Religion of the Month: Raëlism

By Jos Bogan

Raëlism is a very unique Religion, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, said in 2007 to have about 2,300 followers. This religion is what is known as a 'UFO religion'; in short, it preaches the existence of Extraterrestrials. The Raëlian teaches that life was scientifically created by these aliens called Elohim, and that when making contact with the humans that they created (or their descendants) they were mistaken to be angels, of gods. A few of the supposed prophets of Elohim are Jesus and the Buddha. The founder of this odd new religion, Claude Vorilhon, is said to have received the Elohim’s last message, saying that they told him to pacify, and inform the world about the Elohim.

In order to become a Raëlist, one must undergo an initiation, which involves a baptism, which is performed by a guide member. It is believed that the new member's genetic code is recorded in a computer, and will be recognised in their last hour when we will be judged by these mysterious 'dark-skinned' aliens.

There are many different levels of seniority in Raëlism, going from the Level 0 trainee, to Level 6 Planetary Guide. It seems to be a very liberal Religion, and advocates pacifism and love of everyone, no matter who they are. Obviously, as to be expected, I have only scratched the surface of this interesting new religion, and although the founder does look like he might try to sexually assault you at any moment, he seems to be a nice enough man. This religion holds some very good moral values, even if its grounds are a bit questionable, so if you're even the slightest bit interested, and want to learn more, I encourage you to visit their website.

Review: The Spirit Level

By Alan Go

Confirmation bias, seeking out evidence that supports our pre-existing beliefs, is among the most pervasive of our cognitive flaws, and something worth being on constant guard for. Whilst I may find life comfortable in the liberal, secularist space of ideas I have carved out for myself, I still try to recognise the danger of reading piece after piece that I agree with.

For these reasons, I attempted to restrain my enthusiasm after finding a book subtitled Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. I have written before about my fondness for a system of Rawlsian egalitarianism, and if I had wanted a book that provided empirical support for such principles, I doubt it would have looked too different. It can’t be too often that philosophical theories end up being tested against the evidence, so I was wary of any thesis that managed to show that one of my favourite thinkers has turned out to be exactly right. It all seemed slightly too fortuitous for my liking, but I was optimistic and hopeful.

John Rawls

By Alan Go

John Rawls is often called the most important political philosopher of the 20th century, and even the most important philosopher in this field since John Stuart Mill. His name and ideas have been referenced frequently in many recent articles about the Occupy movement. If Ayn Rand has been adopted by the Tea Party as their intellectual backbone, then maybe Rawls can have a similar role to play for Occupy.

Rawls is a liberal philosopher. He believes that everybody should have access to basic rights such as freedom of speech and expression, and the right to vote and stand for political office. Presumably there is not much to disagree with here. What is exciting though, is how Rawls arrived at this principle, and the other ideas that flow from this process.

He believes in a particular form of social contract. In order to decide what conditions in society would be fair, he asks what principles citizens would be willing to agree to, were they all to start with equal bargaining power. The contract is therefore a hypothetical one, made from what he calls the original position.Rawls reasons that some people have more resources or knowledge than others. This gives people differing amounts of power in negotiations, and any agreement that emerges is likely to be unjust.

The Artist

It may be a silent, French and shot entirely in black and white but awards sensation The Artist is not a conceited film, rather one of the most entertaining films of the year. The story of silent movie star George Valentin’s (Jean Dujardin) fade into obscurity following the arrival of talking pictures is full of humour and charm and will make you leave the cinema with a smile on your face.

Though it occasionally threatens to become self-parodying it is a gloriously beautiful throwback to a golden age of cinema that even The Artist itself admits is somewhat of a fantasy. A fantasy illustrated by the large sign reading HOLLYWOODLAND above this enchanting parallel world.

The actors, John Goodman’s slightly hammy performance aside, are wonderful and the incorporation of modern technique adds to the film without detracting from the romance. Not to mention Uggie the Jack Russell who plays the role of Jack the dog with scene stealing comic ability.

If I had one bone to pick with The Artist it would be the slightly underwhelming treatment of the Great Depression, however even this just emphasizes that you should suspend your disbelief and enjoy the experience rather than search too hard for hidden meaning.

This year has seen a cinematic yearning for the past, with Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, and Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, both harking back to the same creative period as The Artist. Though all three are undoubtedly fine films, The Artist has a level of bravery, charm and raw entertainment that puts it a class above the rest.

As great a visual spectacle as any 3D James Cameron epic, The Artists deserves all the plaudits it will undoubtedly get.

Review: The Better Angels of Our Nature

By Alan Go

In the IGCSE English language paper, the question was posed as to what historical time period we would most like to live in, were we given the choice. For various reasons, I maintained strongly at the time that the present was mostly definitely the place to be.

I had only suspicions about an overly romanticised past to go on at the time, but now I can safely claim that I have all the empirical backing that I could need.

