By “we”, I mean me and Richard Dawkins. I can’t even imagine the volume of tripe that has to be flowing into his mailbox, but sometimes people send their important missives to both Dawkins and me (of course, I’m just an afterthought; the body of the letter is usually addressed to you-know-who). I’ve put the latest example below the fold—it is mildly amusing and definitely weird.
The formatting of the text is exactly as received.
Dear Richard, so easily you use the word “God” to spread your religious belief that He the Creator of All is simply a delusion.
For to be an ‘atheist’ as you claim is in fact an ideological belief. Supposedly a mental state of a person that can only see what is visible or what by him and his peers can be proved scientifically.
I would have ‘thought’ that – – – as it is proven scientifically that for every ‘action’ there is an equal and opposite reaction – – – that you could ‘imagine’ the possibility that the unknown and unseen ‘electrical’ energy of the force that is manifesting the known and expanding universe does have an absolute Law, a law unto itself?
Can you scientifically prove the ‘existence’ of thoughts or emotions?
Has it crossed your mind that there just may be a ‘deeper’ TWIN polarity energy force that is not of this ‘biological’ or material world. A force that does have (positive & negative – peaceful, creative, benign and truthful and restless, destructive, malignant and deceptive) energy that consist of all known and unknown emotions and, a consciusness that is all knowing.? What if we named that invisible essence “GF6d” or some other, be it Allah or Mungu etc.
What if that energy had a ‘pinnacle’ of light at its source and a ‘base’ of darkness, and between the two a fire that burns eternally that not only produces the Light but also transforms itself the Dark from one polarity to the other and back eternally?
What if that invisible ‘spiritual’ essence had a consciousness and decided to create ‘our’ consciousness within its frame. What if it later decided to manifest its own energy into what we see as this material universe. Surely you can see the ‘possibility’ that the creation of such a diversity of life on earth was not simply ‘luck’? Each has a ‘heart’ and lungs to breathe and a mind to ‘move it.’?
What if the truthful aspect of the essence spoke telepathically into the spirit souls of its creation saying: I have ONE Law, use my Light energy and it will return through the hands of others unto you, for MY Law is simply the balancing of the energy you use and, as you use IT then some of it remains within your soul and you become a brighter light and, – – – I forbid you to ‘drink’ of the Dark energy for IT has the capacity to contaminate your soul and ultimately draw It down into the darkness wherein abide others that are of a similar ilk. (The TRUTH)
What if the deceptive aspect of the essence spoke telepathically into the spirit souls of its creation saying: I have ONE Law, use my Dark energy and it will return through the hands of others unto you, for MY Law is simply the balancing of the energy you use and, as you use IT then some of it remains within your soul and you become a dimmer light that is stained by my darkness named ‘SIN’ but, as I am merciful you will NOT suffer or die. (The LIE)
Can you not conceive this, can you not wonder why man suffers? Can you not see that every taxpayer is funding a punitive, controlling and warring IDEOLOGY (state religion) and thus every ‘voter’ is accruing a great ‘suffering’ DUE within the absolutely JUST Law of the Dark side? Controlled more, taxed more, punished more!
Certainly the 6000 year old ‘story’ as promoted by some religions is error of teaching as is much else, but does that fact prove you right reference the existence or otherwise of a Creator? NO.
Certainly those that believe that IT the “God” of the universe is ONLY benign are deluded, but that also does not make your belief correct.
Certainly religions are made by man, and “Yes” they all need to be abolished and, I am the one to say to you Sir, – – – “If you continue to promote the ‘religion of deception’ that you DO through your arrogance and vanity, then for SURE you are very stupid and, for SURE you will simply ‘awaken’ ahead with a belly full of dread.
For those misguided by YOU that now do not believe in the absolute power of the Creator AND the absolutely JUST and immutable Law of His energy will stand no chance of spiritual survival unless I can them ‘reach,’ and neither will you.” ( You decide if this is TRUTH or a LIE)
Evil cannot be destroyed, it is an energy that exists an operates through those that seek to use it, and as you ‘fight’ to destroy those others using it you are also using it. Evil only flourishes because all believe that they are ‘justified’ in using it. Foolish man, better to be merciful and USE education and peaceful means.
