Fear Factor

Bailey, Coincidence and Fear Factor

By John Taylor; 17 September, 2005

The Master said that we should be ready to begin our education again
at the drop of a hat, and I try to abide by that. Sometimes it seems
very hard to be so open minded when you are tripped up so often in
basic worldviews. For instance, I just read Michael Creighton's
potboiler -- his are the kind of novels that are ideal for me; they
could be summed up as "Plato's Socrates meets James Bond." It trashes
a number of the most cherished presuppositions held by
environmentalists, and by just about anybody else who opens their
mouth about environmental issues.

According to Creighton, and he documents his points with ample
scientific studies, there is little reason to accept the received idea
that global warming is fast upon us. In fact, the scientific evidence
is pretty strong that the world's climate is getting cooler. Be that
as it may, Creighton's main point is one that I agree with heartily,
that we have a long way to go before we could call this a scientific
society.

Our science is badly corrupted, and to purify it we must take radical
measures so that scientific funding will be "double blind," in the
same way that scientific experiments are only considered valid when
they are controlled and blind. That is, scientists should not be aware
of who is paying for their studies. As soon as you know who is paying
the piper, it biases your vision and skews your results. We all want
to be responsible in managing our environment but we have a huge leap
to arrive anywhere near true integrity, both on the part of
specialists and by the general public.

What is happening instead of genuine inquiry is fear mongering on a
huge scale. While it is obvious that we need restraint and wisdom in
dealing with the natural world, too often environmental advocates rely
upon faulty evidence, "projections" of current trends that are,
objectively speaking, ridiculously unreliable. This does not help
their argument; it only weakens their own side and intensifies an
already badly politicized arena of discussion. Of course, Creighton
himself could be accused of fear mongering, since his previous novel
was full of dire warnings about the potential dangers of
nano-engineering. I guess, like Socrates, his service is to act as a
goad or gad-fly, a bug that challenges our imitation and vain
illusions; he pushes out of stale presuppositions and prompts us to
rethink things, to investigate reality with new eyes.

Another upset and change of thinking for me came with something
new-for-me that the Master said about the nature of coincidence and
chance occurrences. It is in an early Baha'i book that I had not until
now read from cover to cover, though parts are often cited in
secondary sources. This is "Daily Lessons" by Helen Goodall. I'll cite
the passage that threw me for a loop in full at the end of this essay,
so that you can judge for yourself. It is "pilgrim's notes" rather
than scriptural but seems to jibe with other things He said. It is
challenging to my day to day presuppositions, more perhaps than what
Creighton says in his novel.

I read this passage for the first time last night, not long after
taking the kids to the Youth Center for an evening's entertainment.
The Center had advertised a "fear factor" birthday party on their
window, and though our attendance has been irregular of late, both
Silvie (11) and Thomas (6) were interested in trying out this novel
kind of celebration. I had forgotten to bring my camera and stood
around without much to do as the large bunch of children and three or
four youths went through the trials.

First Bruce, the coordinator, broke them up into four teams and set
the four trials. The first went like this: each team threw two dice
twice, the first determined the number of gummy bears and the second
the number of gummy worms. The second throw decided which of the four
sauces would go with their repast: ketchup, vinegar or mustard. One
team representative had to eat what was on their team's plate, hands
behind the back. Silvie and Thomas stood well in back and were not
chosen.

The second trial was for a girl team member to reach into a can of dew
worms and pull one out and put it on the table tennis table, the
longest worm being the winner. Silvie still hung back, and Thomas was
nowhere to be seen. Part two of this was for another member to hold a
worm on their nose, the one whose worm stays there the longest being
the winner. To my surprise, Silvie took the worm on her nose for this,
and kept it there until it was clear that hers and one other boy's
worm was there for the long term, so it was declared a tie between
them. Her comment was, "Well, it was better than having to eat the
worm."

Fear factor challenge number three was to eat soggy, water soaked
white bread. I personally find this act so disgusting that I did not
even want to watch what was going on. So I sat down by the big pool
table to rest my tired legs. A player there challenged me to a game of
billiards, but I said I do not play. Then a chatty 17 year old girl in
a wheelchair by the name of Bailey started a conversation with me.

"How many days do you get the kids this weekend?" she asked.

"Um, I get them every day, I am not divorced."
Lucky me. Bailey then shared the fact that she had been trying to get
a hold of her boyfriend on her cell all evening, leaving 17 messages
for him.

"Somebody might think that I am obsessed."