In Steven Pinker’s latest tome, ‘The Better Angels of our Nature’, he seeks to lay out all the evidence for the historical declines of physical violence in all its forms, encompassing everything from wars and genocides, to infanticide and spanking, before taking some time to examine the causes of these declines by delving into the worlds of neurology and psychology.

With 700 pages of text, and a further 100 of notes, the volume is an imposing one. It is hard not to be intimidated, when starting a new chapter, you look ahead and realise there are over 100 pages of information left to go through on the subject.

It is a testament to Pinker’s skill as a writer that such a hefty subject never descends into dull academic prose or incomprehensible jargon. Instead we are given sentences that flow easily, spoken with a voice that neither patronises nor simply lectures. Nothing is dumbed down either. Pinker has no hesitation in explaining concepts of proability, randomness, logarithmic scales and the like, in order to give readers all the necessary tools to understand the various graphs and patterns under examination. The comprehensibility provides no clue as to the grand scope the book is trying to capture as a whole. Were you to give any small portion to any interested layperson, they would most likely be able to read, understand and enjoy it without any great difficulty.

Review: The Goat Rodeo Sessions

By Alan Go

Yo-Yo Ma is perhaps the most famous cellist alive today, and one of the most highly awarded classical music artists, with 16 Grammies to his name. I’ve heard and enjoyed his playing for many years now, and although he is renowned for being to play many different styles of music, I never thought he would be appearing on an album like this one.

Not that it is easy to say what exactly this one is. Bluegrass probably comes closest, but there is a strong Celtic feel to some of the tracks, with others almost able to pass for classical chamber music.

This collaboration isn’t quite as unlikely as it sounds, Ma having worked with double bassist Edgar Meyer on two albums previously, and also with mandolin player Chris Thile on his Songs of Joy and Peace album. Celebrated fiddle player Stuart Duncan completes the quartet of string virtuosos, who recorded their music in James Taylor’s home studio.

What's going on in Hungary?

By Alan Go

h/t: Paul Krugman

After making ten amendments in their first year of power, the right-wing Fidesz government of Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has now introduced an entirely new constitution. The word ‘republic’ has been removed from the official name of the country, but that is the least worrying change taking place. Every move from the current governing party has been heading in a disturbingly authoritarian direction, and there are deep fears for the future of a functioning, democratic Hungary.

With severe economic problems that have remained from the Soviet area, exacerbated hugely by the housing bubble and economic crisis, Hungary’s currency has been enormously volatile in recent years. Harsh austerity measures have been in place since 2007. The resentment towards the socialist party that had been governing since 2002 built up, resulting in a landslide victory for Fidesz in Spring 2010. They received 53% of the vote, which turned into a crucial 68% supermajority in the Hungarian Parliament.

The other beneficiary of the public’s discontent has been the Jobbik party, a former outsider with anti-semitic roots which even had its own paramilitary wing.

The most worrying change has been for the judiciary system, whose independence has been severely tarnished. Fidesz has been stacking the Constitutional Court with favourable judges, the age of retirement has come down, forcing many judges to retire immediately, and a single person now has sole authority to replace judges, move them to different positions, and even to decide which judge can hear each case.

Worrying new media laws have taken effect requiring an ambiguous standard of political balance. Self-censorship is already taking place, and one opposition friendly radio station was denied permission to have its license renewed. The new restrictions even apply to online media.

But perhaps the most blatant example of dictatorial behaviour concerns regulations about religion. There are 358 recognised faith groups in Hungary. Only 14 of them will be officially sanctioned. What this means for the remaining faiths, which include Islam and evangelical branches of Christianity, is not entirely clear. A two-thirds majority in Parliament will be required to have new faiths recognised. Orban seems to have made clear that he intends his country to be a Christian one. Marriage must be between a man and a woman, and all life is now protected from the moment of conception.

Interference with the Central Bank has destroyed the chance of a finanial bailout from either the IMF of the EU. Hungarian debt has been downgraded to junk status, and yields on ten year bonds are at an unsustainable 9.7%. If economic conditions stay depressed, as it is looking increasingly likely to happen, Hungary will struggle to escape from its budget deficit and other problems.

Fidesz’s popularity has dived since it came into power, and is now at less than 20%. However, the nature of the legislation they have rushed through is such that successive governments will have a hard time reversing the procedure. New electoral district boundaries have been drawn in such a way that Fidesz would have won all three of the last elections (two of which they actually lost). The terms of many official positions, including the head of the judicial office, and the head of the budget council, have been lengthened, and the people in those positions can stay in them unless new persons are agreed with a two-thirds majority. Other areas of law, such as tax policy, are also protected by this two-thirds supermajority requirement.

Although it has received considerably more attention than Syria, issues in Hungary have still failed to attract much attention from the press. International figures, including US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, have expressed concern, but the fear is that countries will be too preoccupied dealing with their own economic crises to mount any form of effective protest.