Coping with disbelief

I’ve recently seen a humorous commercial from Fiber One cereal about a new disease called I.D.S., which is an initialism for Irrational Disbelief Disorder (not an accepted disorder by medical and psychological professionals). I.D.S. is a supposed condition where, despite all of the observations and the facts, one does not believe in the accepted conclusions of many observers. In other words, people are “incapable of believing in things that are universally understood to be true”, as is stated in the commercial. In science, one must observe, record and interpret data based on an experiment as it occurs in the environment of the experiment; this includes the observer’s participation in the experiment. This commercial is a brilliant piece of marketing because it pokes fun at all the initialisms and acronyms that the medical and psychological communities invent to box people into disorders. “If you can box them, you can control them” is the statement I once heard at an A.M.A. medical convention by a doctor that was speaking in St. Louis in 1980. Less than 50% of all doctors belong to the American Medical Association in this country; what about what the other 50% have to say when the A.M.A. issues a statement?

I saw (for about the tenth time) the town hall meeting in Delaware in which Representative Mike Castle was presiding. Each time I watched the “birther” lady in the audience make an utter fool out of herself waving an American flag and her “U.S. birth certificate” in a plastic bag; BTW, it had to have been a county birth certificate. Despite the facts that are in evidence, she still believes that President Obama was not born in this country! Instead of cloaking her claim in something as ludicrous as disputing a legal document, why doesn’t she just speak the truth and reveal that she is a racist and religious bigot? Someone should have told her that if she left immediately, she could have still caught the Klan meeting in Elkton, MD. Mike Castle handled the situation calmly and professionally and stated the fact that Obama WAS born in this country. One of my readers has insisted that I not point the finger at conservatives but in this case I have one question. Why do you have so many extremists, sore losers and nut cases in the Republican (Conservative) camp? Why would you allow such people as this lady, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly to determine your platform? Can’t you see that they are hurting your cause more than helping it? In regard to this lady, David Schuster of MSNBC stated last night that her behavior was a “lack of intellectual integrity.” I couldn’t have said it better. My conclusion is that the problem here was an emotional reaction by her; no intellect was apparent whatsoever. I guess she suffers from I.D.S.

As for finger pointing, what about the conservatives who pointed the finger at Bill Clinton? As the saying goes, the problem with pointing the finger is that three fingers are pointing back at you. Senator John Ensign’s hand was caught in the cookie jar after he attacked Clinton’s infidelity. My fiancé made a great observation; Ensign appeared to not be sorry for what he did wrong but for the fact that he got caught! Can you believe this or are you suffering from I.D.S.? It doesn’t matter what political camp you come from, the fact remains that human beings when thrust into positions of power sometimes react badly. It doesn’t mean that they are bad people; it means that when they are confronted with situations that they haven’t encountered before, they sometimes make the wrong choices; or should I say choices that aren’t beneficial to themselves, their careers, family or lifestyles.

Beliefs are a result of practiced thoughts. Whether they are true or not doesn’t matter. If you practice a thought pattern day after day and year after year, eventually it will become true for you. It is a relative truth. If you make the time to discover your connection with God you will be exposing yourself to His absolute truth. Like Pete Townsend said, “And I'll get on my knees and pray, We don't get fooled again.”

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.