The Battle Over Bigfoot

Buzzfeed has an article up today covering the split in the Bigfoot hunting community between legitimate investigators and scammers like Rick Dyer. Dyer has pulled off two Bigfoot hoaxes that attracted media attention, including here on Augoeides. Melba Ketchum, who I likewise have covered, is another example of either an incompetent or an outright fraud.

But not everyone researching Bigfoot sightings is a confidence artist out to make a quick buck. A few serious scientists are involved as well, and while they are often criticized by their peers, they insist that they are simply looking to get to the bottom of whatever is prompting all the sightings. I know that it's far less believable to me that all of the evidence and reports are completely made up than that there's some sort of living creature behind at least a few of them.

As Dyer has become a wily villain in the Sasquatch scene, he has drawn outsize media attention, swarms of paying customers and fans, and loathing from the many people who consider Bigfoot a living creature. After a hoax earlier this year, a petition was posted on Change.org demanding that he be charged criminally (he has not been). Loren Coleman, the cryptozoologist and author of Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America, describes Dyer as a “disgusting phenomenon” who just won’t go away.

For this second variety of Bigfooter, the search for Sasquatch is a serious endeavor. They are modern-day explorers, amateur investigators, and even academically credentialed researchers who have sought to not only bring science to Bigfoot, but Bigfoot to science. While no bones, body, or DNA have been discovered, they argue that there is considerable circumstantial evidence that Bigfoot is real.

For these dedicated few, Rick Dyer is more than an entertainer — he’s a danger to a field of study that already has credibility issues. That they all toil under the same big tent is one of the great oddities of a subculture that is as crowded and fractious as ever, one that can seem like an amalgam of a cult and an earnest explorers club, with competing camps of believers and skeptics, hoaxers and hunters, self-appointed experts and serious-minded scientists, all seeking to advance, in their own peculiar way, the mystery of Sasquatch.

The article is much longer than this brief summary, and if you're interested in the subject you should read the whole thing.

As I've written before, my personal opinion is that the living creature behind Sasquatch sightings is probably the black bear. A lot of people don't realize that black bears, despite the name, come in a variety of colors. Also, much of the classic "bear shape" is produced by the animal's coat. When suffering from conditions like mange which cause them to lose most of their fur, they become unrecognizable as bears at a distance. And they do sometimes spend significant amounts of time walking around on their hind legs in a manner that looks surprisingly human-like.

For example, take a look at the trail camera footage above that was submitted to the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. I'm convinced it's genuine, but I don't think it's an ape. I think it's a bear. You can't see the face to tell for sure, but look at the proportion of the legs to the torso and how it's down on all fours. Note that It's not as "bear-shaped" as you might expect because it's lost a lot of fur. Now imagine seeing it standing up, through the woods, at a distance, maybe from behind. Sasquatch for sure!

But of course I could always be wrong. The range that Bigfoot sightings cover is vast, and it's possible that a small population of large, unknown animals could inhabit it. If that's indeed the case, people like Dyer and Ketchum are doing all sorts of damage to the push for answers by making Bigfoot enthusiasts look like a bunch of clowns.

Secular Humanism Ruled a Religion

Atheists often refute the notion that unbelief constitutes a religion, any more than, say, a lack of interest in golf constitutes a sport. While this is true, many atheists also subscribe to Secular Humanism, a system of philosophy that among its tenets rejects supernatural forces. Last week a judge ruled on a case brought by a federal prisoner that, for legal purposes, this philosophy should be treated as a religion and entitled to the same rights and protections as faith groups and churches.

On Thursday, October 30, Senior District Judge Ancer Haggerty issued a ruling on American Humanist Association v. United States, a case that was brought by the American Humanist Association (AHA) and Jason Holden, a federal prisoner. Holden pushed for the lawsuit because he wanted Humanism — which the AHA defines as “an ethical and life-affirming philosophy free of belief in any gods and other supernatural forces” — recognized as a religion so that his prison would allow for the creation of a Humanist study group.

