though she knows that I'm politically liberal.

Do I think Abbie sent this to try to change my political and (non)religious views? Do I think Abbie sent this because she's trying to bait me, annoy me, or hurt me? Do I think that Abbie really thinks that I'm not a "true American" since she must know that I not only would accept the coin (despite the fact that I'd rather carry paper money, cashiers glare at me when I hand them one, and their only utility seems to be for use in the parking machines in downtown Baltimore), but also don't think the words "In God We Trust" belong on the coins in the first place?

No, I don't. Abbie is one of the nicest women I've ever known, and would never try to provoke or hurt anyone. Deliberately. But she does that so often when she sends out chain emails because...she's clueless.

Facebook Follies: Nativity Myth

My Facebook feed is filled with howls of outrage about this billboard in New Jersey, put up by the group American Atheists.

The Billboard says, "You KNOW it's a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!" [Blogger's note: Odd punctuation is not mine, it's on the billboard.]

"How dare those atheists!" my friends rant. "We never tell atheists that what they believe is wrong!" Uh, folks, yeah, you do. Every day. In so many ways, both explicit and subtle. Even your comments on Facebook letting atheists know that we're all going to burn in hell and that "it's atheists who believe in myths!!!!" is doing exactly that. Do you have no self-awareness at all? Oh, and I'm curious; what myths do atheists believe, and why don't you believe in those "myths"? You weren't very clear about that.

"Why do atheists insist on shoving their beliefs into our faces? Why can't they keep quiet and keep their offensive beliefs to themselves?! Christians would never express their faith publicly, especially at Christmas. (Please ignore the Nativity scenes in front of our Churches, in our front yards, in storefront windows. Also please ignore the Christian carols that have been playing and playing and playing on the radio since Halloween, and torment you in every mall and store you enter.) We're very sensitive to that fact that some people don't believe as we do, or don't believe at all." Right. So, you express your sensitivity and tolerance by protesting this billboard? This one. Single. Billboard. In New Jersey.

Can you explain what offensive atheist beliefs you're complaining about being shoved in your face? Atheism is non-belief. Your yelps that atheists have (wrong) beliefs and faith (in the wrong things) only make sense to you because you don't recognize the logical fallacy of equivocation when you use it. 

"Those atheists are ruining Christmas!" (Horrors! The atheists are on to us! They have history to back them up! They have geography to back them up! They have cosmology to back them up. They have archeology to back them up! They have evidence!!!!! What do we do now?! We're not allowed to torture or burn non-believers anymore! We can picket at the local atheist church! No? Drat! Those clever atheists don't spend their money on building churches! We'll fight back by putting up Nativity scenes in front of our churches and our homes. Oh, yeah, um...so we'll howl and whine and do news stories on Fox on how awful the atheists are! That will show those awful atheists how abominable they and their billboard are! (We hope God is watching. He'll be so impressed!))

If a billboard in New Jersey can ruin Christmas, and what Christmas is supposed to truly mean to Christians, then that's a mighty powerful billboard--and a mighty weak myth you believe in. I'm rooting for the billboard.

Woo in my cookie

I opened my Chinese fortune cookie, and found the standard slip of paper with a "fortune" on one side and "lucky numbers" on the other.

I usually don't pay much attention to my "lucky numbers," but today I started to wonder:

How long are my lucky numbers lucky for exactly? Is there a "use by" date? A "best if used by" date? An expiration date? 

Are the numbers only "lucky" on the day the cookie was bought? Or the day the cookie is opened? Because I sometimes don't open and eat my fortune cookie on the same day I buy Chinese food, so I need to know!!!

 

Are my numbers lucky today only? Or do they carry over to the day I decide to do...something...with my lucky numbers?

And that "something" I choose to do with my numbers....are my lucky numbers lucky in any game I play using them? 

Can I use them for the Daily Lottery "Pick 3" or "Pick 4"?

I would assume not for the "Pick 3" because how would I know which three numbers out of the six different ones (0,1,2,3,4, and 5) in the six two-digit numbers are the right three to pick?

But I guess I could use two of the six two-digit numbers for the "Pick 4," but which ones?!

This is so complicated!

Since "Bonus Match 5" only uses numbers up to 39, only two of my numbers would be "lucky" if I played that game. But are the rest of the numbers not on the cookie's slip "unlucky"? And, if so, I guess I can't play "Bonus Match 5" either because I'd have to use unlucky numbers, and that probably wouldn't be lucky.

I guess I could use my "lucky" numbers to play "Powerball" and "Mega Millions." And those games have the really big payouts, so no complaint there. Hmm. I wonder if I can use the same "lucky" numbers twice, once for each game. Winning both "Powerball" and "Mega Millions" would, indeed, be lucky.