Be advised that the awaited Messiah and Divine Saviour and Just Leader of the whole of humanity has returned into the flesh of this world to restore the purity of faith, being the doctrine of PEACE as commanded by God the Creator. Please advise all that he has a fresh and uncontaminated message from the Creator for humanity to prepare all for the coming TRIBULATIONS & utter destruction. It is now on line at:
http://www.the-testament-of-truth.co.uk
http://www.the-testament-of-truth.com
Issued by Terence Malaher – Office of the Messiah
Pyengana – Tasmania 7216
I particularly liked the middle section, with it’s theme of “What if X were true”, repeated with increasingly absurd and specific X’s. “What if Pee Wee Herman was actually God and he was going to use his mind powers to turn you into a newt, would you believe then? Huh? Would you?”.
A strong second-runner up, failing to win the gold only because it is so ordinary, is the claim that the Messiah with his “doctrine of PEACE” is going to bring “TRIBULATIONS & utter destruction.” Maybe if the author weren’t so busy with the random style and color changes, he might have noticed the inconsistencies and ironies in his content.
I’m also amused that this time around, the Messiah is going to have an office. In Tasmania.
Here in Australia, both we and the Taswegians have a little song we like to sing:
Tasmania, Tasmania
No relation to Australia
Romania or Transylvania
Tas… man… ia
It means something different depending on who sings it.
Sounds like someone didn’t take his medication before writing that letter.
Yikes! The crazy comes out in full force – and in your choice of colors.
Do you really get these type of messages so very often? Honestly, I’d see about upgrading from a spam filter to an “off their medication knuckle-dragger” filter.
Yes, I liked the office bit – now all religious people who have a gripe with the almighty have somewhere real they can lodge their complaints. I am not sure about Tasmania though, isn’t Tasmania famous for the Tasmanian Devil? Maybe it is best to keep them all in one place.
I’ve heard ’bout them Tasmanians. Can’t trust ’em. All got some contagious facial cancer as well.
I ahd to stop reading after the first few sentences as my brain threatened to throttle my blood supply to defend itself from the woo.
wow. check out the websites… the frantic text styling gets even worse. it’s almost Time Cube quality.
Awesome. I think I’m going to put “Office of the Messiah” on my letterhead.
The bit I found the most amusing is the one starting after the last “what if…” paragraph. He’s basically telling you to join the Dark Side.
Somebody has been reading way too much crappy New Age books.
Whoa. That was not insane. That was crazy batshit brouhaha fuckwit Ray Comfort insane. I almost feel sorry for P-Zizzy & Dawkins… being some of the most commonly recognized public faces of atheism means you guys have to deal with some of the weirder kooks out there. On the other hand, you probably get quite a lot of good laughs.
Stuff like this always creeps me out.
The interesting thing is that as long as these people work themselves into the right, pious emotional state–and it’s probably not even drug induced!–then they think that every word they utter is channeled directly from God.
I wonder how much time he spent adjusting that text for bolding, underlining, italicizing, and inserting links.
I find it really odd that people can write this crap without the benefit of LSD. Damn, the hippies didn’t come up with anything that freaky (came damn close, though).
I didn’t know that Davison was living in Tanzania now…
“He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.”
The letter said:
“You decide if this is TRUTH or a LIE”
Okay, I will decide. It’s a lie.
That was easy.
What if Pee Wee Herman was actually God and he was going to use his mind powers to turn you into a newt, would you believe then? Huh? Would you?”
What if.. what if noah’s flood was just about to happen, but then noah’s whole family was abducted by a band of partying space aliens, forcing God to cancel the Flood? And what if the prophets covered up for him, to save face. Then what, huh?
And what if Jesus was some dude who had an invisible robot friend from the future named skippy, who told him lots of cool stuff and made him sound deep and mystical? Then what, huh?
Hey, at least it’s all in the same font…
I’m pretty sure you could work up a DSM-type diagnostic tool that would let you identify mental illness based on the number of different colours and fonts used, the frequency of underlining, bolding, italicising and ALL CAPS in a given piece of writing. It’s a style I’ve seen all over the place, from hardcore Christians to the most deranged new-agers, but it’s always associated with writing that’s strongly indicative of severe mental illness.
WOW! What a revelation! This guy is obviously tapping into a deep mystical well of reason… {/sarcasm}
“God Thinks I’m Pee Wee Herman”
http://bigdumbchimp.blogspot.com/2007/02/god-thinks-im-pee-wee-herman.html
“Can you scientifically prove the ‘existence’ of thoughts or emotions?”
