Ok, I thought this was going to be a parody piece from "The Onion". People are so gullible. How long ago was the grilled cheese sandwich with the face of Jesus for sale on Ebay?
***
WHAT IS SUPERSTITION?(1898)Robert G. Ingersoll
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/superstition.htmlexcerpt
WHAT IS SUPERSTITION?
To believe in spite of evidence or without evidence.
To account for one mystery by another.
To believe that the world is governed by chance or caprice.
To disregard the true relation between cause and effect.
To put thought, intention and design back of nature.
To believe that mind created and controls matter.
To believe in force apart from substance, or in substance
apart from force.
To believe in miracles, spells and charms, in dreams and
prophecies.
To believe in the supernatural.
The foundation of superstition is ignorance, the
superstructure is faith and the dome is a vain hope. Superstition
is the child of ignorance and the mother of misery.
In nearly every brain is found some cloud of superstition.
A woman drops a cloth with which she is washing dishes, and
she exclaims: "That means company."
Most people will admit that there is no possible connection
between dropping the cloth and the coming of visitors. The falling
cloth could not have put the visit desire in the minds of people
not present, and how could the cloth produce the desire to visit
the particular person who dropped it? There is no possible
connection between the dropping of the cloth and the anticipated
effects.
A man catches a glimpse of the new moon over his left
shoulder, and he says: "This is bad luck."
To see the moon over the right or left shoulder, or not to see
it, could not by any possibility affect the moon, neither could it
change the effect or influence of the moon on any earthly thing.
Certainly the left-shoulder glance could in no way affect the
nature of things. All the facts in nature would remain the same as
thought the glance had been over the right shoulder. We see no
connection between the left shoulder glance and any possible evil
effects upon the one who saw the moon in this way.
A girl counts the leaves of a flower, and she says: "One, he
comes; two, he tarries; three, he courts; four, he marries; five,
he goes away."
Of course the flower did not grow, and the number of its
leaves was not determined with reference to the courtship or
marriage of this girl, neither could there have been any
intelligence that guided her hand when she selected that particular
flower. So, counting the seeds in an apple cannot in any way
determine whether the future of an individual is to be happy or
miserable.
Thousands of persons believe in lucky and unlucky days,
numbers, signs and jewels.
Many people regard Friday as an unlucky day -- as a bad day to
commence a journey, to marry, to make any investment. The only
reason given is that Friday is an unlucky day.
Starting across the sea on Friday could have no possible
effect upon the winds, or waves, or tides, any more than starting
on any other day, and the only possible reason for thinking Friday
unlucky is the assertion that it is so.
So it is thought by many that it is dangerous for thirteen
people to dine together. Now, if thirteen is a dangerous number,
twenty-six ought to be twice as dangerous, and fifty-two four times
as terrible.
It is said that one of the thirteen will die in a year Now,
there is no possible relation between the number and the digestion
of each, between the number and the individual diseases. If
fourteen dine together there is greater probability, if we take
into account only the number, of a death within the year, than
there would be if only thirteen were at the table.
Overturning the salt is very unlucky, but spilling the vinegar
makes no difference.
Why salt should be revengeful and vinegar forgiving has never
been told.
If the first person who enters a theater is cross eyed, the
audience will be small and the "run" a failure.
How the peculiarity of the eyes of the first one who enters,
changes the intention of a community, or how the intentions of a
community cause the cross-eyed man to go early, has never been
satisfactorily explained.
Between this so-called cause and the so-
called effect there is, so far as we can see, no possible relation.
To wear an opal is bad luck, but rubies bring health. How
these stones affect the future, how they destroy causes and defeat
effects, no one pretends to know.
So, there are thousands of lucky and unlucky things, warnings,
omens and prophecies, but all sensible, sane and reasoning human
beings know that every one is an absurd and idiotic superstition.
Let us take another step:
For many centuries it was believed that eclipses of the sun
and moon were prophetic of pestilence or famine, and that comets
foretold the death of kings, or the destruction of nations, the
coming of war or plague. All strange appearances in the heavens --
the Northern Lights, circles about the moon, sun dogs, falling
stars -- filled our intelligent ancestors with terror. They fell
upon their knees -- did their best with sacrifice and prayer to
avoid the threatened disaster. Their faces were ashen with fear as
they closed their eyes and cried to the heavens for help. The
clergy, who were as familiar with God then as the orthodox
preachers are now, knew exactly the meaning of eclipses and sun
dogs and Northern Lights; knew that God's patience was nearly
exhausted; that he was then whetting the sword of his wrath, and
that the people could save themselves only by obeying the priests,
by counting their beads and doubling their subscriptions.
full article at above link.
More Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Onlinehttp://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/index.shtml
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