Think Critically

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Think Critically
so you dont become a . . .
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Both the popular media and politically motivated
research organizations have created an image of
widespread sexual abuse of teenage girls by
sexually deviant adult men.
However, a critical analysis of that research
presents a very different picture . . .
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In his New York Times article, It's Awful! It's
Terrible! It's . . . Never Mind, Stephen A.
Holmes shows that this image is, upon closer
examination, VERY inaccurate.

• Regarding teenage pregnancies, Holmes states that
  several research organizations reported that as
  high as 65 percent of teen-age mothers had babies
  by adult men.
• However, researchers did not differentiate
  between married and single teen-agers.
• Also, studies ignored the fact that 62 percent of
  the teen-age mothers were 18 or 19 years old and,
  therefore, like the fathers of their babies,
  adults.
• In fact, only 8 percent those age 15 to 17 who
  gave birth, were unmarried girls made pregnant by
  men at least five years older.

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Similarly, the impression given in the media and
promoted by several organizations is that
children are regularly being kidnapped by
strangers, . . .

• The Department of Health and Human Services
  estimated in 1983 that 1.5 million children were
  reported missing each year.
• Later, more rigorous studies would find that
  3,200 to 4,600 children a year are abducted by
  strangers.
• This amounts to 1 of all the children reported
  missing.
• And most missing children have been taken by the
  non-custodial parent in a divorce dispute.
• Over 350,000 children are taken by their parents.
• In other words, 99 of all kidnappings are
  committed by parents.

.
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Note the last name of the child and the adult.
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The Myth of Rampant Teenage Promiscuity
Talk show host Tyra Banks declared a teen sex
crisis last fall after her show surveyed girls
about sexual behavior. A few years ago, Oprah
Winfrey warned parents of a teenage oral-sex
epidemic.
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The Facts . . .
A 2002 Department of Health and Human Services
survey found that

• 30 of 15- to 17-year-old girls had experienced
  sex, down from 38 in 1995.
• During the same period, the percentage of
  sexually experienced boys in that age group
  dropped from 43 to 31.

Rates also went down among younger teenagers

• In 1995, about 20 said they had had sex before
  age 15, but by 2002 those numbers had dropped to
  13 of girls and 15 of boys.

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The Ecological Indian . . . . . . a Romantic Myth
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Chief Seattles Speech
What does the history of Chief Seattles Speech
tell us about the willingness of even highly
educated people to uncritically accept
nonsensical ideas and facts that confirm their
personal beliefs?
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Chief Seattle Quotes . . .

• I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the
  prairie left by the white man who shot them from
  a passing train,
• What is there to life if a man cannot hear the
  lovely cry of a whippoorwill?
• Yonder sky that had wept tears of compassion
  upon our fathers for centuries untold ...
• This we know the earth does not belong to man,
  man belongs to the earth. All things are
  connected like the blood that unites us all. Man
  did not weave the web of life, he is merely a
  strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he
  does to himself.

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Chief Seattles Speech has been quoted by a
variety of groups, including

• The United Society for the Propagation of the
  Gospel
• The Womans Day World of Prayer
• Passages (Northwest Airlines in-flight
  magazine),
• Environmental Action
• Greenpeace
• The Sierra Club
• Canadas Green Plan
• NASAs Mission to Planet Earth
• Joseph Campbell in his book, The Power of Myth,
  with Bill Moyers and in his videoseries,
  Transformation of Myth through Time.

