Mermaids: The Body Exorcized

 

I didn´t know that possession by mermaid spirits (!) was a thing, and that charismatic Christians try to exorcise them. Not just in Namibia, but also in the United States?! 

Note how the little girl is being publicly exorcized with the full support of her parents. Her "crime" is apparently that she said she was a mermaid after seeing a fake documentary on YouTube...

I knew that some charismatics were wild, but this trumped even my worst expectations!

The clip is narrated by a former exorcist (!!) who is now an atheist.  

A journey straight to Hell

 

This one is interesting...

A former Christian fundamentalist, now an atheist, travels to Israel to get over his on-off paranoid fear of ending up in Hell. He actually visits Gehenna, a real place outside Jerusalem. Gehenna turns out to be a tranquil, peaceful park?! Well, at least today...

The anti-Hell discourse is based on a book by (anti)Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman, which I unfortunately haven´t read. The short form is that many references to "Hell" in the Bible are annihilationist and reference either the apocalypse or a gloomy Hades-like place. Not a literal lake of fire in which souls burn forever and ever (and teeth will be provided). 

Not sure if I entirely buy that scenario, but there you go.  

Lies fundies tell themselves

 

"Genetically Modified Skeptic" is an YouTube atheist (and ex-Indie Baptist) of some standing. Here, he discusses the weirdly repetitive and downright cultish behavior of many religious fundamentalists. 

Mussolini´s intellectuals

 

Irish Traditionalist and (perhaps) fascist Keith Woods argues against the idea that fascism is “capitalism in decay”, an idea usually associated with Marxism-Leninism. It´s not entirely clear what Woods´ alternative thesis is, though. It´s also intriguing that he doesn´t mention the Strasser brothers, instead focusing on Joseph Goebbels (and Mussolini).

Naturally, the “socialist” rhetoric and populist appeal of both German Nazism and Italian fascism are mentioned. Woods argues that Mussolini´s regime was independent of the big business interests. German industrialist support for Hitler and the Nazis peaked around 1930, and had actually went down by 1933. Many backers of the Nazis were White Russian émigrés (i.e. White Guards), who were “feudal” more than capitalist and supported Hitler for ideological and geopolitical reasons (anti-Semitism, anti-Communism, etc). Woods argues that Henry Ford in the US (who apparently provided the NSDAP with funding) acted out of ideological conviction. He actually *lost* money due to a boycott of the Ford company.

That fascism can´t be an expression of “decaying” capitalism is also shown by the fact that the fascist movements sought to modernize the economies of their respective nations, and indeed often did so after taking power. Thus, the German economy experienced economic growth under Hitler, not “decay”. In general, fascism appealed to groups inside nations *with* “decaying capitalism” (or semi-feudalism) as a strategy to *overcome* it.

Despite the narrators clear pro-fascist (Nazbol-ish) sympathies, still an interesting take on things.   

LARP-ing in Atlanta

 

A surprisingly informal "initiation ceremony" into the Hare Krishna movement in Atlanta. Looks weird-ish. LARP-ing? Except the girls, who seem to take the whole thing too seriously...

 

The spirit of Catholicism

 

I don´t like Father Casey, who comes across as a Catholic fanatico, but he does raise some interesting points in this clip, even sounding a bit "panentheist" (pan-en-theist) or "animist". Note that he is a Franciscan. 

His main criticism of Protestantism seems to be that God is de facto seen as transcendent only, while Catholics also emphasize the divine presence immanent in the world. Both the sacraments, the clergy and the Church itself are examples of such "mediation". So is the Virgin Mary. 

That God is present in the world in *this* sense is indeed very hard to believe...

The Okapi Avatar

Probably not a Darwinist

"Hindu views on evolution" is an extremely misguided (and entertaining) entry from Wikipedia, trying to harmonize the ten avatars of Vishnu with Darwinian evolution. An old trick and one that still doesn´t work. The comment about the okapi and Archaeopteryx is priceless! :D 

>>>The order of the Dashavatara (ten principal avatars of the god Vishnu) is interpreted to convey Darwin's evolution. British geneticist and evolutionary biologist J B S Haldane opined that they are a true sequential depiction of the great unfolding of evolution. 

>>>According to them, like the evolutionary process itself, the first avatar of God is a fish - Matsya, which depicts aquatic life, then comes the aquatic reptile turtle, Kurma, which depicts creatures moving to land, then a mammal - the boar Varaha, then Narasimha, a man-lion being, which is sometimes taken to mean creatures like Okapi, Archaeopteryx and others, then comes Vamana, the dwarf hominid. 

>>>Then Parashurama depicts humans when they were in the caveman stage. And then, Rama depicts the rise of civilization and kingdoms. (Sometimes, when Balarama is taken into account, he is taken to represent the growth of agriculture.) Krishna is taken to symbolize the growth of art and crafts and Buddha is taken to depict the embarking on philosophical and religious thought. Kalki is not yet born. 

>>>Various saints, thinkers and authors like Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Helena Blavatsky, Monier Monier-Williams, Nabinchandra Sen, C D Deshmukh have associated the Dashavatara with evolution.

Let´s be honest. The ancient Hindus probably thought the Earth was flat. And no, they had no idea that the fair Okapi even existed! 

The true essence of Christianity?

 

Keith Woods, an Irish Traditionalist, discusses the connection (if any) between "Woke", capitalism, Christianity and Gnosticism. Note also the interface between trans-genderism and trans-humanism, the latter to be introduced through technology.

"Woke" gives capitalism, technology and fake individualism a quasi-religious veener, while really destroying true spirituality. 

Can´t say I vibrate with the collectivist traditionalism of Woods, but he does make some interesting points here. The main take away is that "Woke" is here to stay and will continue to be succesful precisely because of its aggressive quasi-metaphysics and its alliance with global capital. 

This seems to be the weakest part of Woods´ analysis, since it´s difficult to see how Woke capitalism, or any capitalism really, can be sustainable in the long run...  

Bowling alone

 

Keith Woods discusses a number of sociological studies and meta-studies which strongly suggest that ethnic diversity lowers trust and destroys traditional working class (and perhaps lower middle class) communities in the Western world. Note also that diversity seems to lower political and civic engagement! 

One aspect not covered is that immigrants (or native Blacks in the US) often want to live in predominantly immigrant (or native Black) neighborhoods, which of course is further proof that most people most of the time prefer their own kind...

"Bowling alone", the book mentioned, is a classical study of the decline of American working class communities, but weirdly I have never read it!  

The roots of apocalypse

 

Keith Woods attacks really existing Green politics from a Traditionalist and far right perspective, under which environmentalism is tied to nationalism, anti-capitalism, anti-immigration stances and "pantheist" religious metaphysics. 

Anthropocentrism is rejected in favor of seeing Nature as sacral and the cosmos as hierarchic. At one point, he calls contemporary Green politics "liberalism with carbon taxes"!

Even apart from his *obviously* problematic TOS, Woods is too utopian for my jaded metaphysical tastes. The alternative to eternal "progress" is a myth of eternal return to a traditional past that never really existed, not even during the Satya Yuga...