Gulliver's Travels: A Satirical Exploration of Scientism and Gullibility

Gulliver's Travels: A Satirical Exploration of Scientism and Gullibility

Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," published in 1726, is a timeless satirical masterpiece that delves into the follies and vices of human nature. Through the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, Swift critiques various aspects of society, including the blind faith in scientism and the gullibility of individuals.

Scientism in Gulliver's Travels

Scientism, the belief that science and its methods are the only reliable ways to secure knowledge, is a recurring theme in "Gulliver's Travels." Swift uses the fictional societies Gulliver encounters to highlight the absurdity of placing unwavering trust in scientific endeavors without considering their practical implications.

In the third part of the book, Gulliver visits the floating island of Laputa, inhabited by people who are obsessed with mathematics and scientific experiments. The Laputans are so engrossed in their abstract pursuits that they neglect practical matters, leading to a dysfunctional society. Swift's portrayal of the Laputans serves as a critique of the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and scientific progress, warning against the dangers of valuing knowledge for its own sake without considering its impact on human well-being.

Gullibility and Human Nature

Gullibility, the tendency to be easily deceived or tricked, is another central theme in "Gulliver's Travels." Throughout his journeys, Gulliver encounters various societies that embody different aspects of human gullibility.

In Lilliput, Gulliver is initially revered as a giant and a savior, but the Lilliputians' fickle nature soon becomes apparent. They quickly turn against Gulliver based on trivial misunderstandings and political machinations. This episode highlights the ease with which people can be swayed by superficial appearances and manipulative leaders.

Similarly, in the land of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver encounters a race of rational horses who live in a utopian society. However, the Houyhnhnms' disdain for emotions and their rigid adherence to reason ultimately reveal their own form of gullibility. They fail to recognize the complexity of human nature and the value of emotions, leading to a society that, while seemingly perfect, lacks compassion and empathy.

Swift's Satirical Genius

Swift's use of satire in "Gulliver's Travels" allows him to critique the excesses of scientism and the gullibility of individuals in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. By exaggerating the flaws of the societies Gulliver encounters, Swift encourages readers to reflect on their own beliefs and behaviors.

Conclusion

"Gulliver's Travels" remains a relevant and insightful exploration of human nature, scientism, and gullibility. Swift's satirical genius continues to resonate with readers, reminding us of the importance of balancing reason with compassion and critical thinking with humility. Through Gulliver's adventures, Swift challenges us to question our assumptions and strive for a more nuanced understanding of the world around us.

Harry Potter Books Banned by Priest

Just in time for the new school year, Harry Potter is in the news again, but not for literature related reasons.  A Catholic priest in Nashville, Tennessee has removed and banned books from a school library at St. Edward Catholic Church.  This is not the first time accusations against Harry Potter books have been presented by religious groups. Fr. Gabriel Amorth, one of the chief exorcists of Rome said in 2011 that Harry Potter can lead to evil.

Fr. Daniel ReeHill, pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church claims that the Harry Potter book series misrepresents the idea of magic.  Magic is presented as being both "Good and evil."  He claims that the spells or curses used in the book series are actual spells and curses used by Wiccans or those who are into the occult.

Harry Potter was written by J.K. Rowling and have sold over 500 million copies worldwide.  The book follows a young wizard named Harry Potter who attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Reehill sent an email to staff at St. Edward Catholic school, he wrote:

"The Harry Potter series of books have been removed from the St. Edward school library for several reasons. These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.
I have consulted several exorcists, both in the United States and in Rome, and they have recommended removing the books from circulation, the books also use nefarious means to attain the goals of the characters, including the 'good' characters. A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together. The Harry Potter books do not follow this premise; rather they promote a Machiavellian approach to achieving the ends they desire with whatever means are necessary.
The books also glorify acts of divination; of conjuring the dead, of casting spells among other acts that are an offense to the virtue of religion – to the love and respect we owe to God alone. Many reading these books could be persuaded to believe these acts are perfectly fine, even good or spiritually healthy. St. Edward is committed to advancing the Catholic faith and teaching the standards of sound doctrine to instill strong Catholic moral values. Books and other materials which present a possible threat to our faith will not be promoted by our church or school."

Father Reehill also cited the Catholic Church's catechism which states:

The Catechism, the teaching of the Church, states that, "All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to 'unveil' the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone." (CCC 2116)

What do you think about this story?  Post below on disqus. Be sure to follow the guidelines for posting a comment.  Here is my opinion.  As a bibliophile, I cringe at the thought of book banning or book burnings.  Books are sacred things. They help us learn and force our brains to think critically and internally.  I am a fast learner but have noticed that I learn better when I read things instead of listening to someone teaching me something. Reading has helped open my mind to many things, including God and religion.