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The Myth vs. the Reality
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Susan Jeffers chose a Plains Indian people
(Lakota) to illustrate her book, Brother Eagle,
Sister Sky, which contains the text of a speech
attributed to Chief Seattle.
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The cover of Jeffers book portrayed Chief
Seattle wearing a Plains Indian headdress, even
though Chief Seattle was not Lakota but rather a
Suguamish Indian from the Northwest Coast.
The implication is that all Indians are the same.
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In her book, Jeffers perpetuates popular notions
about Plains Indian ecology
To all of the Native American people, every
creature and part of the earth was sacred it was
their belief that to waste or destroy nature and
its wonders is to destroy life itself.
--Susan Jeffers (1991)
Significantly, two copies of this book are in the
Muhlenberg Library.
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Many Native Americans have promoted the romantic
Indian myth as well
"My people, the Blackfeet Indians, have always
had a sense of reverence for nature that made
them want to move through the world carefully,
leaving as little mark behind them as possible."
  --Jamake Highwater (1983)
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Some Scholars have even romanticized Native
American Ecology
"Hunting was not a war upon animals, not a
slaughter for food or profit, but a holy
occupation. --Frank G. Speck (1939)
"Indians lived here for twenty, thirty, forty
thousand years. Everywhere they went, they
learned to live with nature. And they did this
without destroying, without polluting, without
using up the living resources of the natural
world. --Donald Hughes (1983)
20
Evidence to the Contrary
However, ample evidence exists which demonstrates
that American Indians, including the Plains
Indians, exploited their environments to suit
their needs and at times treated those
environments badly.
21
Plains Indian Use of Fire
1. Indians used fire to create clearings for
their villages and fields. 2. They used
fire to drive or enclose game. 3. They used
fire to reduce forests in order to expand
grazing lands for bison. 4. They set fire to
forests in order to improve traveling and
visibility, and to destroy unwanted pests. 
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Principal reasons why Indians set fire to the
plains 1. Improve vegetation 2.
Clear an area 3. Facilitate hunting
4. Ceremonial activities 5.
Interpersonal relations 6. Interethnic
and intra-ethnic relations --60 a.
Communication b. Warfare c. Increase
exchange rates in fur trade
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Early Observations of Fire on the Plains
"The prairies burning form some of the most
beautiful scenes that are witnessed in this
country, and also the most sublime. --Georg
e Catlin (1830's) Fires are made by war parties,
particularly when returning unsuccessful, or
after a defeat, to prevent their enemies from
tracing their steps.  --(Bradbury
1809) "Cree set the prairie on fire to drive
Assiniboine from Cree hunting grounds and force
them back into their own former
territory. --Rudolph Kurtz (1851)
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The Buffalo Drive
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Reports of waste by Indians
"The Osage leave one hundred to one hundred and
fifty pounds of excellent meat on every carcass."
--Victor Tixier (1839-40) A large
band of Sioux killed 1,400 buffalo and traded the
tongues for whiskey, leaving the meat and hides
to rot. --George Catlin (1832)
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Reported Buffalo Kills by Indians
1821 700 Cheyenne lodges were reported to be
consuming 100 bison per day or 36,500 per
year. 1830 25-30,000 buffalo robes exported
per year from the Missouri River region by the
American Fur Company 1846 100,000
buffalo robes traded annually at Bents Fort
in Colorado. 1847 75,000 buffalo robes
sold at Upper Missouri Agency. 1855 3,150
Cheyenne were killing 40,000 bison per year (44
per man) at Bents second Arkansas River Fort.
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Decline in Bison Population
Bison Year Population 1800
40,000,000 1850 20,000,000 1865
15,000,000 -- ----- 1870
14,000,000 1880 395,000 1889
1,091
Whites did not begin hunting bison in large
numbers until the 1870s.
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Rationalizations
"While the herds were falling in the thousands
before White men's guns, it is not surprising
that some Indians abandoned older practices of
conservation and killed as many buffalo as they
wanted, disregarding their elders' pleas and
admonitions, since they could see that if they
did not do so, the White men would shoot them
anyway. --Donald Hughes,
1983 ___________________________________
Does this statement agree with the table on the
previous slide?
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Such Rationalizations 1. Give different
explanations for the same behavior (Occams
Razor) 2. Treat Native Americans
Paternalistically 3. Assign blame to
adaptive and evolutionary processes
4. Violate the Uniformitarian Principle
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X
Native Americans cannot be an exception to the
Uniformitarian Principle.
31
"There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
--Benjamin Disraeli
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American Association of University Women (1991)
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How valid was the operational definition of
Self-Esteem used in this study? How did
restricting the definition of self-esteem serve
the interests of the AAUW?
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Why did the AAUW leave out the data below the
line and only include the data on top? How might
this have served their interests?
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A National Public Radio (NPR) story on hate
crimes in the U.S. . . .
. . . Stated that 65 of the perpetrators of
hate crimes were White.
How does this compare to the percentage of the
U.S. population that is White?
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FBI Hate Crime Statistics 1995 1996 1997 1998
1999 2000 2001 Total 8433 10,706 9,861 9,235
9,301 9,430 9,239 White 4,991
4,892 4,523 4,045 4,092 4,111 6,054 (75)
(59.2) (45.7) (45.9) (43.0) (44.0) (43.5)
(65.5) Black 2,253 1,258 1,157 958
947 1,021 1,885 (12.3) (26.7) (11.8) (11.7)
(10.3) (10.2) (10.8) (20.4) Unknown
615 2,211 3,858 3,877 3.973 3,339 758
? (7.3) (20.7) (39.1) (42.0) (42.7) (35.4
) (8.2) ____________________________________
__________________
The more important question is why does the
incidence of hate crime vary over time, and how
does the high proportion of unknown
perpetrators undermine any ability to determine
the relationship between ethnicity and hate
crimes?
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The Public Broadcasting System has used Gary Null
as a source of fundraising, giving his books and
tapes away in return for donations to PBS. Null
is a nutritional entrepreneur who promotes his
books and tapes on the claim that he has a Ph.D.
in science and to have conducted extensive
scientific research on the subject of nutrition.
The reality is that Nulls Ph.D. is a bought
degree from the Union Institute and University,
which requires only 35 days on campus to earn a
degree and has the doctoral candidates thesis
evaluated by a committee chosen by the candidate.
How does this compare to individuals who have
earned Ph.D degrees from established universities?
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Pastor Lundmark argues that Evolution is Sheer
Nonsense. What is wrong with his
argument? What Baloney Arguments
does he use?
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Amazon Forest Still Burning Despite the Good
Intentions By LARRY ROHTERNew York Times August
23, 2002
In spite of efforts to limit deforestation and
encourage "sustainable development," the assault
on the Amazon basin continues in Brazil.
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According to the article . . .