Haggerty sided with the plaintiffs in his decision, citing existing legal precedent and arguing that denying Humanists the same rights as groups such as Christianity would be highly suspect under the Establishment Clause in the U.S. Constitution, which declares that Congress “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

“The court finds that Secular Humanism is a religion for Establishment Clause purposes,” the ruling read. The decision highlights the unusual position of the Humanist community, which has tried for years to obtain the same legal rights as more traditional religious groups while simultaneously rebuking the existence of a god or gods. But while some Humanists may chafe at being called a “religion,” others feel that the larger pursuit of equal rights trumps legal classifications.

As I see it this ruling is a proper reading of the Establishment Clause, since my take is that it was created to ensure freedom of conscience. Secular Humanists have a clearly defined set of shared beliefs, even if one of them is the rejection of supernaturalism, and those beliefs should be respected just like those of everyone else. It should be noted, though, that this still does not imply that atheism as a whole is "religious" in any coherent or meaningful sense. Not all atheists are Secular Humanists, and anyway the law does not judge the content of the beliefs that it protects.

As I've written many times before, I would rather not see religion in general driven from the public square. I just think that representation should be given to minority religions and those unbelievers who seek it out. Hopefully this ruling will facilitate the latter.

One More Reason We Need Skeptics

I never thought the day would come that I would posting something here from James Randi's website. I honestly can't stand the guy. He's smug, dismissive, and not nearly as "skeptical" as he claims to be. I remember him railing against the pointlessness of meditation back in the late 1990's, even though by that time neuroscientists had published a number of solid studies demonstrating its cognitive benefits. He's not pro-science, he's "pro-science-that-he-happens-to-like."

But unfortunately we still need people like him, and here's why. Remember this story about efforts to exorcise a supposedly haunted house in Indiana? I say "supposedly" because soon after I posted my article about the exorcism it was revealed that the ghostly image in the above photograph was faked using a popular iPhone photo manipulation app. Check the link there - it's not even a clever fake.

One of the things I don't like about Randi's approach is that he always starts with the presumption of fraud whenever paranormal events are reported, but at the same time once you know that fakery is involved it throws everything into question. According to reports, the Ammons family moved into the home and immediately began experiencing paranormal activity. There were no previous reports of anything paranormal at the house, which is unusual for a legitimate haunting.

Hauntings tend to stay put for a couple of reasons. Much of the time the activity is being produced by something in the environment rather than ghosts. Poorly-shielded wires can produce excessive electromagnetic fields that can make people feel uneasy, or in cases of extreme sensitivity even hallucinate. Mold can trigger various cognitive effects. Unusual noises made by the house can be mistaken for ghostly activity.

But what all those things have in common is the house itself. It also is true that in most cases that appear to be genuinely paranormal, the activity tends to be associated with the property. There's a reason, after all, that the "haunted house" is such a common trope. One the other hand, paranormal activity can be faked just about anywhere, and that's what appears to be going on in this case.

A Werewolf Skull in Macedonia?

This is another of those creepy stories that seem to surface around Halloween, when local weird news items can command worldwide attention as long as they are spooky enough. Halloween is now over, but here at Augoeides I'm happy to report on them regardless of the time of year.

Recently in Macedonia a farmer named Trayche was plowing his field when he hit something. The object turned out to be a box that was chained shut. Like any good horror movie victim, the farmer unchained and opened the box, and inside found a skull that looked part wolf and part human. He told student Filip Ganov that he believed the skull came from a werewolf.

Trayche wouldn't part with his werewolf skull but he did let Ganov take pictures, which were presented to a wildlife expert in Bulgaria who speculated that it was indeed from a wolf but not necessarily a werewolf.

Instead, he surmised the wolf was suffering from Paget's disease, a genetic disorder (also common in humans) that can cause misshapen bones and enlarged skulls. Paget’s disease can be caused by canine distemper virus, a common virus in wolves and dogs.

