Wake, Now, My Reason

 we humans are quite gullible.  for example, shortly after we moved here about four years ago, we went with some friends to listen to a sales pitch out of curiosity and because of the offer of a free meal at a local restaurant.  the room where the presentation was made was packed, so we weren't the only ones around who were lured by the offer of a meal at no cost.  the product being offered was a seat and back cushion that contained some "powerful" magnets.  these magnets, we were told, would cure most anything wrong with us, particularly back pain.  some members of the audience were asked to try the cushions out, and unsurprisingly they reported that their pain was instantly cured.  my wife and i were astounded that a number of people in attendance bought into this scam, including the husband of the couple we came with.  how could anyone believe that this cushion was worth the several hundred dollars that it sold for?  some people even bought extra magnets at an exorbitant price because the salesman convinced them that adding more magnets increased the curative powers of his product.

as i think of the people that are being taken in by hucksters with regard to the covid-19 virus, i remember that sales pitch from a few years ago.  unproven "cures," such as ivermectin, are promoted by a few commentators on tv, and thousands of people are convinced that now they have nothing to fear from covid infection.  this horse dewormer was endorsed by their favorite right-wing personality as an effective treatment, and, of course, they believe that this person knows more that all the scientists and medical experts who are telling them that this treatment is hogwash.  the same was true for hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that was promoted by former president trump as a covid treatment.  despite all the medical evidence, there were those who believed that this drug was the answer to their fears about being infected, primarily because trump endorsed it.

the same sort of trickery is seen in our religious beliefs.  we are willing to believe the most incredible tales if they appear in a "holy" book or if they are told by a charismatic preacher.  order the miraculous prayer cloth or place your hands on the radio or tv as the preacher prays and you can be cured of any disease.  send money and "god" will bless you.  attend and contribute to the right church, say the right words, or perform the right rituals and you will spend eternity in a bliss-filled heaven.  we can suspend our reasoning powers and buy into the malarkey that passes for "true" religion because it is easier to accept what someone else says than to think through things for ourselves.  what the peddlers of phony medical treatments and phony religion are selling is hope, not reason.  why do the hard work of thinking when it is so much easier to accept what another says.

may we not fall for the propaganda that we hear and see on television, radio, and the internet.  may we examine all claims and ferret out what makes sense and what doesn't.  may we use our brains to sort out fact from fiction.  may we not adopt any belief simply because those around us endorse it or because it is handed down to us by our parents.  may reason triumph over unreason.  shalom.