People have to understand that science is not about proving things. Nevertheless, what do you say to someone who asks this question? What’s a good response?
Is somebody with some training screening these emails? It’s a precaution worth taking.
The constant use of “What if” does truly explain the religious mindset. They seem to understand “What if” to mean “is.” That way one can construct a syllogism with any arbitrary content to reach a foreordained conclusion.
Re Comment #21:
Try “The intentional stance works”.
Mind you, when somebody asks this kind of question, it’s usually a good indicator that they’re some kind of dualist who thinks that thoughts and emotions are things rather than properties. Generally, before you can actually address the question of scientific “proof”, you have to set them straight on their initial category mistake.
I really don’t think anything written in the believer’s world is actually any better thought out. I’m sure this guy has a collection of aluminum foil hats and is avoided at family reunions, but is his content any wackier than the stuff lining the book shelves of The Vatican Library? Picking on this unmedicated nut is kind of, I don’t know, unworthy.
Now if we want to get bent on a subject, I would point at the news media’s inability or unwillingness to call bullshit bullshit. Witness today’s soooooo evenhanded coverage of the opening of Ken Ham’s new YEC theme park. I thought I’d barf. Even NPR gave both “sides” equal time. The press has to be called out on this.
How about “yes”?
If mapping thoughts and emotions in the brain by MRI or similar is not good enough for them, ask them which is easier to detect: a thought or a neutrino? Do they think neutrinos exist?
Yes, I can prove, scientifically, the ‘existence’ of thoughts or emotions. I will wack you in the nose and you will think I am an a**hole and you will be in an emotional state of turmoil.
That was basically one long and very convoluted appeal to science doesn’t know everything. Standard woo drivel.
Ah, well, when I labored in the vinyards of The Senator, since I was the one designated to blab to the public, most people in the office thought I should get the feedback. Mrs. Bradley and her phone rants — four hours on one, long-distance, back when long-distance cost something — the lady with the violet colored mink and poofy hair, the lady with the rotating letter heads all of which declared the U.S. to be a “Christian nation because the SUPREME COURT SAID SO,” all of those characters and more found their way to my in box, my telephone, and too often, my office door.
I’ve occasionally wondered what became of those people. It’s interesting to know they’re still writing.
And, with the wonders of blogs, now they can get a wider audience.
Terence Malaher must be beside himself with glee.
Wait a minute. They’re called “Taswegians?” This complicates things since I’ve been calling them Tasmaniacs all this time.
Anyway, I’ve been getting the same sorts of email from some nutter who tore off on some twisted tangent about blue photons, the electro-magnetic spectrum and how those things are proof of God in his book.
It’s a real head-scratcher, but thanks to this, I can now refer him to the “Office of the Messiah.” Perhaps he can get some sort of temp job there making coffee and taking some random dictation or whatnots.
I’m going to go slightly contrarian on this one. Given a cursory reading of some of his website, his proposed religion seems at least marginally better than Christianity or Islam, primarily because it advocates peace and disavows violence. Even so the fact that much of it seems to be written in rhyme underscores the other other indications he is just nutters. He does think he is a messenger from God. You don’t have to search very hard on his website to find ‘The Gopsels According to Terence”.
Now, I’m not saying the letter makes any sense to me, but I did notice that the color changes aren’t random. Positive things (truth, peace) are in blue, while negative things (lies, tribulations) are in red.
Weirdly, God is always in purple.
Look again at the “pinnacle of light” section in paragraph 6. This guy’s lava lamp God is responsible for both the light and the dark, is both good and evil. Shouldn’t he be sending his letters to all those apostate “God is Love” people instead?
Warning: before you enter the Office of the Messiah, make sure the lights are on.
Thanks, but I think I’ll wait until their museum opens.
Very entertaining. What is it with Christians and the incessant need to capitalize random words? I used to see this all the time from my Christian trolls (who have almost all been banned for repeatedly violating my comment policy). It got so I could spot them reliability just by the number of random words they capitalized.
