Actual info on that stuttering research: [link]

Anyway, in order to test this, they did a study on a bunch of kids in an orphanage. They did a speech evaluation of each kid, and then randomly picked a few with no speech problems and told them, "You're developing a stutter. If you're not careful, it will get really bad, and you'll sound like (some other kid in the orphanage with a really bad stutter.)" And then they watched to see what would happen. And, sure enough, these kids with perfect speech who'd been told they were developing a stutter started being quieter and hanging back from group activities and getting really nervous any time they had to talk. I think the researchers waited several years before telling the kids what was going on.

I heard about that, or read about it somewhere in some science gone wrong article or book.

there were a lot of shitty studies before there was regulation. Tuskegee is always held up as the worst, but a lot of other shit went down.

I often tell some of my liberal friends who bash religion (which I hope no one thinks I was trying to do) who want to talk about all the atrocities committed in the name of religion that there were some pretty shitty things done in the name of science as well.

Rabbi Kushner is a genius...I'm sad that such a horrifying thing happened to his family, but I am grateful to him for using it to write something so helpful.

I'm currently reading Barbara Ehrenreich Bright-Sided, and she talks about something that I really bothered me during my cancer treatment: the idea that if you just believe hard enough or have a good enough attitude or work hard enough, you can beat cancer.

Also the basis of many modern non-Christian beliefs. 'The Secret' is a book I find highly irritating for that reason. The idea that you can create exactly the kind of life you want for yourself, is hugely condemning, on the flip-side, of anyone whose life is less straightforward than this. There's a strong thread of belief, both religious and secular, in society at the moment that says: YOU should be working harder to be more healthy, happy and successful. (As I explored in the dissertation I just handed in, on the subject of medical ideology and the social ideologies it supports. For example, the theme in many UK newspapers at the moment, that disabled people are 'scroungers' because many need to live on benefits. As though that's something that anyone who's ill or disabled could prevent, personally, through their own willpower and determination.)

One of DH's employees wants to show The Secret to his sales force. I tried to get him to nix the idea.

"The Secret" makes me flip out like a mammal.

'The Secret' is a book I find highly irritating for that reason. The idea that you can create exactly the kind of life you want for yourself, is hugely condemning, on the flip-side, of anyone whose life is less straightforward than this. There's a strong thread of belief, both religious and secular, in society at the moment that says: YOU should be working harder to be more healthy, happy and successful.

In Skinny Bitch (which is a horrible horrible book in many ways), there's a chapter on general health stuff. They take this a step further and claim that the specific body parts that have problems are influenced by the way the person lives her life. Like, a woman who stays with a verbally abusive boyfriend gets breast cancer, because she's not taking care of her feminine needs. I can't remember the other examples, but there was at least one other of a woman not taking care of the feminine parts of her life well enough and then getting ovarian cancer.

This is a fascinating discussion. The petitional prayer ... I remember someone telling a story about a woman going to her minister and saying that she'd been praying for a Cadillac, but hadn't gotten one and asking if God didn't answer all prayers. And the minister replied that he did ... and that in this case the answer was no.

I do hate the things that say if you pray hard enough and believe strongly enough things will go well for you. It seems to put such a burden on people.

And Ginger, I'm sorry that the phrase "after a long battle" hits you that way. Is it any help to remember that sometimes we lose battles?

Gah. I want to jump in a wayback machine and hug your mom and hold her hand and slap everyone who ever drilled that poison into her.

Me, too. The thing is, her faith also sustained her through some very difficult times in her childhood, and I believe she achieved what she'd prayed for at that time (I say achieved because she worked for what she wanted as well as prayed for it). So I can see the root of some of her attitude. But it took an unfortunate turn in there somewhere.

Lots of times, prayer for me works the same way. Saying the prayers for the agricultural stuff over and over gets me so that, when I look at food, I automatically think about the field and the rain and the workers, rather than about the grocery store or the microwave. Saying the prayers about creation helps a bit toward getting my reaction to flowers to be, "Ooh, new life!" rather than "Ugh, pollen." And I think that I should think about the rain and the workers, and I should appreciate the flowers, and prayer is one thing that helps me do that.

Yes! This! While my prayers/magic ceremonies have had many goals, the results have involved changing me and my awareness of the world as much as changing the world around me. And I can see where atheists and agnostics might believe that I'm changing my own self, but I'm fine with that idea, too.