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December 7, 2009 | 3:18 pm

Ebert: New Agers as bad as those imbecile Creationists

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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So it’s come to this?

Roger Ebert—yes, that Ebert—argues that New Agers and Creationists shouldn’t be president. What does the film critic think the two have in common? Intellectual incompetence. WARNING: Ebert’s blog post is full of high-minded snobbery:

New Age beliefs are the Creationism of the Progressives. I move in circles where most people would find it absurd to believe that humans didn’t evolve from prehistoric ancestors, yet many of these same people quite happily believe in astrology, psychics, reincarnation, the Tarot deck, the i Ching, and sooth-saying. Palmistry and phrenology have pretty much blown over.

(skip)

It’s not my purpose today to argue the equal absurdity of Creationism and New Age beliefs (no, not even though the tenets of astrology were formed when astrologers knew piss-all about the planets). Those debates have been pretty much settled to the satisfaction of both sides, which agree with themselves.

I adamantly support the right of any candidate to profess any faith, or none. And in the separate case of their New Age or Creationism beliefs, I emphasize my words “should not” rather than “can not” be President. If a candidate professes the story of Creation as an ancient legend or symbol, as so many do of Adam and Eve, that is quite understandable and has long precedent.

It is in the specific cases of those with literal belief in the scientific truth and application of such beliefs that I raise a red flag. We live in the harrowing early years of a century when the nation must compete in a new way, and this battle will be fought on the grounds of science defined by the traditional Scientific Method. We can have no patience with a chief executive who professes the value of ancient superstitions in the forming of policy.

My only purpose today is to state early and often that if a Presidential candidate believes early humans used saddles to ride on the backs of dinosaurs, as they are depicted at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, that candidate should not be elected President.

Thanks for the link, Dennis.

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I would not use the term “Intellectual incompetence” I think “anti-intellectual” is more apt. While I wouldn’t go so far as to disqualify the New Agers or Creationists from the US presidency, I do find the anti-intellectual worldview of the New Age movement as reactionary as the anti-intellectualism of Sarah Palin.

As one of the few Tarot players in the United States, the fundamentalism of many New Agers regarding this deck of cards appalls me and what appalls me more is how most of the media seem to give it more credence than what it derserves. It should be more widely known that the Tarot is not actually rooted in superstition or the occult. These cards were actually intended as a variant of standard playing cards created when a clever Italian back in the 1400’s wanted an extra trump suit in a card game. The Tarot would not be employed for cartomantic purposes until the 18th century. It should also be noted that Tarot card games are still widely played in a number of European countries. I believe there is potential for the Tarot games to become recognized here in the States where they can benefit our culture as they’ve benefited European cultures, but the major stumbling blocks are the occult stereotypes propagated to the general public and the New Age fundamentalism which appears to be threatened by the idea of playing a card game with the Tarot.

Comment by Oudler on 12/07/09 at 4:03 pm

Wait, what’s the issue with Ebert’s opinions? This is supposed to be a blog.. you should do a little more than call him a snob and post pieces of his article.

Comment by A Greenhill on 12/07/09 at 5:54 pm

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