I made the mistake of following the links to his websites. If you think the email was kooky, I’ll say that it doesn’t hold a candle to the woo he’s prattling on about there. Turns out this messiah he’s peddling to different religions (each of the three sites is geared toward one of the three “book” faiths) is, you guessed it, himself! I particularly like the part where he calls himself “Terence, son of Irene and David” in imitation of traditional Hebrew naming practice.
So, since we have now identified another messiah, I suppose the question for our would-be savior is “can you really command the Dark Side of the Force, or are you a Sith without a sword?” I putting my money on “swordless and scamming the gullible” but them I’m a hardened old cynic. It’s just possible that he really thinks he is the messiah (of whatever religious pastiche he’s constructed) in which case I’ll advise his fellow Tasmanians to hide both their money and the sharp objects, just to be on the safe side.
Definitely a 9.5 on the TimeCube scale. I hope, for everyone’s sakes, that the guy is in a secure mental institution.
I’m looking at the “testament of truth” website (.com version) and Dude recommends we construct and maintain a chicken incubator, of all the goddamned things, as a hedge against food shotages caused by disaster. Maybe I’ve been reading too much Effect Measure, but what disaster, exactly, is considered most likely to cause potential food shortages in the near to middle future? (Broad hint: It starts with “bird” and ends with “flu.”)
This page is terrific: http://www.the-testament-of-truth.com/web/indust1.htm
It starts off with a fairly cogent beginner-grade overview of off-grid subsistence energy alternatives, and descends into chaos until he completely misplaces his mind somewhere in the warranty and terms of sale sections.
Evidence that colorful rhetoric does not necessarily make one more convincing…
So this guy just finished House of Leaves?
Khurram posits an interesting and easily answered question:
“Can you scientifically prove the ‘existence’ of thoughts or emotions?”
People have to understand that science is not about proving things. Nevertheless, what do you say to someone who asks this question? What’s a good response?
I have found a most eloquent answer to questions involving the “reality” of thought and emotions; a sharp kick to the shin. Works every time. (Expertise in evasive maneuvering is strongly recommended.)
Well, if you and Dawkins didn’t use evolution to promote your atheism, you wouldn’t get emails like this, and Ed (<3) wouldn’t have to keep taking your lunch money.
What the frick? Wish I graduated college now… should read:
Well, if you and Dawkins didn’t use evolution to promote your atheism, you wouldn’t get emails like this, and Ed wouldn’t have to keep taking your lunch money.
Wow, another person living inside his/her head with imaginary playmates. When I read crap like this I’m convinced that religion was the first form of television, and theology the first form of a soap opera.
“You don’t believe that Luke and Laura should get together again? What’s wrong with you?”
Or, as one elderly woman said to John after he told her that he had never seen all of these television shows she was gushing on and on about: “You don’t know what you’re missing!”
Ugh. I was thinking just this morning that evolution does convey a certain kind of morality/ethics or at least a reaction to life that is different than that of religion: evolution at least implies that we are active participants in life, whereas religion/television entices people to sit and let life pass them by. And that’s why I get vehement about this stuff. What it comes down to is living life, or being passive and watching other people live.
Couldn’t read the whole thing, skimmed the last third. I like reading items that make sense.
One thing about all this religious tripe I don’t get (aside from everything) is this: if they believe that a hominid type named God, etc, an entity with a personality, created the universe and all its contents, then why are they so uptight about atheists?
Did atheists come from someone else’s drafting board? If so, whose? If not, then this god created atheists too and since he ‘moves in mysterious ways’ there must have been a reason, no?
Who are they to question god’s very intelligent designs?
I find this disturbing. What if my rice cooker is the supreme ruler of the Horsehead Nebula? Oh, wait a minute, my mistake — the word I was thinking of was ‘stupid’.
Hey, I think I read this earlier this week.
Oh yes–it was on the back of my bottle of Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-1 Pure Castile Soap. It’s a mouthwash! It’s a contraceptive! Moral ABC! All-One!
Odd. It’s like the digital version of one of those creepy ransom/stalking letters in the movies, where each letter is cut out of a different magazine or newspaper.
That’s fascinating… I received a typed letter once, about ten or eleven years back, mailed to me anonymously, and soliciting my support for an Elizabeth Dole presidential campaign, and it was written in exactly the same style, with the weird formatting (semi-random underlining, overstriking, and italics), the middle section full of bizarre “What if…” questions, and a loopy end paragraph with quotes from the bible (but no name, address, URL, or any other kind of identification).