I understand what Fr. Reehill is coming from, but I feel his concerns are reactionary and exaggerated. Harry Potter is simply a fictional work, nothing else.  In order to get possessed or have some demonic presence attach itself to someone, that someone must invite it in freely.  Reading a book does not do this.  While not mathematically accurate, I would say that 99% of the time, kids reading Harry Potter are not even aware of evil, spells etc in the same way adults are, especially religious ones.  By simply reading something with content that relates to spells and curses, one does not invite evil in.  If this were the case, then we all would invite evil every time we read the mentioning of Satan in Scripture.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church itself specifically states what we are to avoid.  Reading books is not mention.  What is mentioned is the consultation of horoscopes, astrology, palm reading etc.

Harry Potter, while silly and full of magical content is just innocent reading which engages the imagination. With the onset of the internet and cell phones, reading has gone down.  Harry Potter has helped alter this trend. Many kids are not hooked on reading. This is a good thing.  Think about it. Satan wants the downfall of human beings. How does helping kids read and learn help in his endeavor?  I assume keeping humans ignorant is the way to go if satan wants to make humanity fall more.

As for the spells in the books being real, I cannot truly say for sure that this is accurate. I am not sure where this claim comes from. If a priest says that the spells in Harry Potter are real, one must ask: How does he know?  This means he is reading actual spell books or is associating with witches.  I have yet to see evidence that shows the spells in Harry Potter are actual spells.  If they are, why has there not been a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the creators or writers of these spells?

I think Harry Potter is harmless reading.  Parents should decide what they want their kids to read. As long as a child is actively religious, there is no need to fear spells and the like.  The latter does not work anyhow.  No power exists alongside that of God's.  A spell has no power. It is just empty words.  Only God has power.  Satan itself cannot act unless it is with permission from God!

The Church has to be careful with engaging in book censorship or burning again.  History shows that the Church has attempted to censor works of literature out of paranoia. This is not a good attitude to take in the 21st century. We do not want to repeat history. Censorship shows paranoia and insecurity.

I think atheist reading material is more dangerous than Harry Potter books. Atheist reading content makes you stupid. I have never seen a kid get possessed after reading Potter. But I have seen friends become cognitively lethargic after reading Dawkins, Krauss etc.




Source:

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/priest-pulls-harry-potter-books-from-school-for-curses-and-spells

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-potter-books-banned-nashville-catholic-school-bans-series-read-by-a-human-being-risk-conjuring-evil-spirits/

https://www.foxnews.com/us/harry-potter-banned-catholic-school-evil-spirits

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2019/09/03/catholic-school-bans-harry-potterbut-according-to-free-speech-advocates-its-nothing-new/

https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/catholic-school-removes-harry-potter-books-says-curses-spells-are-real

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/harry-potter/8915691/Harry-Potter-and-yoga-are-evil-says-Catholic-Church-exorcist.html

Buy My Books & Help Harvey Victims

We have all seen the devastation Hurricane Harvey left behind in Texas and Louisiana. People lost everything, some, their own lives. The images on the news is horrific. However, we can all help by donating and volunteering if we are near the affected areas. One way to help is by purchasing my books: Atheism Is Stupid, Atheism Is Silly and Introduction to the Catholic Church.  A portion of sales after the sale of 1,000 books will be donated to charities working to help Harvey victims get back on their feet, so to speak.


Please help raise money with your purchase so that we can help our brothers and sisters in need.  

My books can be found on Amazon, CreateSpace, Barnes & Noble and other book stores online and offline.

See these links with more information:

Atheism Is Stupid
http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/12/my-book-atheism-is-stupid-on-sale.html

Atheism Is Silly
http://www.sacerdotus.com/2016/04/my-childrens-book-atheism-is-silly-on.html

Introduction to the Catholic Church
http://www.sacerdotus.com/2017/02/new-book-introduction-to-catholic.html

Remember, the more books are sold, the more will be donated to Harvey victims.  Let us raise a lot to help our friends in the Harvey affected areas!   God will reward you!  

Book Review: Help For Suffering Humanity: Mary Help of Christians

I have just finished reading my review copy of Help for Suffering Humanity: Mary, Help of Christians authored by Dr. Brian Kiczek. The book is just 83 pages long and not over whelming. Once you start reading, you cannot stop.  I finished it in about a half an hour. In the book, Dr. Kiczek advocates for increased devotion to our Lady as the "Help of Christians." He begins introducing the importance of Mary in the early Church citing the prayer Sub tuum praesidium and private revelation which he clearly states are not to be taken as historical. 