The skull definitely looks both canine and human and a little baboonish, which would probably cause some consternation among Bulgarians and Macedonians raised on Eastern European folklore. The chain around the box is a good indication whoever buried it believed it was a creature they didn't want roaming around again.

In fact, wolves suffering from Paget's disease might have something to do with how the werewolf myth got started in the first place, just like how many experts think that bears with mange make up a large percentage of Sasquatch sightings. Ganov was unable to obtain a sample of the skull for DNA testing, which could set the issue to rest once and for all. Not only could scientists determine if the skull came from a wolf, but as Paget's disease is genetic they could even confirm or disprove the wildlife expert's hypothesis.

Of course, the weirdest outcome would be to find a mixture of human and wolf DNA. Since humans and wolves can't interbreed, that would mean the perhaps before its death the creature could indeed transform from a man into a rampaging beast. That would certainly explain why its skull was chained up and buried.

Vampire Grave Found in Bulgaria

Here's a story from earlier this month that seems tailor-made for Halloween. In Eastern Europe, belief in vampirism was common in the middle ages. Individuals who died under the right set of circumstances were thought to rise from the grave and prey upon the living. Archaeologists recently discovered one such "vampire grave" in Bulgaria. A metal stake was driven through the chest, and one of the legs was removed and placed next to the body.

Archeologists in Bulgaria haved uncovered a 13th century staked "vampire" at Perperikon, an ancient Thracian site in the south of the country, Archaeology reports. The remains once belonged to a man who was likely in his 40s. An iron rod had been hammered through his chest "to keep the corpse from rising from the dead and disturbing the living," Archaeology continues, and his left leg had also been removed and placed beside the corpse.

Clearly, this man's neighbors did not trust his remains to stay put. As Nikolai Ovcharov, the archeologist in charge of the dig, told the Telegraph: "We have no doubts that once again we’re seeing an anti-vampire ritual being carried out." At the time of the man's death, vampires were perceived as a real threat in many Eastern European communities. People who died unusually—from suicide, for example—were sometimes staked to prevent them from coming back from the dead, the Telegraph writes.

Many experts think that vampirism outbreaks in the middle ages were linked to a disease with which the modern world is familiar - "consumption" or tuberculosis. As the bacteria damage the lungs, victims slowly lose the ability to breathe and seemingly fade away, as if the life energy were being sucked out of them. At the same time, coughing brings up blood which congeals around the lips as if it were being drained in some fashion.

There's no evidence that corpses ever rose from the dead during the middle ages, though maybe that's because people took special precautions like this to prevent them from doing so. From their supposed powers, I'm inclined to think that if vampires really exist they are more like ghosts, "rising" in spectral form as the dark of the year grows closer and the veil between this world and the next reaches its thinnest point.

Like tonight.

Happy Halloween, everybody! Have a great spooky weekend!

Pat Robertson Can Raise the Dead!

Or so he claims, at any rate. On The 700 Club he recently explained that he and others possessed the power to resurrect the dead, but complained that this vital skill was being withheld from the world. It seems to me there's a pretty simple solution to that particular problem - he needs to stop talking about it and start using it!

Or is that too obvious?

Today on “The 700 Club,” Pat Robertson insisted that he and others have the power to raise the dead, but lamented that people these days are withholding this special skill.

Robertson, who has previously discussed dead-raising abilities, told a viewer, Margaret, that people can raise the dead when they receive and submit to the power of the Holy Spirit.

“That power is there, we just aren’t using it,” Robertson grieved.

If Pat Robertson really could raise the dead he certainly would have done so by now under controlled conditions. It would cement his standing as the greatest Christian leader in modern times, and shut up idiots like Ken Ham who attack Robertson's form of creationism for denying the (deeply silly) Ussher chronology. I swear, the man makes enough ridiculous statements that he deserves his own tag here on Augoeides.

But then again, maybe Pat really has been busy, and that's where all the ebola zombies are coming from. You never know.

