Apologies for a rather short page today, but I haven’t been feeling very well, slept the afternoon away, and would rather be doing anything else than reading this tripe.
Now that Like Lambs to the Slaughter has dedicated a chapter on “the Humanist Conspiracy” to the supposed evils of education, it’s only fitting that this chapter, “Your Teacher the Occultist?” is less about teaching and more about piling blame on clinical psychology on the rise of the occult.
Before I go into this chapter in earnest, though, I’d like to share a personal story. As some of you reading this know, I suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome, bipolar disorder, and several other mental illnesses. As some more of you know, I was raised in a decidedly fundamentalist family. While my parents eventually sort of came around to the fact that I had a medical condition, that doesn’t mean they completely abandoned the archaic outlook that mental diseases are actually the manifestations of demons (now, it’s just conveniently relegated to “those evil people”, because the “good” ones with mental disease wouldn’t have any demons), or the thought that prayer can make your mental conditions all better if you try hard enough.
This is especially relevant in a friend-of-a-friend story my great uncle once told about a woman who starved herself to death after her marriage began to fall apart. Supposedly, her anorexia nervosa was actually being transferred through a dream catcher that she had in her room, which held “Indian demons”. Yes, really. You may take a moment to facepalm, and any Native Americans in the audience can take another moment to calm down after such a mind-searingly stupid comment about you.
Moment(s) taken? Good. Let’s get to the actual start of this chapter.
“Imagine, if you will, a place where you can learn astrology, Yoga, numerology, the basics of color healing, and ESP; a place where you are led into guided-imagery fantasy trips and visualization techniques that help you contact your higher self and your spirit guide”
-Like Lambs to the Slaughter; Chapter 3, pg. 33
Yeah, that place is called psychotropic substances. Your point?
“No, you have not been reading a sylabbus for a seminar at your local ashram or occult center.”
-Like Lambs to the Slaughter; Chapter 3, pg. 33
Louisiana doesn’t have many local “occult centers”, but it’s not hard to go only a few blocks and bump into yet another Christian church!
“These practices, along with endless variations on the theme, were indeed once relegated to the misty abodes of shamans, Yogis, wizards, witches, magicians, mediums, witch doctors, and other assorted occultists. Today, however, in more ‘enlightened’ times, they have become the raging vogue in public schools in every state and in virtually every community around the country.”
-Like Lambs to the Slaughter; Chapter 3, pg. 33 and 34
I’d have to call bullshit on that. I doubt any red states, or even many blue states, had or have such curriculum in public schools. There are some individuals that are pushing their religious beliefs on the education system, though…they’re called dominionists.
“The news shouldn’t come as any major shock, since those practices have been going on for the last 15 or 20 years now. All the teachers are doing is applying the latest innovations in the field of psychology to their classrooms.”
-Like Lambs to the Slaughter; Chapter 3, pg. 34
…What.
Okay, let’s examine the things you claimed were once “misty abodes”.
Shamans? An insanely large amount of practices. All religious, not psychological.
Yogis? A yoga practicioner, or a monk in a religion seen by the speakers of Urdu (the language that yogi comes from). Religious (though yoga has become secularized somewhat in the USA), not psychological.
Witches, wizards, and magicians? Granny Weatherwax, Harry Dresden, and Penn and Teller. Supernatural story folk and users of sleight of hand, not psychological (except in the last case, I guess).
Mediums? Spirit speakers. Contacted by King Saul in the Bible and con artists and urban fantasy fodder in the modern day, not psychological.
Witch doctors? Herbalists and faith healers. Includes members of your own religion, Michaelsen, and not psychological.
See a pattern here? Yeah…
