South Africans have been exposed to the psychic phenomenon over the past week – and we have clearly lost our baloney detectors.

by George Claassen

Is there any reason to still believe in God? Or are religious faith and reason incompatible? 

I ask this because the pressure on scientists to become believers in God seems to get stronger by the day. Atheism is more and more used as an excuse to get rid of competent people. We all know that in the American election the chances of a candidate who openly states he or she is an atheist is absolutely none to be elected as president.

The vast majority of scientists say these questions can immediately be answered with a direct no and yes respectively.  

No, there is no single reason today to continue believing or to have to believe in God. For that, science has since Copernicus and Galileo in the 15th and 16th century, Darwin in the 19th and modern discoveries today been too emphatic in discrediting and in fact killing the fairy tales of the Bible, the Koran en other holy books.  

And yes, reason and religious faith are indeed incompatible in an age where scientific findings and reason have probably become the only mechanisms to survive in a universe and solar system in which the God in whom so many believe, clearly has never made his appearance, or is rather too quiet when humankind has needed him most.  

Parents object to 'Jesus before lunch' and using teaching time to push one religion above others

Our Father, who art in heaven - and in our churches, synagogues, temples, mosques - and anywhere else, but not in our classrooms.

This is the message from a group of parents threatening to take on public schools that favour one religion above others.

The group claim that many schools are disobeying the Constitution and the Department of Education's policy on religion.

For them, the law is clear: the curriculum must cover all the main religions.

"All religions should have their rights protected. If they wish to have religious observances, which would include praying, in public schools, these must represent the realities of the country," argues Hans Pietersen of the Afrikaans Movement of Freethinkers.

He says that, in reality, schools use teaching time to promote one religion over another by, for example, praying to a particular god during a lesson or sticking only Bible verses on classroom walls.

On the last day of Kent Schaible's life, his parents and pastor intensely prayed over his 32-pound body, which, unbeknown to them, was ravaged by bacterial pneumonia.

When the 2-year-old boy finally died at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 24 inside the family's Northeast Philadelphia home, the pastor called a funeral director to take the boy's remains to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office.

At no time that day, nor in the week-and-a-half prior, did Herbert and Catherine Schaible seek medical treatment for their son despite his sore throat, congestion, liquid bowel movements, sleeplessness and trouble swallowing, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said in court yesterday.

"All it would have taken is a simple visit to a doctor for antibiotics or Tylenol, maybe, to keep this child alive," she said during the couple's preliminary hearing.

After the two attorneys representing the Schaibles argued for their innocence, Municipal Judge Patrick Dugan held them for trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.

I generally know what’s coming next when a parent asks about altering their child’s vaccine schedule: “I was reading Dr. Sears….”

Dr. Sears is a genius. No, not in an Albert Einstein or Pablo Picasso kind of way. He’s more of an Oprah or a Madonna kind of genius. He’s a genius because he has written a book that capitalizes on the vaccine-fearing, anti-establishment mood of the zeitgeist. The book tells parents what they desperately want to hear, and that has made it an overnight success.

Dr. Robert Sears is perhaps one of the best-known pediatricians in the country. The youngest son of Dr. Bill Sears, the prolific parent book writer and creator of AskDrSears.com, Dr. Bob has become the bane of many a pediatrician’s existence. He has contributed to his family dynasty by co-authoring several books, adding content to the family website, and making myriad TV appearances to offer his sage advice. But Dr. Bob is best known for his best-selling The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for your Child. This book, or at least notes from it, now accompanies many confused and concerned parents to the pediatrician’s office. Parents who have been misled by the onslaught of vaccine misinformation and fear-mongering feel comforted and supported by the advice of Dr. Sears, who assures parents that there is a safer, more sensible way to vaccinate. He wants parents to make their own “informed” decisions about whether or how to proceed with vaccinating their children, making sure to let them know that if they do choose to vaccinate, he knows the safest way to do it. And for $13.99 (paperback), he’ll share it with them.