The question of the evaluation of pathogenicity in belief systems, focusing particularly on religious beliefs systems, is distinct from the pathological use of beliefs as a reflection of individual psychopathology. The question of pathology in belief systems is separate from the question of truth-value. Indices of pathology prescind from whether the belief system has verifiability or validity in its own terms. Some indices of pathology include the degree of rigidity versus flexibility, closedness versus openness, broadness versus narrowness of perspective. Religious beliefs are compared and contrasted with paranoid delusions. Delusions are characterized by resistance to change by contradictory evidences. Religious beliefs are not delusional insofar as they do not have contradictory evidences, but they remain illusions since they derive in large measure from powerful wishes. Religious systems achieve greater degrees of validity in the extent to which they respond to fundamental nonpathological human needs rather than simply serving as wish-fulfillments. Estimates of relative pathogenicity (positive or negative) can facilitate therapeutic work with religiously oriented patients.
http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=pct.015.0099a
As if all was lost, as if nothing we tried ever worked, as if the mark of darkness had been laid upon him, the slick of white in her hair, indicating her witch ancestors, the cry of discontent, a sweet face, warm with the love of children. Jan vern Barnett was her name, and we all adored her. She was astonishingly good looking, small, all of a piece, a perfect Sophia Loren face without the extravagent lips, her dark laughing eyes following us as we danced, or more often staggered, about the room.
Their house was always a mess. He would show up and make himself welcome, and pick his way through the garbage of their house, get appropriately intoxicated and begin work at the sink. Everything was easy, comfortable, our life, the one we had made and declared our own. Lou Reed and David Bowie played constantly on the stereo. A new album by either of them was an event of almost life changing magnitude. The sweetness with which life showered its blessings, the cuddling instant of glorious rooms and shafts of light through the afternoon sun, the sense that here was everything and God was translucent in the fabric of things, that's what made those days so precious.
We were all of an experiment. David Bowie had declared himself bi-sexual, to the fascination of all the rest of us, and painted faces and fancy jackets and a post-hippy insanity full of drugs, lots of drugs, overtook the entire scene. Already the seventies were inching away and other climates, other places beckoned. For a while the whole team moved to Adelaide, and stumbled easily in the dry desert heat of the south. It was even easier to live there, away from the sharp and ceaseless competition of Sydney, easier to ignite gratitude, easier to link up and make love, easier to find love and settle for everything he had always wanted.
He went south to find a wife; and returned clad in love, his heart glowing. He was so ready for change, after everything fell apart, after the shambolic, pointless, useless chaos that enveloped them developed its own pathology; their group became sick all of its own accord. Bruce the poet had already died, and his passing added a tragic note to our partying. We knew now we were dancing with death. But that made no difference. Any of us could be called at any time. To be inclusive, to be in the centre of this heart of joy, we had to party like no one else had ever done, breaking up history in order to draw it along with us.
All of this, those happy days when the mandrax was slurring every body's speech and each and everyone thought their future lay in fame and artistic greatness, in the days before easy communication made everyone small, all of it was meant to propel us to a higher plane. To achieve greatness. To create masterpieces that would be loved and celebrated for decades if not centuries to come. How was it that our tiny group was so special? That each of us was so gifted; that our story was worth telling? Well in the end we weren't so special, we disintegrated with time and sickness, overdoses and death.
The day the heard Jan had overdosed was the saddest day; the children would have only been about eight or nine. He was overseas at the time, caught up in some terrible decadence on the other side of the planet, but even there the belated news of her death caught him by terrible surprise. They just got messier and messier, the neighbour told me years later, when I dropped by to stare at the stilted, ramshackle house where we had all lived and partied and stumbled slurring into each other's souls, embracing in the heart of warm flesh and physical beauty and the absolute heart of desire, you gorgeous man, you gorgeous woman, your infinite lust; this warmth and heat was everything to us, how much we loved you.
And the thudding death meant everything was gone, and all that we believed in was washed away. There was no point in a story who's participants were dead, who's audience had passed away, who's end was the opposite of life affirming. We said goodbye and we never forgot. A quarter of a century later, he remained, hers truly.
THE BIGGER STORY:
http://news.smh.com.au/national/australia-should-leave-afghanistan-hale-20080710-3cu7.html
Australia and other western democracies need to learn the lessons of Vietnam when considering their presence in Afghanistan, the NSW Greens say.
NSW Greens MP Sylvia Hale said on Thursday the Afghan government was clearly not in control and did not have the support of the Afghani people.
