Month: September 2018

As early as eight years ago, the FDA began warning consumers of serious harm from drinking Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS).

Courtesy FDA’s 2010 public health warning:

‘Miracle’ Treatment Turns into Potent Bleach

Consumers are being warned not to drink a product sold on the Internet as a medical treatment after some users got sick after drinking it—including one person who had a life threatening reaction.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the product—known as Miracle Mineral Solution, Miracle Mineral Supplement, and MMS—becomes a potent chemical that’s used as a bleach when mixed according to package directions. The agency first warned consumers about the product in July, but federal regulators say it’s still available for sale on the Internet.

FDA says the product is sold by many independent distributors on several websites and through online auctions.

Consumers should be alert when buying such an item on the Internet because the product’s labeling, colors, and logos may vary.

According to FDA experts, drinking the amount recommended on product labels can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration. Some labels claim vomiting and diarrhea are not uncommon after the product is ingested—and even maintain such reactions are evidence MMS is working.

FDA experts say MMS is dangerous, and they’re advising consumers to stop using the product immediately.

Distributor websites describe MMS as a liquid that’s 28 percent sodium chlorite in distilled water. Product directions tell consumers to mix the sodium chlorite solution with citric acid—such as, lemon or lime juice—or another acid before drinking. When the acid is added, the mixture becomes chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleaching agent, says FDA expert Charles Lee, M.D.

Lee says both chemicals are the active ingredients in disinfectants, and they have many other industrial uses.

Some distributors claim MMS mixed with citric acid is an antimicrobial, antiviral, and antibacterial liquid that is a remedy for colds, acne, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, H1N1 flu, and other conditions. But FDA experts say they aren’t aware of any research that shows the product can effectively treat any illnesses.

FDA has received several reports of consumers who got sick from drinking the MMS and citrus juice mixture. The reports say consumers suffered from nausea, severe vomiting, and life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration.

The MMS product is the invention of Jim Humble. The following claims are from his website (https://jimhumble.co/):

A word from Jim Humble

I want to tell you about a breakthrough that can save your life, or the life of a loved one. In 1996, while on a gold mining expedition in South America, I discovered that chlorine dioxide quickly eradicates malaria. Since that time, it has proven to restore partial or full health to hundreds of thousands of people suffering from a wide range of disease, including cancer, diabetes, hepatitis A, B, C, Lyme disease, MRSA, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, HIV/AIDS, malaria, autism, infections of all kinds, arthritis, high cholesterol, acid reflux, kidney or liver diseases, aches and pains, allergies, urinary tract infections, digestive problems, high blood pressure, obesity, parasites, tumors and cysts, depression, sinus problems, eye disease, ear infections, dengue fever, skin problems, dental issues, problems with prostate (high PSA), erectile dysfunction and the list goes on. This is by far not a comprehensive list. I know it sounds too good to be true, but according to feedback I have received over the last 20 years, I think it’s safe to say MMS has the potential to overcome most diseases known to mankind.

It is important to note that MMS does not cure disease. MMS is an oxidizer, it kills pathogens and destroys poisons. When these are reduced or eliminated in the body, then the body can function properly and thereby heal. I often say, “The body heals the body”. MMS helps to line things up so the body can do just that.

——–

The Church of Bleach:

In order to legally shelter this dangerous product under the guise of religious protections, Jim Humble has formed his church and related religion named “Genesis II: The Church of Health and Healing.” For a mere $35 one can become an official “church” member (children may join for half price). In addition, one may elect to become a certified minister of the church (video courses are available) for a mere $200. Although you must pay to view the video, it is reasonable to assume that a minster is church-speak for a product distributor.

It is also notable that Humble has removed his protocols for administering the Miracle Mineral Solution, but it is widely available elsewhere on the Internet. He also appears to have fled the US and appears to have landed somewhere in Central America, possibly the Dominican Republic, although the website does not specifically say the current location of the “headquarters.”

—

So why are we even talking about such nonsense?