I still have it somewhere; I should post it. It’s either the exact same author (and I still don’t know where he got my home address), or else there’s a characteristic, identifiable writing style that emerges from a particular variety of psychosis. I’m not sure which explanation I’d find eerier.
It appears that Terry Malaher, the risen Messiah, has been around for a while:
http://www.ratbags.com/loon/mailbox/testament.htm
One wonders why it took him so long to get around to Richard & PZ. Maybe he was working on enlightening Popes, Patriarchs, Archbishops & Ayatollahs first.
I don’t know. It is easy to make fun of these people but on the other hand waking up with a belly full of dread is no picnic either…
I hate waking up liking that.
Hey, at least he used paragraphs. Most rambling psychotic diatribes are a single, indecipherable block of text. So, props to him for making his indecipherable diatribe more, er, well, never mind….
Wow. This is insane. Although I’m a little worried about the whole diagnosis of mental disorder based on style of writing – when I was in high school I took notes in about 20 different colors (many of them sparkly). Will writing samples from the teenage years be exempt? Because, I think part of the problem is that this adult is doing something an adolescent seems to think is a good idea.
So that is what modern theology has come to, yes?
After all the real-life claims of “the God Hypothesis” have been discredited, the only recourse for the true believer is to dive into the depths of the unknown, spout off a litany of “possibilities” that makes the invisible pink unicorn or FSM sound downright reasonable, then make a leap of faith too far that all strange possibilities lead straight to Jesus.
That was seventeen different kinds of crazy all in one letter.
You have to feel good, though. Sharing mail with Dawkins is pretty cool. :)
Ugh. That looks like the shit my distant relations send me when word gets to them that I’ve been in apostate land for the last decade.
Why do they all type like that? Why?
Needed more colour.
Ha! “Belly full of dread”.I couln’t read it all, as I find it quite frightening. This creature seems to have come dragging its knuckles straight out of the mist. Who gave it the crayons?
“…it is proven scientifically that for every ‘action’ there is an equal and opposite reaction ”
…
LMAO
I couldn’t resist. I googled the Tasmanian town of Pyengana, which is apparently a big dairying and cheese-making community in the northwest of the State. Must be a few good fungal spores lurking around in the air down there, that’s all I can say…
Lee Harrison: it shows how remarkable the human brain really is – it can be severely dysfunctional and yet keep the person alive …
Khurram: See any textbook of cognitive neuroscience.
Apikoros: The purpleness of god might have to do with the weird Zoroastrian flavour I got reading the message …
Oh no. Not too long ago, I started a policy over at my own blog of formatting right-wing quotes in red, left-wing/liberal in blue. While this does correspond nicely to Mr. Malaher’s blue-good, red-evil way of thinking, if I ever go any further down that road he’s taken, please put me away somewhere where society will be safe from me.
Needs more cowbell.
Looooopeeeeyyyy!
One positing thought that occurs to me out of this, is that if they ever do figure out the aging thing, and a way to cure it, (e.g. Kurzweil and his amazing nanobots giving us virtual immortality), many of the most wacked out religious nuts will see this as work of the devil (“The LIE” from our Messiah’s email that you won’t die) and won’t avail themselves of the opportunity, and then, sweet irony, they will eventually become as extinct as many of the dinosaurs they don’t really believe in anyway.
But you’ve got to take a veeeerrrrrry long horizon, and much can happen before then. sigh.
ANF
Hear, hear. A dystheist.
Has anyone managed to read a meaning into this paragraph? I haven’t.
People really need to learn that science can’t prove, only disprove.
Yes, and may it be with you, young padawan. If only you knew the power of the Dark Slide.
Hear, hear. A dystheist.
Has anyone managed to read a meaning into this paragraph? I haven’t.
People really need to learn that science can’t prove, only disprove.
Yes, and may it be with you, young padawan. If only you knew the power of the Dark Slide.
Schizophrenia. A terrible disease that should not need any assistance from any cultural tradition (like religion) to flourish or inspire similar symptoms in otherwise perfectly healthy people.