I really did not want to know but I did anyway. It transpired that
this boyfriend was Steve, a guy in a scooter I have seen around the
Youth Center quite a bit. The difference between a wheelchair and a
scooter seems to be in size and power; both are run by electric
motors. Steve seems more paralyzed than Bailey. He is a born-againer
but Bailey is as yet undecided about what her faith will be. I told
her I am a Baha'i but I had to repeat the word several times over the
noise of a room full of fear factoring kids. As often happens to me,
she did not seem to grasp what I was talking about, whether I was
naming a religion or a kind of disease. Since that was the direction
she wanted to go, I mentioned that I am disabled by migraine.

"Migraine and what else?" she asked.

"It is enough," I replied.

I did not want to get into more detail about my condition, lest I
sound even crazier than I already did. Lately, for example, I have
been staving off migraine attacks by filling my belly with water. Not
that I am complaining, it works, and you cannot say that it is too
expensive a therapy. It is just that it sounds strange if you mention
it to a stranger. A big electric wheelchair is simpler and more
eloquent to the uninitiated.

By then the kids were performing a relay race where they had to push
another team member's shoe across the floor with their nose. That did
not seem so bad to me. I'd do that, no problem. I just cannot abide
soggy bread. Bailey was the opposite, soggy bread she'd do, but none
of the others. She kept repeating, "That is morally wrong." It seemed
to me that the trials were chosen specifically not to be morally wrong
or dangerous, just as tasteless and repulsive; but I did not want to
get into that kind of hairsplitting discussion. I tried to invite her
to our monthly Baha'i meetings at the library, but she did not
understand, or hear, or both. I then said goodbye, rounded up the kids
and went home.

When I read what the Master said about "there are no coincidences," I
wondered about my meeting with Bailey. Was that a coincidence? Was
there a meaning? Would there be consequences from that meeting or was
it just another fruitless meeting and yet another name I will forget
in a week's time? I realized that even if I had the chutzpah to do so,
I could not invite her for a fireside in our home because our house is
not wheelchair accessible. The only way would be to hold a fireside in
the garage; not out of the question, we could have a movie night in
with a video projected on the inside of the garage door.

from: Daily Lessons Received at Akka, January 1908, Helen S. Goodall
and Ella Goodall Cooper, Bahai Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois
60091, Rev. Ed., 1979

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ACCIDENTAL HAPPENINGS

Question: Are there accidental happenings, or do all events occur
according to Divine plan?

Answer: God's creation is perfect. Every part of the universe has its
connection with every other part, according to a Divine system.

We compare the body of the universe with the body of man. The members
of the body of man are closely connected; so, also, are the parts of
the great universe. The great events which happen are due to this
connection. There is day, there is night; sometimes there are
eclipses, etc.-all according to the requirements of this Divine
system. All the created beings are connected with each other, and all
occurrences and events are indicative of the requirements of this
connection and interrelation.

In the body of man, all the members and parts are interdependent; for
example, the heart feels the things seen by the eye; the ear hears,
and the soul is thereby moved; the nostrils inhale a sweet odor, and
the whole body is delighted. This is a proof that all the parts of the
body of man are interrelated. This is according to a Divine plan, and
it is also evident that there is a great wisdom therein.

Even unpleasant things, such as a chill in the feet which is felt in
the head, a disagreeable odor which affects the whole system, or
trifles (which are endless,

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and seem to be accidental) such as a small hair appearing in an
unusual place on a man's face, should also be considered as having a
place or part in this general system. Therefore, what we call an
accident is the effect of the connection of all the parts, and no
events transpire in vain.

Referring to the Tablet sent to Mr. Dealy previous to the flood and
hurricane at Fair Oaks, Alabama: "Be not grieved if the clouds of the
Violation of the Covenant are condensed in those regions."

Question: Are great calamities like this flood, the San Francisco
earthquake, etc., caused by the wickedness of the people?

Answer: It belongs to the lesson of yesterday.

Events like these happen because of the connection between the parts
of the universe, for every small part has connection with every great
part, and what affects one affects the other or all the others.

On account of this connection, the actions of man have effect.
Whenever a promise is broken, it causes a commotion. For instance,
suppose two nations have a disagreement. It is a difference in ideas
only, and not a physical thing, not anything we can touch or see; yet
this disagreement has a physical effect. It causes war, and thousands
of men are cut in pieces. So, when man breaks his promise to God, in
other words when he "violates the Covenant," the effect is physical,
and calamities appear.

A man may be condemned to death because he is a

p21

murderer, another because he is a thief, another may be punished for
many different kinds of crimes, but Jesus Christ was put to death
because He wished to become a sacrifice, so there are other causes of
calamity.

--
John Taylor

badijet@gmail.com