But wait! How lucky is "lucky"? I hope "lucky" means that all six numbers will result in my winning the really big umpteen-million dollar prize in at least one, if not both, of the games. I wouldn't consider it very "lucky" if I was only "lucky" enough to match one of the numbers drawn and win only $2 or $3. 

I wonder if these "lucky" numbers are only "lucky" in Maryland. Would they also be lucky in other states' lotteries too? 

Hey! I also wonder if they're also lucky in those Canadian and Irish Lotteries that I keep getting email about, telling me that I won, even though, honestly, I don't even remember entering them. Which kind makes me think that I must be very, very lucky even without my Chinese (are there any other kind?) fortune cookies "lucky numbers."

And what about lotteries that aren't quite, um, government-approved? I remember when I was a kid, my older family members would play "the numbers." But I wouldn't even know how to contact someone who knew someone who knew someone who might be a bookie. It's easier just to go to the liquor store and buy a "Powerball" or "Mega Millions" ticket there. And when I win, I won't have to get stressed worrying if "Bernie" was actually going to deliver all the millions I'd won.

I just thought of another potential complication: What if the Chinese lady at the checkout throws an extra fortune cookie in my bag since I'm such a valued customer?! And I end up with two sets of "lucky numbers"? Do I need to choose which set of "lucky numbers" to play? And if so, which one is the lucky set of "lucky numbers"? Or, do I play both sets of numbers? Because it seems to me that that will result in one of the sets of "lucky numbers" being unlucky, since only one set can win. Unless...well, clearly the solution is to use one set for "Powerball" and the other set for "Mega Millions." Problem solved. Silly me!

And--now my mind is swirling at the thought--what if I bought a whole bag of Chinese fortune cookies the next time I'm at the grocery?! And the bag had, like, 50 cookies in it, and they all had different "lucky numbers" inside?!

But just as I started to think that if I bought Chinese food at least once a week and played my "lucky numbers" weekly, I would be really really really rich. And I would quit my job. And I would let being really really rich change me, at least the part of me that gets tired of not being really really rich.

But I digress...

Just as I started planning to eat Chinese more often, I realized I am not the only person who eats Chinese food and gets fortune cookies with "lucky numbers" in them!! Zounds! Sometimes there's an entire line of people waiting to get Chinese food when I go to pick up mine!!

So, how does that work exactly? All those people with all those fortune cookies with all those "lucky numbers" inside?

All this wondering and thinking is giving me a headache. Or maybe my headache's from the MSG. I keep forgetting to tell them "no MSG" when I order.

There's no instruction manual that came with my cookie to explain any of this. Typical. I'm thinking that I'll google "fortune cookie lucky number" and "instructions" to see if I can find any helpful information. Maybe there's a Fortune Cookie Lucky Numbers: The Missing Manual or, more likely (because there's one for just about every possible subject), Fortune Cookie Lucky Numbers for Dummies. I just hope that when I do find the answers to my questions, I don't find out that my "lucky" numbers' luck has expired, and all I have left are "numbers."

In the community: Woo vs woo?

How does a customer decide which woo to choose? 

Are astrology and tarot cards complementary woo or competing woo?

Is this the woo equivalent of an interfaith center in which different irrational practices may be practiced by people who, although they share a building and a belief in silly things, don't share the same belief in the same silly things?

Can you get two different predictions if you do both woos? If not, why even offer two woos? Wouldn't one woo be enough woo?

And, really, if the astrologer and/or card reader could truly predict the future, would they have set up shop in Dundalk, Maryland? Not dissing Dundalk, but seriously. Someone who can predict the future bases herself in the obscurity of Dundalk? Why? Could it be because enough gullible people willing to pay someone to tell them fairy tales about their future live in the Dundalk area?

New woo at The Community College of Baltimore County

I've written before about my dismay that The Community College of Baltimore County miseducates some students--who it clearly should be educating in critical thinking and science instead--by offering courses in pseudoscience and woo. This semester, CCBC has added at least one new course to the woo it offers to the gullible and irrational.

From its course title, Enrich Your Life sounds as though it would help its students live more fulfilling lives, but the course description describes a course that, while it may be manure, won't enrich anything but the finances of the teacher and CCBC. 

The description says:

We exist in a field of energy that influences us positively and negatively. When energy is negative it creates harmful influences in our live. Learning to align with natural energy patterns invites wealth, good people, events and well-being. Learn the keys to creating beneficial energy to heal and support you.

Sounds like this course would be a negative and harmful influence on the minds of those who takes it. 

Doesn't CCBC require evidence that the courses it offers teach students something other than "stupid stuff some silly person simply pulled out of their ass made up"?

Is there no criteria for what someone can teach at CCBC other than "what we can get some gullible people to pay for"?

Will CCBC agree to offer any course that labels itself "alternative" and contains the words "healing" and/or "energy" in its course description? 

Isn't anyone at CCBC embarrassed or ethically troubled by the woo being offered there?