Unfortunately, if you go back to see what MMS is purported to treat, the MMS treatment worked its way into mainstream circles discussing the possible treatment of autism. How? In 2012, an Autism One conference held in Chicago that year invited Kerri Rivera, the founder of a “Biomed-based Autism Clinic in Latin America.”

Autism One is a non-profit parent-driven organization with a reputation for embracing pseudoscience and the claims made by Kerri Rivera remain on their website today:

38 Children Recovered in 20 months with MMS

This presentation will outline the approach Kerri has used successfully to help recover 38 children from a diagnosis of Autism. She will explain how MMS (chlorine dioxide) has become the “missing piece” to the autism puzzle for so many of the families that she works with. MMS is available worldwide, and is extremely cost effective, bringing recovery in reach of all families, despite economic or geographic limitations. This presentation seeks to prove that Autism truly is curable.

Kerri Rivera

Director and Founder of Autismo2 – Hyperbaric Clinic, first and only Biomed-based Autism Clinic in Latin America, Kerri Rivera is the mother of two sons; 11-year old Patrick is in recovery from ASD. Responsible for translating the ARI´s Biomedical Protocol to Spanish, she is a part of “Curando el Autismo” and “Fundacion Venciendo el Autismo” (Puerto Rico and Venezuela); Mexican liaison for AutismOne and ARI, Rescue Angel, bilingual mentor for TACA, and member of the Global Autism Alliance.

http://www.Autismo2.com

Date/Time:  Sun, 05/27/2012 – 9:00am – 10:00am

Rivera’s full presentation and powerpoint slides remain online and available to uneducated parents. There is no mention of FDA warnings against MMS in her presentation. Worse yet, her protocol for dosing children with MMS is shared. The protocol is horrific and includes dosing children as small as 25 to 50 pounds and includes directions on giving the child enemas.

A follower (Stephen Rowe) sent me this video, which inspired this article. This woman is an activist dedicated to exposing this practice and attempting to have the administration of MMS to small children declared child abuse. Based on my research for this article, I would agree with her position.

IMPORTANT PLEASE SHARE.

DPP NOT PROSECUTING MMS BLEACH MOTHER!!!https://t.co/PCvZzAy6iI

— Fiona Pettit O'Leary (@fionapettit71) September 26, 2018

Here is a now closed petition advocating for the same types of action:

https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-outlaw-the-use-of-chlorine-dioxide-mms-in-children-and-adults-for-treatment-curing-of-autism-autism-is-genetic-and-has-no-cure-and-we-are-happy-the-way-that-we-are

The US Department of Justice has prosecuted some distributors here on US soil:

May 28, 2015: Seller of “Miracle Mineral Solution” Convicted for Marketing Toxic Chemical as a Miracle Cure

May 28, 2015

United States Department of Justice

WASHINGTON – A federal jury in the Eastern District of Washington returned a guilty verdict yesterday against a Spokane, Washington, man for selling industrial bleach as a miracle cure for numerous diseases and illnesses, including cancer, AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, lyme disease, asthma and the common cold, the Department of Justice announced.

Louis Daniel Smith, 45, was convicted following a seven-day trial of conspiracy, smuggling, selling misbranded drugs and defrauding the United States. Evidence at trial showed that Smith operated a business called “Project GreenLife” (PGL) from 2007 to 2011.  PGL sold a product called “Miracle Mineral Supplement,” or MMS, over the Internet.  MMS is a mixture of sodium chlorite and water.  Sodium chlorite is an industrial chemical used as a pesticide and for hydraulic fracking and wastewater treatment.  Sodium chlorite cannot be sold for human consumption and suppliers of the chemical include a warning sheet stating that it can cause potentially fatal side effects if swallowed.

“This verdict demonstrates that the Department of Justice will prosecute those who sell dangerous chemicals as miracle cures to sick people and their desperate loved ones,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “Consumers have the right to expect that the medicines that they purchase are safe and effective.”  Mizer thanked the jury for its service and its careful consideration of the evidence.