Alien Contactees Can't Find Jesus

Remember the Raelians? For those who need a refresher, Raelism is a contactee religion founded in 1974 that claims extraterrestrials called the Elohim created life on earth. The Raelians were in the news back in 2002 when a company associated with the movement claimed to have achieved human cloning, which was never verified by scientists outside the group and regarded as dubious by most mainstream biologists.

The latest Raelist project is a lot less ambitious. Using DNA analysis, a group of Raelians have proved that consecrated communion wafers do not contain any of Jesus' DNA. They claim that this proves "Holy Communion is a fraud," even though all it does is put them in agreement with all Protestant and Anglican denominations - which, by the way, still practice Holy Communion.

The Raelian researchers collected consecrated hosts from five different Catholic churches in the United States and Canada, and then tested the samples for human DNA. “But DNA analysis performed on five different hosts collected after the Catholic ritual of consecration showed no DNA change whatsoever in them,” Boisselier explained. “The wheat DNA remained wheat DNA, with no human DNA present other than that resulting from contamination caused by human handling of the hosts. This study clearly falsifies the claim that a religious ritual performed by a priest can actually change the substance of a bread wafer into the substance of a human body.”

The only reason this is an issue at all is because of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, which is not shared by non-Catholics. And, in fact, as I recall tests were done in the 1970's that showed communion wafers did not physically transform. There was no DNA testing back then, but researchers did find that no experimental test could distinguish consecrated wafers from unconsecrated ones. So the Raelians already had a pretty good idea of what they would find, making this more a publicity stunt than a real test.

Had the Raelians actually found human DNA in the wafers, I expect that they would instead be announcing a new initiative to clone Jesus. That's just how they think. They can argue all they want about religious dogma misleading people, but then they start gushing about messages from space aliens. Is that any more believable than transubstantiation? I'll grant that intelligent aliens probably exist somewhere in the universe, but ufologists have never been able to come up with verifiable evidence that they've contacted us - and it's not for lack of trying.

Church of the Latter-Day Dude

I like to cover strange religions here on Augoeides, and recently this one was brought to my attention - The Church of the Latter-Day Dude. That's right, it's a religion based on the Coen brothers film The Big Lebowski. It's certainly weird, but no more so than the Tiger Woods church or the Twilight church, both of which I've covered in the past.

It's also a lot more tongue-in-cheek. I'm still hoping that the Twilight church was a joke, because they sounded serious about believing that the fictional characters in the Twilight universe were real people. The Big Lebowski is also a work of fiction, but there's nothing like that going on here. As far as their beliefs go, anyone familiar with the film will be able to guess the central tenet of Dudism, which is to "abide." You know, just like The Dude.

Show the world that you’ve got what it takes to take it easy. As an ordained Dudeist Priest, you can minister over religious ceremonies in most U.S. States (laws vary, so check with your local County Clerk first), and assorted other countries. Preside over a wedding, funeral, or any kind of celebration with pride and authority.Or just kick back and enjoy the knowledge that you’re an ordained minister at one of the most easygoing religions in the world. There are currently over 220,000 Dudeist Priests world-wide. Help spread the Dude word!

The emphasis on ordination here reveals one of the reasons that "churches" like this exist. In the United States, only an ordained minister or government official can officiate at events like weddings. The Universal Life Church was the first group to offer ordination over the Internet for this purpose, and others have now gotten in on the game.

As an aside, I got myself ordained through ULC to officiate at a friend's wedding this summer. When people question me about it being a fly-by-night organization I make sure to point out that they've reformed - they don't ordain cats any more! On the application form, it now specifies that you must be human, whereas it didn't back in the late 1990's.

It's time that we separated civil and religious marriage. Make civil marriages civil only, and then churches can perform whatever rite they or the families want in accordance with their policies. Not only would this resolve the issues surrounding same-sex marriage, but it would be more in accordance with the constitutional separation of church and state.

With marriages set up that way, if you wanted a friend to officiate your ceremony they could do so as long as the legal paperwork for the marriage itself got filed properly. He or she wouldn't need to find someplace online to obtain ordination - though the Church of the Latter-Day Dude is amusing enough that some might do so anyway.