in which Eco pretty much sums up the supreme silliness (and narcissism) of the sorts of cults and mystery/conspiracy mongering that Booth seems to traffic in. The most wearisome aspect of such cults is the one that Ms. Miller lists under points 1 and 3, i.e. the belief that the entire universe is more or less an emanation of the human mind. Such ideas thrive in a vacuum of historical and scientific literacy. It doesn't hurt that clear writing and clear thinking are not valued commodities in today's public square.

As a Master Mason and son of one of an extremely well-known and highly advanced member of Scottish Rite Freemasonry (who was also for most of his life a practicing Christian Scientist but finally got cured of it) I found this article a huge breath of fresh air.

I also found the last sentence or so of the piece profoundly insightful and perhaps even worthy of an initiate of one or more of the interrelated "secret" societies which actually serve some useful function, specifically this:

"Most people will still choose to believe in something 'more,' whether it's the ninefold path of the Buddha or the pillars of Islam or pyramid power. Chances are that whatever they choose will sound ridiculous to anyone who doesn't also believe. That's something religion has always had in common with sex: If you're not into it, it looks silly. Which explains why all the really clever people do it behind closed doors."

Religion has a lot in common with sex. The purest religion does not separate itself from sex at all. In this remarkably prurient yet puritanical culture of ours, it really is clever to keep both strictly sub rosa. More fun, too.

Hail Eris!

Hey! I saw that!

Hail yes!

OK, so the basic tenet of these cults is that humanity is the center of the universe.

Let us put things in perspective, shall we?

The Uninverse is staggeringly huge, containting VAST numbers of galaxies, nebulae, black holes and what not. Somewhere in the middle of this vast ocean of pea soup lies one particularly pea, a galaxy, not particularly large or small. Very average. Its the Milky Way.

Nestled in this Milky Way, which itself contains a staggering number of star systems, on one of its arms, lies a particular star system. Nothing exceptional.

This star system revolves around a star in the middle of its life cycle. Orbitting around this average star are 9 planets of varying sizes. THe 3rd planet from this sun is covered with water. The remaining 1/4 landmass is covered by a very thin layer of biosphere (think the skin on a apple) of carbon based lifeforms. Of all the myraid lifeforms supported, one is a bipdeal ape with less than usual bodyhair and a larger than usual cranium.

And apparently, this entire universe, in all its staggering splendour, is all about these apes, on one tiny planet, in one tiny solar system, in one average galaxy. It exists for these apes. It has no purpose beyond being a place which the apes can live in.

Yes that makes so much sense.

God (or Science) forbid that we respect the fact that scientists deal with the physical world, and theologians deal with God. When one tries to interfere with the other (Dawkins, fundamentalist preachers, Michael Behe, et al.), of course there's going to be some clashes.

That's what happens when you stick your nose in something you aren't formally trained in. There's a reason scientists work in labs, not churches, and that the religious don't pray with test tubes.

We need to wake up: religion is not going away, and neither is science. Give each its due, and there is no need for all this "science v. religion" crap that people buy into.

There is just so much time in a day.

Hey, that's what Booth says (maybe -- it's not even in quote marks). Why philosophically arm wrestle an idiot? Just curious.

There are plenty of good and substantial books on so-called secret societies as well as philosophy, religion and quantum physics. There is also a ton of garbage. The subject of this review is one of those. Relax.

Yes, entertaining review, directed at an unworthy target.

But you're all nutty science-ists if you believe the distinction between peddlers in metaphysics and bonafide lab scientists is that the former meddle in the affairs of the latter but not vice versa.

How many supposedly hard science books have the word "God" in the title? How many scientific theories confess that some sort of determinism, genetic or otherwise, is the last word on everything from cancer to free will? How many scientists make normative claims based on empirical obervations within the narrow perspective of their narrow fields?

The truth is that many of the Mystery cults are themselves offspring of the pandering scientific mindset; a mirror image in which science sees its (dis)own(ed) shadow. They are shot through with trite, irrelevant intellectualizations pretending to underpin doctrine, and new names pretending nail down meaning - just like science is.

The art of Comedy, some say, is to make the audience laugh before they realize it is themselves they are laughing at.

I'm guessing it takes about five decades of meditation, continuous communion with the Cosmic Mind and the ability to ascend and descend the Great Chain of Being at will to be able to kill a goat by staring at it for 15 minutes.

1.Why would anyone want to be able to kill a goat by staring at it? What did the darn goat do?

2.As a practical matter, it occurs to me that if you stare at a goat intently for many minutes-- especially one that was probably minding its own business, it's far more likely the goat will come after you, and at the very least give you a pretty good head-butting that will separate you from any transient mystical reverie and remind you of the physical world PDQ.

Hail to the Sun God!

He is the Fun God!

Ra! Ra! Ra!