Everybody has moments of incoherence. That ANY cultural tradition has survived to inspire similar symptoms in a distressing proportion of the population in this day and age is not only testimony to the strength of social bonding but a stain on the ability of scientists to educate and excite the public about the emerging picture of actual, natural reality. “Hey, LOOK at THIS and THIS and THAT – isn’t that AMAZING!”: its a wonderous flood that makes the biblical one look like puppy piddle. And yet more people are hip to the fact that some weird-haired guy got booted from A TV SHOW THAT SPECIALIZES IN PICKING CRAP OUT OF A POOL THAT WOULD OTHERWISE NOT REQUIRE THE SHOW TO DEMONSTRATE ANY REAL TALENT IF IT WAS ACTUALLY PRESENT. (“This nodule of feces is more aesthetically pleasing than those” syndrome, as it were…nothing new, of course: its been an industry since “American Bandstand” at which participants were heard with monotonous regularilty to declare their preference based on whether the submitted music had a preferentially danceable “beat” or not. But the music producers, bless their mercenary little souls, were listening VERY carefully indeed).
We scientists all know (or should) that we basically communicate SERIOUSLY only with ourselves. Science and technical journals are replete with hot and heavy forefront stuff which only specialists can understand. We rely on a kind of “trickle-down” to take care of the other potentially interested parties who aren’t scientists, which often means everybody else.
Sure, its difficult stuff even for specialists, which is what makes it groundbreaking. Its hard and it can be horrifically abstract. The profuse use of acronyms, not to mention what appears to the uninitiated reader as the arcanery of mathematical articulation, will inevitably leave lots of people in the dust. But that’s not an excuse for not making the research ACCURATELY plain for most everyone to understand. Who better than the discoverer to describe (or TRANSLATE in simple language) what the discovery is all about?
Who might benefit? People – all of them – who might appreciate an insight from the near-term practical to the “big picture” behind the circumstance of their existence in the world. (The latter sort has a BIG impact on those who would otherwise drift toward superstitious nonsense).
How many writers of science or technical papers in any field (scientists and researchers) ever bother to write out an “abstract” that non-scentists can digest? Something that would take less than an hour or two in an afternoon to write out? The answer is close to zero.
In response to this long-recognized problem, what have we done? Well, over the last few decades we’ve institutionalized the “solution to the problem” through various “public out-reach” programs, as if that actually solves anything more than getting us off the hook when it comes to getting that information out to regular Joe and Joanne Joneses.
Not that that the regular Joneses will immediately gobble that stuff up as if it had a decent chance against their preoccupation with American Idol.
But seeing the current state of affairs with the vast majority of news writers on the major markets who make an “attempt”, couldn’t we just make that little extra effort to get our own accounts of our own research down in accurate language that most people have a chance of understanding? In “plain English”?
Many scientists spend an awful lot of time teaching. Cultivating students is fine and dandy. Many consider it a necessary encumberance. What about the OTHER prospective students out there, like, say, from farmers to senators? You know, the folks we endlessly seem to keep having to deal with in blogs such as this.
A professional scientist comes into information, often under the support of public funding. That information and knowledge has to get bounced back in a reliable way. By and large, that has not been happening, “public outreach” notwithstanding. Writing popular books doesn’t absolve of us of the problem, nor should it be seen as an emolient to our conscience, as so many may stress.
I guess he broke the capslock key is an earlier rant. Maybe he’s trying to appear slightly less insane by underlining things and changing colours. It doesn’t appear to have worked.
He seems to think he’s in Western Australia when he added himself to a business directory and it appears that he’s selling christian salvation. Can you buy that in bulk?
Oh lawd, I knew it would be comedy GOLD the instant I saw colors.
This explains everything:
Note the ending in particular.
From looking at his site.. no wait, his “site” where “apparently” every “other” word needs “quote-marks”, never “mind” color, he’s probably the scourge of local newspaper’s Letters to the Editor page.
He also gives advice on the distillation of spirits, which if anything should grant him a visit by whoever looks after Excise Duties now (used to be the Customs Service, but I think the job moved to the ATO (Tax Office))… legally you CAN’T make fermented alcohol without a permit in Australia.
What do you mean, if?
~I’m pretty sure you could work up a DSM-type diagnostic tool that would let you identify mental illness based on the number of different colours and fonts used, the frequency of underlining, bolding, italicising and ALL CAPS in a given piece of writing.~
INSANITY = [ sqrt(C(C+2)) * sqrt(F(F+2)) *sqrt((U+B+I)*(U+I+B+2)) * sqrt(A(A+2)) ] / 2N
where C = no. colours, F = no. fonts, U = instances underlining, B = instances bolding, I = instances italics, A = instances all caps and N = word count.
