For The Last Time – There Is No Bigfoot, Ghosts, UFO’s, Etc.

I thought I had already straightened all of this out with my post on the Anti Christ and all things religion. The gist of the message was, “if it is not real, then it does not exist”. However, I am still being battered with tales of make believe entities including vampires and, new to the list, Chupacabra… a beast of Latin-American folklore. Here is a photo of a suspected Chupacabra:

I will admit that I was wrong when I initially suspected that this was just a very, very ugly dog. Turns out it is a very, very ugly dead coyote. Alas, another false alarm. Just like all of the other false alarms that we have endured for centuries.

A colleague of mine, who is about the most sincere person I know, is convinced he has seen a ghost. Better yet, he is also convinced a ghost (or several) lifted him a couple inches off of his bed. I swear to you that he believes this. Another person I work with has actually seen Bigfoot…walking down the sidewalk. I know it sounds like a joke but they are sincere in their beliefs.

So the question is “why the need to make up all of this stuff”? Researchers tend to agree that it is the brains desire to be able to explain everything. A system of “cause and effect” that we simply are born with. If we don’t have a good reason for something, we just make something up to explain it. One of the more ridiculous examples of this was televangelist John Hagee blaming Hurricane Katrina on the fact a gay pride parade was scheduled and God was pi**ed. Again, I am not making this up.

So, considering that religious folks already believe in a being they can’t see, are they more likely to believe in other stuff? Interestingly, because religious people have an omnipotent God, they are actually less likely to believe in Bigfoot, for instance. In fact, according to research, the more often they go to church the less likely they believe in other paranormal activities. Interesting, huh?

Elizabeth is no doubt chomping at the bit to say, “Of course stupid people believe in religion and ghosts, they’re stupid!” Sorry to burst your bubble but studies show that Ph.D.s are as likely as high school drop outs to believe in all things paranormal. That’s right. Dr. Phil is as likely to talk to his dead cousin as the dude living in the gutter down the block.

So, do not discriminate against your religious and paranormal friends. They are merely filling a gap that the human brain insists must be filled. And really, what is the harm in believing? If it makes you a better person, how is that a bad thing? Just stay away from any extreme and your life will be just swell.

One last note to my UFO believing friends. I know you don’t like to be lumped in with the other loons because, technically, Unidentified Flying Objects really do occur on a fairly regular basis. I saw one when I was about 8 and standing with a group of adults…a big ball of fire in the sky that just evaporated. Most definitely an unidentified object. However, later that evening I was not kidnapped and anal probed by beings with big black eyes. UFO’s? No problem. Aliens? You might as well join your local Bigfoot club. Or as Jim Morrison used to say, “Out here we is stoned immaculate”.

Happy hunting whatever you are looking for.

Teen Kills Himself On Internet Because Of YOU!

Or, at least you could have stopped it according to his family. While I understand the outrage the family feels because Abraham Biggs Jr died slowly while on a live video feed, the anger is misplaced. It is similar to the desire of some to close the Golden Gate Bridge because people keep jumping off of it. Or to ban guns because bad people do bad things with them. Or to ban TV shows, heavy metal music or video games because they might send a troubled kid “over the edge”. (Yeah, I am talking to to you, Senator Douchebag Lieberman).

In the end, you can’t ban everything in the world because a few might corrupt its original intent. Should you put reasonable restraints in place? Sure, but be careful of your definition of “reasonable”. Look, I fully understand that when a loved one dies, someone or something needs to be blamed. But the truth is, particularly in suicide cases, the “blame” belongs to the individual conducting the act. It is a crying shame that the help Abraham was receiving for his depression and bipolar disorder was not enough to pull him out of his deadly spiral.

However, to somehow hold complete strangers accountable, regardless of their insensitive comments, is baseless. Is it despicable and disgusting that this is how some people behaved? Sure it is but let’s also keep in mind that this is a generation that is used to being deceived and manipulated. We have created a cynical society through much larger acts than video games and TV shows. All you had to do was watch the vitriol that adults spewed on a daily basis during the recent elections to see where this behavior comes from.

In the end, we all need to look in the mirror. The vast majority of the time, what our loved ones do is our responsibility. Stop looking for something or someone else to fix it or blame it on. If you need help, seek it out. If you are in a position to help someone, do it without waiting to be asked. Be Christ like, if you will…believer or not.

We know there will be more people killing themselves TODAY. If you know one of these people, stop what you are doing and do everything in your power to get them help immediately. Will it be enough? Maybe or maybe not. But I know that if everybody spent more time on taking care of the people that they love, instead of bitching about all of the things they can’t do, these kind of things could be greatly reduced.

Have a nice day!

EDIT: Here is a link to the original story.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20081121/tc_nm/us_internet_suicide_1