{"id":27226,"date":"2015-10-17T10:54:14","date_gmt":"2015-10-17T16:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=27226"},"modified":"2015-10-17T12:04:40","modified_gmt":"2015-10-17T18:04:40","slug":"there-may-be-a-scientific-cure-for-your-appalling-religious-and-political-beliefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/10\/there-may-be-a-scientific-cure-for-your-appalling-religious-and-political-beliefs.html","title":{"rendered":"There may be a scientific cure for your appalling religious and political beliefs!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27227\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27227\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/10\/Aa_raygun_05_labelled.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27227\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/10\/Aa_raygun_05_labelled.jpg\" alt=\"Nobama Ray Pistol TX-130\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27227\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Advisors to the 2012 Mitt Romney campaign proposed to equip their volunteers with thousands of these \u201cNobama TX-130\u201d ray gun pistols, which would have induced Democratic voters to stay home on Election Day eating pizza and playing video games. But Governor Romney flatly rejected the plan, and the rest, unfortunately, is history.<br>(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Do you worry about illegal immigration and porous borders? \u00a0Do you believe in God?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For centuries, people have had to suffer under such ghastly burdens. \u00a0But there\u2019s good news! \u00a0A medical cure may be on the horizon!<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stream.org\/scientists-claim-zapping-brains-with-magnets-can-treat-belief-in-god\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cScientists claim zapping brains with magnets can treat belief in God\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This article, written by the statistician William Briggs and kindly brought to my attention by Charles Steinman, points out a few of the problems in the study under consideration.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But I have some additional reservations.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How, for example, are we to distinguish the shutting down of \u201ccertain groups of neurones\u201d from (hopefully temporary) brain damage?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And does anybody else out there feel at least a tiny bit uncomfortable with an attempt to change human opinions by means of magnets (or any other sort of technology)?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What if we can find a scientific cure for voting Democratic? \u00a0What if atheism can be medically treated? \u00a0Can we use aversion therapy to decrease the sales of books by Richard Dawkins? \u00a0Would my blog attract more readers if I could aim a giant ray gun at Los Angeles? \u00a0If so, should I do it?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is a bizarre item. \u00a0And I\u2019ll be really surprised, along with Dr. Briggs, if it holds up.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 Do you worry about illegal immigration and porous borders? \u00a0Do you believe in God? \u00a0 For centuries, people have had to suffer under such ghastly burdens. \u00a0But there\u2019s good news! \u00a0A medical cure may be on the horizon! \u00a0 \u201cScientists claim zapping brains with magnets can treat belief in God\u201d \u00a0 This article, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>There may be a scientific cure for your appalling religious and political beliefs!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&nbsp; &nbsp; Do you worry about illegal immigration and porous borders? \u00a0Do you believe in God? &nbsp; For centuries, people have had to suffer under\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/10\/there-may-be-a-scientific-cure-for-your-appalling-religious-and-political-beliefs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There may be a scientific cure for your appalling religious and political beliefs!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; &nbsp; Do you worry about illegal immigration and porous borders? \u00a0Do you believe in God? &nbsp; For centuries, people have had to suffer under\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/10\/there-may-be-a-scientific-cure-for-your-appalling-religious-and-political-beliefs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-17T16:54:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-17T18:04:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2015\/10\/Aa_raygun_05_labelled.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/10\/there-may-be-a-scientific-cure-for-your-appalling-religious-and-political-beliefs.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/10\/there-may-be-a-scientific-cure-for-your-appalling-religious-and-political-beliefs.html\",\"name\":\"There may be a scientific cure for your appalling religious and political beliefs!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-17T16:54:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-17T18:04:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"&nbsp; &nbsp; Do you worry about illegal immigration and porous borders? 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