An insanity coefficient greater than 0.1 indicates mental instability, greater than 1 indicates subject is batshit crazy. I leave it to someone else to calculate this guy’s coefficient.
No, because I would get better.
I wish I got e-mail like that.
Living in tasmania will do that to you … notice the “MANIA” even in the name of the place !!!
Google this guys name…Terence Malaher
and have a fun read..
Everything is blue. Bleeding spans!
oh especially nice is this one ..
http://www.dar-es-salaam.org/
http://www.dar-es-salaam.org/images/alma1.jpg
It’s hardly a difficult question. Emotions are mental and phsyical phenomena. We can “prove” their existence by taking people’s testimony and measuring hormone levels, brain activity, sweat production etc. They follow regular patterns that can and have been described by scientists. If you experience damage to certain parts of the brain, or even if you lose the normal physiological response to emotion through some trauma, then your emotions may be less pronounced. The parallel with religion, to the extent that there is one, is that we can “prove” that religious feeling exists. One person’s or even a whole population’s epiphanies aren’t evidence of God, any more than someone being angry is evidence of an anger demon, but it is evidence that people have mental phenomena they associate with religious feelings and experiences.
OHHHH this just keeps getting better
God’s some claims exemption from law
The Son of God has issued a three-page rant from his Australian prison cell complaining that he has been gaoled for his beliefs–specifically his belief that the Traffic Act is the work of the Devil and does not apply to him. Terence Michael Malaher is serving an eight-week sentence for driving while disqualified and driving an unregistered vehicle with no premium cover. Mahler insisted he was exempt because of his divine status, and also insisted I follow only God’s code of conduct, which is ‘walk in peace and do not disturb the peace of others’. He doesn’t explain how driving a car is the same as walking. ‘Messiah’ rants over jail sentence – The Examiner, 10th December 2002.
Indeed it is Sailor. Including one Errol Flynn who was born there and disgusted his zoologist professor father (who made an academic study of Thylacenes) by attaching a piece of fat to a fishing line and due to rapid passage fed it through a multiple of ducks. (“My Wicked Wicked Ways”–Flynn’s autobiography)
However, (sorry to digress) Tasmania is the legal growing area in Australia of poppy plants for medicinal morphine. I suspect the nutter in question may live close by.
But if the American cousins care to visit, all problems can be washed away with a special fermented Thylacene Piss, which they call ‘Cascade.’
(Just joking, it’s not a bad drop of amber fluid–the country with stone fences is reminiscent of Ye Old Country)
Sorry, can’t help it, gotta say this.
Professor Flynn wrote to Errol when he was in Papua New Guinea warning him that to sleep with ‘native women’ would make him stink in the nostrils of decent white men.
Flynn’s letter in reply.
OK, am I high or is he?
No need to. You’ll get better!
Tasmania. Queensland. We’ve got to keep our lunatics somewhere.
Oh, wait. Didn’t Ken Ham ship out from Queensland to some other olace?
Unfortunately not every good scientist is good at explaining.
Unfortunately not every good scientist is good at explaining.
On the other hand, for all the rambling delusion, this poor guy makes a lot more sense than L. Ron Hubbard ever did…
…Damn. That’s gonna keep me awake tonight.
Hysterical on so many levels. My first reaction (echoed elsewhere in the comments) was “Time Cube guy, is that you?” Then… “office of the Messiah”? He’s got an office already? Wow, we really must be in the End Times! Finally, I went to the web site… to find that my office web filter blocked it as pornography!
I think I need to get some kinda godless blog myself, just for the entertainment value.
David Marjanović says: “Unfortunately not every good scientist is good at explaining.”
Come on! Look, they seem to think they’re good at explaining to each other. And they ARE pretty good at that.
If they can wade through all that, coming up with a translation for the lay-public would be like an afterthought before morning coffee.
I know the attitude. For far too many of us it comes perilously close to a kind of elitist priesthood. What’s the problem? All of the scientists who write a popular book don’t think its beneath them to talk to the lower castes.