The government presented evidence that Smith instructed consumers to combine MMS with citric acid to create chlorine dioxide, add water and drink the resulting mixture to cure numerous illnesses. Chlorine dioxide is a potent agent used to bleach textiles, among other industrial applications.  Chlorine dioxide is a severe respiratory and eye irritant that can cause nausea, diarrhea and dehydration.  According to the instructions for use that Smith provided with his product, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting were all signs that the miracle cure was working.  The instructions also stated that despite a risk of possible brain damage, the product might still be appropriate for pregnant women or infants who were seriously ill.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Smith created phony “water purification” and “wastewater treatment” businesses in order to obtain sodium chlorite and ship his MMS without being detected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  The government also presented evidence that Smith hid evidence from FDA inspectors and destroyed evidence while law enforcement agents were executing search warrants on his residence and business.

Before trial, three of Smith’s alleged co-conspirators, Chris Olson, Tammy Olson and Karis DeLong, Smith’s wife, pleaded guilty to introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.  Chris Olson, along with alleged co-conspirators Matthew Darjanny and Joseph Lachnit, testified at trial that Smith was the leader of PGL.

In all, the jury convicted Smith of one count of conspiracy to commit multiple crimes, three counts of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud or mislead and one count of fraudulently smuggling merchandise into the United States.  The jury found Smith not guilty on one out of four of the misbranded drug counts. He faces a statutory maximum of 34 years in prison at his Sept. 9 sentencing.

Unfortunately, the use of the MMS product now extends far beyond the jurisdiction of the United States.

Epistemology: the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

Note: This beautiful and brave story is written by my son, Max, who also helped me to set up Skeptic Review and advises me on current issues of concern to the skeptic community. Schizophrenics often experience hyper-religiosity which can be fueled by auditory hallucinations and what are known as “peak experiences” which can feel deeply spiritual. Max began to apply the concept of Street Epistemology to his religiosity and began to question whether his beliefs were based in truth.  Today, Max believes applying epistemology, based on the Socratic Method, has contributed to his ability to function at a higher level and helps him to deal with delusions in a rational way. Here he recounts his personal journey:

My name is Max. I have had schizophrenia for 9 years, and I want to tell you my story through psychological hell to recovery and hope. I’ll tell you at the beginning that beyond giving you an amusing story about my experience, I eventually want to convince you with my story that I discovered something called “Street Epistemology” that is growing in the atheist community, and that it has helped me get better, along with medication and support from the mental health community.

I was born in 1989 to a wonderful family. I have so many fond memories of growing up. I had a big family get together with all of my aunts and uncles and cousins all going over to my great grandmother’s house and having lunch and a good time together. All of the people in my family were very loving and had wonderful bonds. I was close with my siblings, and my brother and I shared a lot of friends. All of the friends and teachers I grew up with, I feel like were wonderful people, and I felt very bonded to many of them. We went on a lot of family trips growing up, and I traveled in a lot of different parts of the United States, and even to Mexico a few times.

I had no particular health problems, and there would have been no way to predict the hell I would go through when I turned into an adult. I never broke a bone, never had a cavity, never had any major diseases, and although I was prone to a lot of viruses, nothing serious was wrong with my health at all. I did have a teacher in about 4th or 5th grade tell my parents that I had ADHD, because I spent a lot of the time in class staring out of the window. I think she was mistaken that this was caused by a disorder, however. I think the truth is that I was a child full of wonder and energy for the world, and didn’t like to be closed up in the classrooms.

I was a smart kid and I loved to learn, and although I had a joke with one of my friends in middle school that we should “keep from working too hard on schoolwork, so that people didn’t start to get too high of expectations for us”, the truth is I was very successful with the schoolwork I was given. When I got to high school I got to be very shy, and only kept a few close friends. I had an awkward disposition and didn’t talk much, but I still do have a lot of good memories with friends that I kept in high school. I also had some friends that I had kept from elementary school who stayed close with me through high school, so I wasn’t particularly socially unhealthy at that time.

I think my problems really began when my friends and I began experimenting with marijuana. Note that I fully support the idea of legalizing marijuana and truly believe that it could help a lot of people, I just think my problems with it were contextual with the way the experimentation happened within my social life. Me and my friends started getting some problematic behavior, and although I refuse to incriminate myself in this writing, I have some bad memories of some of the things that happened during that time of my life, both alone and with my friends creating problems in our lives.