Nevertheless, these private revelations build up the premise of the book showing how Mary is indeed the help of Christians.  Kiczek also relies on Sacred Scripture to further show how Mary has been the help of Christians since the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, he shifts to sharing the stories and legends surrounding Saint John Bosco's devotion to Mary, Help of Christians. We see how Mary has helped those who asked for help after Saint John Bosco recommended her intercession to them. The stories are inspiring and will help devotees of Our Lady appreciate more the power of her intercession before her Son, Jesus. Dr. Kiczek cites from several sources supporting the information he presents in the book.  As a book worm and nerd, I truly appreciate this.   

In the remaining chapters, he presents that humility is important in order for prayer to really take hold. He uses extracts from several authors, including saints to make the case for humility. Next, he offers prayers that can be said for an increase of humility, Mary's intercession, followed by personal testimonies of how Mary has interceded on behalf of his wife and others during their time of need. Dr. Kiczek closes with a reminder of how important frequent Confession and Communion is in the life of Catholics. He shares the famous dream of Don Bosco where the pope steers the flagship between the two pillars at sea, one with Our Lady and the other with the Holy Eucharist. As he steers the great ship, other smaller ships approach attacking with false ideas represented as books or pamphlets. These represent the world and its heresies.

I recommend this book to all Catholics, especially those who are truly devoted to the Blessed Mother. This book will not be palatable to Protestants or Atheists, but will increase appreciation for Our Lady among Catholics. The book had a few typos which is nothing serious. It has many references which readers can look up to confirm the claims Dr. Kiczek makes and do more research. The book is meant to be what I call a "devotion supplement," or a book that aids with devotions a Catholic may already have. While reading the book, one will cherish Our Lady more and her role in Christianity. She is not just the mother of Christ or a woman in the Gospel who is mentioned briefly and then disappears. Mary is much more than this. She is a great intercessor second only to Christ her son who is the sole mediator. 

Help for Suffering Humanity: Mary, Help of Christians is a book that should be on every Catholic's bookshelf. In this time of ideological disaster, we need to be reminded more and more of Mary as our help who points to Christ.  As former atheists, Dr. Kizcek and I can relate to how important Mary is in the conversion process.  Mary is indeed our help and Dr. Kiczek hits a home run showing this in his book.          

My Book 'Atheism Is Stupid' On Sale

My book, 'Atheism Is Stupid' is on sale now on Amazon and other locations. It will be available in your local bookstores in about 6-8 weeks, please request it with your local merchant to expedite the process.  As many of you know, I was an atheist most of my life and am now a Catholic.  In this book, I critique Atheism and many of the most common arguments and ideas that atheists hold and propagate on and offline.  This book is meant to show how 'stupid' the concept of atheism really is using my fields of study, the sciences, philosophy, theology as well as other fields of academia which I referenced.  

This book is not meant to disparage atheists, only criticize atheism and refute it.  The book itself is part of a popular blog series.  Many more volumes will follow as there is much to cover on the topic of atheism which would have been too much for just one book. Therefore, expect more books to come in the near future. Hopefully, I will be able to get this current book translated into other languages.  This book will be an asset for theists of any faith in regards to helping them defend God against atheism.  It will also force those atheists who are objective to question their own atheistic beliefs.  This book is a must have for apologists, philosophers, scientists and the avid reader.  

To purchase go to any of the links below:


  
Barnes and Noble: Atheism Is Stupid

Atheism Is Stupid - Createspace

Amazon: Atheism Is Stupid

Kindle Version: Atheism Is Stupid

BookCulture

Walmart

Goosebumps the Movie

I have just watched "Goosebumps" the movie with my nephew which is based off the children book series of the same title written by prolific writer R.L. Stine.  The movie incorporates the characters used in the book series in an entertaining drama. Goosebumps begins with the main character who is a teenager named Zach.  Zach and his mom have just moved to Madison, Delaware after his father passed away. He is dealing with the loss in a difficult manner and has build walls around himself, psychologically speaking. While bringing in boxes from the car, he sees a young beautiful girl Hannah who is outgoing but visibly sheltered by her father who sees Zach and tells him to stay away from her and his property. The father is played by actor Jack Black who is known for "School of Rock," "King Kong (2005)," "Guliver's travel," and appearing on the hit kids show "Yo Gabba Gabba."

