Baba- It may depend on the bible your reading, Im not qualified enough in these matters to argue that. All I know is that upon searching homosexuality in the bible that is what came up, thus nullifying the assertion that there is no reference to homosexuality whatsoever. It is in a version of the bible at least, and Im assuming that it was in it for a reason; that is what they believed and likely in other versions, too. But that is getting away from the point really.
The idea that people are not bad due to their genetic code is not strictly true. For example, people with Anti-social Personality Disorder (ASPD) have, for lack of a better phrase, a bad brain. This genetically inherited condition is exasperated by an unstructured upbringing. People with ASPD are extremely difficult to rehabilitate. There is a considerable amount of evidence to suggest that genes play a massive role in our personalities and our behaviour. Even the idea of free will is contested. In an experiment, people were asked to press a button whenever they feel like like doing so. Neuroimaging showed that there was a considerable amount of time that their neurons were preparing to fire, i.e. their brain was preparing to press the button before they were consciously aware of the wish to do so.
Why was eastern medicine used for thousands of years? It is because they had no better methods of curing disease. I mean, we use chemotherapy today, which is an extremely messy way of reducing cancerous cells. It attacks all the cells in the body, but it is one of the more effective and relaible methods that we have. Undoubtedly, we will disregard the method as soon as we are able to do so. As you say, science is not perfect. It is continuously building on previous knowledge and being sceptical of everything, but this is better than believing something with no evidence whatsoever.
The idea that something came from a religion is also false. Religion came from people, so, by extension, the ideas also came from the people. Clearly, the people of the time were living in a world they were not happy with, and so ideas of this nature are bound to spring forward in the society.
Of course there is something bigger than us. We are part of a spring of life on earth. When we look out into the universe it spreads further than we can even know. 100 billion stars in our own galaxy and 100 billion galaxies that we know of. Even the molecular level confounds us. We have trouble perceiving the big and the small. But does it feel mystical? Not really. It just happens to be there for us to understand. It is amazing, confusing and much bigger than any individual person, but it all comes from the natural, universal laws in our universe. In theory, it is all understandable and scientific progress is driving us ever forward in our knowledge. It is important to realise that science is only about 250 years old, and look how far we have come as a result. Religion, superstition and spirituality are just a stepping stones in the evolution of science. The served a purpose, but that purpose has long since passed.
Using pseudo-scientific explanations to explain why you put stones on your skin is quite redundant. Why not use a piece of glass, an old tooth, a wooden spoon or an mp3 player, since they also have molecular vibrations? Just because a piece of quartz looks pretty doesnt mean it will heal your body. Animal bodies have evolved to do a good job of that all by their selves.
One part your last paragraph really hits on my initial point of the bandwagon (The majority of people dont see it). There is a considerable amount of people on the site citing spirituality associated with dreads. It is my contention that the allure of the band wagon is all to enticing when trying to fit into a social group.
Soaring Eagle- You are wrong. This is my second set of dreads. I had completely natural, freeform dreads for about 5 years. No separation, no dandruff treatment, no washing with anything but water. They took patience, suffering through itch (which you must ignore or the itch gets unbearable. If you begin to scratch you will scratch until you bleed, in my experience), adjusting to social stigma and everything else that goes along with it. But, I never had any spiritual experiences. Not one. Its just hair!
Look, I respect you as a person. You have set up this amazing site, helping thousands of people from making mistakes with their dreads (I am included in this group). This fact makes it harder to say this, but that story about the Native Americans is clearly complete rubbish. I dont know where you heard it, but it is not true. Hair is made from the same stuff as nails. Its the same as suggesting that long nails connect you to the dead. There is NO scientific basis to the story whatsoever. By all means, show me where you found it, but I will always be sceptical. Its just in my nature. Unless there is concrete evidence for something, I cannot bring myself to believe.
Hair may contain a chemical record, but you also have a neurochemical record of your life, i.e. your memories. Its not as if you can even remember the events by looking at your hair. And, what difference would locked hair have? Its just tangled strands of keratin
Im going to leave this here. I always enjoy a good conversation and debate (I certainly wouldnt consider it an argument). Sharing ideas is important, even if we dont take the ideas on board, and I enjoyed the discussion.
Take it easy guys.