"I think it's time for the West to learn the lessons of Vietnam," Ms Hale told AAP at an anti-war protest outside the Department of Defence in Sydney on Thursday.
"And that is that you cannot impose regimes upon the countries and think that by pure military might that you will be able to have your way and institute the sort of government that you might want."
Despite record military casualties last month, a boom in opium production and the resurgence of the Taliban in recent years, Ms Hale said Australia should withdraw its troops from the country.
"Such policies have failed in Iraq, as they are failing in Afghanistan. This is not Australia's war, we have no reason to have soldiers there."
The Dutch and the Canadians were reconsidering their position in Afghanistan because there was no end in sight for the war, Ms hale said.
Her comments follow those of federal Greens leader Senator Bob Brown on Wednesday, who said Australia should not be fighting in Afghanistan, following the death of an Australian SAS soldier on Tuesday.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/comments/0,22023,23996236-662,00.html
Special forces soldier Signaller Sean McCarthy died on patrol when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his vehicle. He was the sixth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002.
FALLEN Digger Sean McCarthy spoke of his fears about serving in Afghanistan in emails to his high school formal partner in Australia.
Signaller McCarthy, 25, became the sixth Australian to die in the war-torn country when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Tuesday.
Jane Alexander, who accompanied the then 17-year-old to his school formal on the Gold Coast, wept yesterday for her old friend, but was not surprised to hear of his death.
Read full story
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As an Afghan born Aussie, I would like to express my deepest condolence to Sean McCarthy¿s family for the premature loss of their love one. By defending our country and raising the torch of liberty in a nation that¿s known pitch darkness and abominable evil, Sean has done his fellow Australians immensely proud. Let it be known that he did not die in vain, for though Sean¿s valuable life was sadly cut short at the hands of evil men, the honor with which our trooper lived shall be remembered by all sons and daughters of Australia. We owe Sean at least this much, RIP. Posted by: Neonudeen Afghanzai of Sydney 7:58pm July 10, 2008
Comment 8 of 8
I spent a total of about 4 months working in Afghanistan for a private company. Conditions were bad enough for my colleagues and me. Danger was always around the corner. But the danger we faced cannot compare to what the ISAF personnel face. The Afghan people have very little overall, except for a few essentials such as food, shelter and very basic healthcare. They do not want for much as the materialistic western behavior has not fully been felt there yet. It is a hostile environment, but the people are fantastic; they are warm, friendly and curious. Security is all they have, and this will only happen whilst the foreign troops are there. I feel immense sadness and grief for Sean McCarthy and his family, and I would like to express my deepest sympathy to his family. Although of little comfort, all the personnel of all the armed forces do their worthwhile jobs under extremely difficult conditions and circumstances. There is no such thing as a good war, but unlike the Iraq war and the motive behind it, this war in Afghanistan is ensuring that most of the world will be a safer place. So these people who live in this safe, fantastically, free country should take comfort in the fact that these troops are keeping most of the world safe, and that there are people actually doing something worthwhile out there, instead of just being armchair critics and do-gooders On behalf of the Afghan people, I would like to say thank you Sean, and rest in peace. Posted by: Trevor Smith of Lara 2:10pm July 10, 2008
Comment 7 of 8
http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/07/10/Ross_Garnaut_slams_climate_change_sceptics
People who don't believe in climate change have been described as reckless by the government’s climate change response advisor Ross Garnaut.
Professor Garnaut released his draft report into global warming last week, urging the nation to agree to a carbon emissions trading scheme.
He's told a climate change conference, NSW can play a huge part in the process by making coal part of a low emission economy.
NSW Treasurer Michael Costa has already expressed his reservations about an emissions trading scheme.
But Professor Garnaut has warned climate change sceptics their actions are dangerous.
“I think it’s highly risky,” he told the conference.
“I think it’s reckless for people without a background in climate science to reject the opinions of the experts.”
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23985632-5013871,00.html
THE Rudd Government's climate change adviser has rounded on Michael Costa after the NSW Labor Treasurer warned that "Chicken Little" politics were pervading the global-warming debate.
However, three state governments joined Mr Costa yesterday in supporting compensation for electricity generators under an emissions trading scheme.
Ross Garnaut hit back at Mr Costa after his attack in The Australian yesterday, and there were calls from within the Labor caucus for Mr Costa to be disciplined by Premier Morris Iemma.
Professor Garnaut said Mr Costa's position as a climate change sceptic had been known for some time.
"The NSW Treasurer is a well-known denier of the science (of climate change)," he said.
"I'd be very happy to have further discussions with him in Sydney on Thursday."
Who wrote this? I know the the children of Jan V.
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