Anyhow, Zach begins the school year as the "new student" and is worried about the stigma. Moreover, his mother is the vice-principal which adds to his embarrassing situation as a new student.  Nevertheless, he meets a clumsy and aloof teen named Champ who becomes the comedy relief of the movie.  Zach starts to develop a crush on Hannah and speaks to her through a fence.  Both spend time together and a bond develops.  However, he hears Hannah screaming from her room and sees the silhouette of her father walking about in her room. Zach believes Hannah is being abused and calls the police.  The police come but Hannah's father manages to convince them that the screaming that was heard was of a woman in a film he was watching on his television. Unconvinced, Zach calls Champ to help him investigate what is really going on and breaks into Hannah's home.  He places a fake call to Hannah's father pretending to be the police which forces the father to go to the precinct.

While he is gone, Zach and champ break into the home via the basement.  In the home, there are bear traps in the basement while the sitting room has a library with manuscripts of writings from R.L. Stine.  These books are locked.  Champ is curious as to why they are locked and as he and Zach are about to open one, Hannah comes in and stops them. However, the book opened and the words began to melt and took the form of an Abominable snowman or Yeti.  The teens are all terrified and try to remain silent but Champ drops a lamp causing the creature to run towards him.  The creature escapes out into the streets of Madison, Delaware.  Hannah goes after the creature and Zach goes after her believing she is in danger. However, another manuscript gets unlocked when the creature had barged through the wall of Hannah's home knocking over the shelf with the books.  This book contains the dummy "Slappy" who is a conniving and villainous ventriloquist dummy. He gets upset when someone describes him as a "dummy." Hannah's dad discovers what has happened and is furious. He finds Hannah and the two teen boys at a ice hokey ring.  The father re-traps the Abominable snowman and then gives the kids a ride back.  While on the way, Zach discovers that Hannah's dad is R.L. Stine.

However, when they get back to Stine's home, they discovered that the books are missing.  They then hear Slappy's voice announcing that he will release all of the characters from the book as revenge for Stine keeping them entrapped.  Slappy escapes and begins unleashing the characters around Madison, Delaware.  These characters cause havoc.  The movie continues with R.L. Stine, Hannah, Zach and Champ trying to stop Slappy; however, Slappy burned the books which would prevent the creatures from being recaptured in them.  While in the endeavor of trying to stop Slappy, the group ends up in a cemetery where the moon light hits Hannah causing her to become transparent like a phantom.  Zach then realizes that Hannah is not real.  She is a creation of R.L.Stine just like the other creatures from the books. Both Stine and Zach figure out that a new story has to be written with a narrative of their current dilemman and the recapturing of the creatures. Stine begins the story at Zach's school using his typewriter, but the creatures along with Stine break in.  Slappy closes the typewriter cause over Stine's fingers breaking his bones and preventing him from typing. However, Zach completes the story by ensuring that the ended describes the recapturing of the creatures. As he ends the story, the creatures begin to be sucked back into the book started by Stine and ended by Zach. However, Hannah is also sucked in because she too was a creation of Stine's imagination. Zach is sad about this but she tells him that he has to let go.

The movie ends with Stine being hired as a the new English teacher as the school is repaired.  The real R.L. Stine has a cameo in the movie and is introduced as "Mr. Black" by the character R.L. Stine in the movie. So we see actor Jack Black playing R.L Stine calling the real R.L. Stine "Mr. Black" using his last name as if they switched identities.  As he and Zach walk in the hallways, Jack Black playing Stine surprises Zach with Hannah.  He wrote a new book with her essentially bringing her back to the real world.  Zach is ecstatic and hugs her.  Stine then burns the book so that Hannah can exist as a human without worrying about being sucked back into a book.  The last seen shows Stine continuing to walk down the hallway after Zach leaves with his new girl friend Hannah. While walking past a display with Stine's typewrite, he hears typing.  Stine looks to investigate and see the typewriter typing by itself.  The one typing is the "invisible boy" who apparently was never sucked back into the book and remained free to cause havoc.  The movie then closes with Stine making a scared expression.

"Goosebumps" is a great film for the family and people of any age. It does justice to Stine's classic book series and does not bore the audience.  The movie shows the power of love, the importance of friendship, letting go when someone passes and the power of the imagination in writing.  I enjoyed it and so did my nephew.  It brought back some nostalgia of my own youth reading R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series.  Hopefully the movie will inspire young people to read more and realize how alive books can come as well as inspire them to use their imagination and write their own stories.  Love conquers all things as we read in Corinthians; this movie demonstrates this well with the story of two young and innocent teenagers in love who literally went through hell to care for one another and remain together. I recommend the film and suggest it be used to have family discussions about love, friendship, reading, using one's imagination and the art of writing.