• The Brazilian jungle is . . . disappearing at a
  rate of more than 6,000 square miles a year, an
  area the size of Connecticut.
• The Amazon . . . accounts for nearly 60 percent
  of Brazil's territory.
• 80 percent of deforestation in the Amazon occurs
  in a 31-mile corridor on either side of highways
  and roads.
• More than 385,000 square miles, or 12 percent of
  Brazil's territory, an area larger than England
  and France combined, has been formally
  transferred to Indian control.
• "The cost of doing business as a logger has
  increased and the profit margins have gone down,
• Deforestation in Mato Grosso, which has had the
  fastest growing economy of any Brazilian state,
  has declined by more than half, to about 4,600
  square miles over the two-year period that ended
  on Jan 1.

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However, an examination of the facts presented in
the article suggests a very different conclusion
If Indians control 385,000 square miles of land .
. . And if Indian land accounts for 12 of Brazil
. . . . Then, all of Brazil equals about
3,208,333 square miles. In addition . . . If the
rain forest equals 60 of Brazil . . . Then the
rain forest equals about 1,925,000 square miles.
Consequently, 1. The 6,000 square miles of
forest being cut each year represents .31
(0.0031) of Brazils rain forest. 2. At the
present rate of cutting, it will take 320 years
before Brazils rain forest is removed.
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Logging Jobs Benefit Pygmies, but Imperil Their
Forest Home

• As with the previous article, the facts included
  in the second article do not suggest that the
  forest of the Congo Basin is in imminent danger
  of over-exploitation either.
•  
• According to this article,
•  
• 1.  The Congo Basin comprises 840,000 square
  miles.
•  
• 2.  Logging  within the Congo Basin consumes
  3,125 square miles of forest every year.
•  
• Thus,
• The 3,125 square miles of forest being cut each
  year represents .37 (0.0037) of the Congo Basin
  forest.
• 2. At the present rate of logging, it will
  take 268 years before the Congo's rain forest is
  completely removed (again, assuming that no
  additional trees are either planted or grow
  naturally).

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We hear much about the loss of natural resources
in the U.S. However, . . . . . . between 1952
and 1987, forest land in the U.S. increased from
664 to 731 million acres. and . . .
annual timber growth in the U.S. exceeds harvest
by 37 and has exceeded harvest every year since
1952.
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Landfills vs. Recycling?
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According to popular wisdom, it is better for the
environment to use paper cups than polystyrene
cups. As a result, considerable pressure was
placed on fast food restaurants, such as
McDonalds, to switch from plastic to paper
products. However, the facts suggest that using
paper products actually create more pollution.
Because 6 times as much wood pulp as polystyrene
is required to produce a cup, the paper cup
consumes about 12 times as much steam, 36 times
as much electricity, and twice as much cooling
water as a polystyrene foam cup. About 580 times
the volume of waste paper is produced for the
pulp required for the paper cup as compared to
the polystyrene requirement for the polyfoam cup.
The contaminants present in the wastewater from
pulping and bleaching operations are removed to a
varying degree depending on site-specific
details, but the residuals present in all
categories except metal salts still amount to 10
to 100 times those present in the wastewater
system from polystyrene processing.
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Similarly, it is generally assumed that recycling
is always preferable to using landfills. For
some products, this may be the case. However,
for others it may not be . . .
Recycling . . . exacts and environmental
price. The reuse of paper, for example, involves
processes that generate a considerable amount of
hazardous waste. In order to recycle newspapers,
magazines, and, indeed, any printed paper, the
paper must first be de-inked. At the end of the
de-inking process one is left with essentially
two products on the one hand, de-inked fiber
that will be turned into new paper and on the
other, a large quantity of toxic sludge. --W.
Rathje, RUBBISH The Archaeology of Garbage, p.
209) It also requires an additional 5,000
gallons of water to produce one ton of paper from
recycled paper than from wood pulp.
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Consequently, U.S. Office of Technology
Assessment has determined . . .
It is not clear whether secondary manufacturing
processes produce less pollution per ton of
material processed than primary
manufacturing. --U.S. Office of Technology
Assessment (1988)
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Landfills