Yeah, they make some extra bucks, so what? That’s cool. Why not help things along by expanding the pool of scientific literacy in the public by DIRECTLY COMMUNICATING with them, that often provide us with the bucks to work with? Are we going to claim the same level of dysfunctionality in communication that we complain about when we identify the chronic lack of scientific literacy of the public???
Give me a break.
One positing thought that occurs to me out of this, is that if they ever do figure out the aging thing, and a way to cure it, (e.g. Kurzweil and his amazing nanobots giving us virtual immortality), many of the most wacked out religious nuts will see this as work of the devil (“The LIE” from our Messiah’s email that you won’t die) and won’t avail themselves of the opportunity, and then, sweet irony, they will eventually become as extinct as many of the dinosaurs they don’t really believe in anyway.
If only that were true. I’ve been mainly irritated by the anti-science folks trashing science, but taking full advantage of all that scientific thought has made available to us. In any event, the Schiavo episode that these folks really aren’t all that eager to go meet the maker they are so fond of getting us to believe in.
What? No bank account details quoted that we can directly deposit money to the Messiah’s office? Maybe they would accept a cheque.
I’m disappointed the Messiah didn’t use any pink. Maybe I wouldn’t have decided to vote “LIE”.
I thought science had proven that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Mix in a bit of quantum physics and field theory, and what he’s saying does actually make sense. If anyone had cared to take a scientific look, ie read ALL the data, then they would have seen that the first sentence and everyone being nice to each other is all it’s about. But why look at all the facts when you can jump straight in and show people how clever you all are?
I thought science had proven that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Mix in a bit of quantum physics and field theory, and what he’s saying does actually make sense. If anyone had cared to take a scientific look, ie read ALL the data, then they would have seen that the first sentence and everyone being nice to each other is all it’s about. But why look at all the facts when you can jump straight in and show people how clever you all are?
Actually…I have actually been reading the Testament of Truth in full before making any judgements. I am halfway through after approximately 250 hours worth of reading.
The writings actually make a LOT of sense to expose the fact that ‘the system’ that is known as any ‘the government’ has come to a point where its design ends up impoverishing everybody!
I recently spoke with a business-man who’s always been self-employed, working for his dad, and ever since the age of 19 to his present age of 55 he’s never worked for anyone else…obviously, the business-man has been through various economic-fluctuations, but he says that the state of the current economy is such that, for the first time in his life, the times are uncertain.
This is the first time in his life that a very productive and successful business-man feels what one might describe as helpless, and also mentioned to me that Ayn Rand’s book of Atlas Shrugged, written many years ago, has become a reality of exactly what is happening right now. His thoughts on the ‘government’ detail the discrepancies that MANY of us have with ‘government’ dictating every aspect of our living, and we are all getting sick of all this government bulls**t. One day, the public is going to say that they’ve had enough, and there will be protests and potential mob-riots everywhere.
Back to what ‘The Messiah’ has written…this is a small portion of a response to a court-magistrate that actually SHOULD be noted by everyone:
« However, if you believe that you do have jurisdiction over me, and the Right to arrest and ‘Try’ me merely by virtue of the fact that you were able to bring me before you by using force of arms, – – – – then you are saying to God that a ‘home invader’ had the Right to invade by virtue of the fact that he was able to invade by using force of arms.
You are also then stating to God and man that a murderer had the Right to kill merely by virtue of the fact that he was able to kill by using force of arms. People and Caesar believe that the use of force entitles them to do whatever they wish to. » –Full Context Here…
I have found that both Jesus and Terence spoke OFTEN about God. Terence ‘speaks of and to demons’ and so did the Jesus according to bible-writings (you can find this story in Mark 5:9-15 & Luke 8:30-6 reference “Legion”). Why people believe that a man named Jesus existed, yet say there are no such things as demons, well, are they saying that Jesus or the bible was lying!? All I can say is that the personality profile fits, and if Terence seems like a strange man, just imagine what the public must have thought of Jesus during that era.
Finally…I add a very important word to everyone’s vocabulary: Posthumous – …what was recorded during the time of Jesus and Caesar and crucifixion turned out to be posthumous. Will the writings of Terence turn out to be posthumous and history end up being repeated ? I await to see what results…I will say this much, out of all of the ‘Messiahs’ I have researched (the most-dangerous one to date being the former Reverend Jim Jones), Terence does in fact, fit closest to the personality profile of Jesus…
Scary. Go away. Crazy talk bothers me.