• According to several calculations, if the U.S.
  continues to create waste at the same rate that
  it currently does, a landfill 35 miles long by 35
  miles wide and 100 yards deep (approximately .03
  of U.S. land surface) could accommodate U.S.
  trash for 1,000 years.
• Landfills in the U.S., according to one source,
  cover approximately the same amount of land
  surface as cemeteries.

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Yuppie Environmentalism Use an "environmentally
responsible" credit card to ease your conscience
while you buy your TV's, VCRs, designer clothes
made in Chinese prisons and the gas to feed you
new Sports Utility Vehicle!
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The Bible
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Water from the Rock Exodus
17 2-7
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Water from the Rock
Numbers 20 2-14
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The Exodus
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Palestine at the time of Jesus
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Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs at the Time of
Jesus
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Jesus Aphorisms and Parables
Stories about Jesus
Primitive Christian Gospel
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The early Christian Church was centered in
Jerusalem and was originally under the leadership
of James, the brother of Jesus (see Acts 2118,
156-22). Paul frequently refers to James as the
Lords Brother (Corinthians 19 Galatians
119) Matthew 1355 "Isn't this the carpenter's
son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his
brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? (see
also Mark 63 1640)
. . . extra-biblical sources contain more
reliable information about James than about
Jesus. --Robert Eisenmann, James The
Brother of Jesus
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The Development of the four Canonical Gospels
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There are 16 other gospels, known collectively as
the Gnostic Gospels. Gnostic
Christianity existed throughout Europe and the
Middle East until the 4th century when the Roman
Catholic Church became the official religion of
the Roman Empire and declared the Gnostics
heretics. Gnostic Christians rejected the virgin
birth, the resurrection and the divinity of
Jesus. They also appointed women as priests and
bishops
How do scholars explain the existence and
disappearance of these other gospels?
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A popular belief in France, which dates to the
Middle Ages, claims that Mary Magdalene left
Palestine and lived as a naked hermit in southern
France for 33 years following the death of
Jesus. The Gospel of Mary
Magdalene was re-discovered in 1947 in which Mary
is portrayed as The One Who Knew the All.
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Gospel of Mary Magdalene
Then Mary wept and said to Peter, "My brother
Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I
thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am
lying about the Saviour? Levi answered and said
to Peter, "Peter, you have always been hot -
tempered. Now I see you contending against the
woman like the adversaries. But if the Saviour
made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject
her? Surely the Saviour knows her very well. That
is why He loved her more than us. --Nag
Hammadi library
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Gospel of Phillip
And the companion of the Saviour is Mary
Magdalene. But Christ loved her more than all the
disciples and used to kiss her often on the
mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by
it and expressed disapproval. They said to him
Why do you love her more than all of us? The
Saviour answered and said to them,Why do I not
love you like her? --Nag Hammadi Library
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Mary Magdalene In southern France
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Sts. Maries de la Mer . . .
. . . where Mary the mother and Mary the
aunt of Jesus are believed to have lived after
the death of Jesus.
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Martha of Bethany
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This should be a caution adopted by all students!
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This is not a bad philosophy to adopt either.
After all, how many things that people were so
sure were correct in the past are not longer
taken seriously?
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Few people learn how to think scientifically.
If we are going to attempt to explain human
social behavior in a rigorous and systematic way,
then we must adopt the same scientific methods in
the social sciences that are used in the physical
and biological sciences.
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We must begin by adopting the Uniformitarian
Principle . . .
And we need to maintain a highly developed . . .
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Bullshit Detector!