After getting into that kind of lifestyle smoking pot, and creating problems, I started to experiment with LSD and Mushrooms and any other kind of consciousness altering substances I could get my hands on. I was lucky not to get into anything like heroin or speed or cocaine, but I definitely had my fair share of experimentation with drugs. This is where the problems started to get complicated. I have so many feelings about what my problems could have been, that it’s hard to tease out what the true cause of my long term problems were.

I have heard some scientific speculation that some people are more predisposed to developing the problems I had with schizophrenia due to genetics, but I don’t know enough about it to make any judgment on that. All I know is that I have had these problems, and I also have hope that there is a way out of them, regardless of whether or not my genetics are predisposed or not. I did not even notice the problems myself. The only way I came to identify with my schizophrenia was that I knew everyone started worrying about me, and I just felt no way to challenge it, I gave into their worry, and came to identify with a new identity as a schizophrenic person.

I can still remember my symptoms, and I do think it started along with the experimentation with drugs and creating problems socially and personally. I remember some of my friends who did LSD and everything with me, a lot of times romanticized hallucinatory experiences. I had some of them try to guide me into certain hallucinatory experiences as well by certain social oddities. I think this is one of factors.

Beyond all of these problems, I began to have a major interest in Buddhism and Buddhist meditation. When I graduated from high school, I traveled to San Francisco for 3 weeks and stayed in a couple of Zen monasteries. I meditated there with the experienced meditators and learned how to do intensive meditation by sitting with them all in the meditation hall twice daily, as well as doing work around the monastery mostly in silence. I had a great experience there, and loved what I learned, but I think that the baggage I brought there with my previous experiences created a problem when I began meditating. I think I thought of meditation as a kind of way that was identical to the way I thought of hallucinogenic drugs. So I basically started living in those experiences more permanently.

It seemed so reasonable to do this and felt very natural. I think that if that is something that you bring as an expectation to intensive meditation, can actually work. The problem, however, is that it led me away from a rational perspective of reality. I completely lost all sense of reason in my life, and my life became one giant acid trip that I thought was what meditation was supposed to induce for people. It could be argued that I had the wrong idea of Buddhism, but the point is that that is what I believed, and part of that included these shared hallucinatory experiences I had in my head. I even used a drug called salvia on the weekends on my trip in San Francisco, another hallucinogen, leading me further and further into this rabbit hole.

During my time in San Francisco, through meditation, I started having a much more powerful and profound experience of my life. I really did try to learn how to do meditation the right way, and I think I was pretty successful overall. I remember a certain time when I started to believe that people there could read each other’s minds through meditation. This is an idea that has scriptural support from the Buddhist literature, although I didn’t know it at the time. I remember sometimes as I was sitting in the meditation hall a lot of what felt like a flashing in my mind of powerful lights going on and off, as my experience became more powerful. I felt very alive, in a way that I don’t think I had ever felt before, in a way that they would call in Buddhist terminology, a waking up. But it was only in my experience, my cognitions of what my experience was could not keep up, and I didn’t know how to handle it.

When I got back to my hometown I immediately got back into my drugs, particularly ecstasy, or MDMA. I’m pretty sure the ecstasy was mixed with methamphetamines in what I took, and I decided after I took it, that I would go tell my parents that I had taken it, I guess expecting them to be giving me some sort of supportive experience on ecstasy. That did not happen. There was a major conflict my parents with yelling and screaming, and here I was stuck on this drug. It was such a profoundly negative experience in my life, it do not think it can be put into words. All I remember was a lot of yelling and screaming and accusations, and I was yelling I was convinced that I could read their minds and knew everything they were thinking, which was an idea I picked up through my experience meditating. I wanted them to be able to experience what I had learned through meditation, and I kept telling them to “Wake Up!” repeatedly, and for some reason I remember I wound up taking all of my clothes off in a state of madness. It was terribly traumatizing.

It was after this experience that they started taking me to psychiatrists, and I began getting diagnosed loosely with some kind of psychotic experience. I did not quit using drugs at that time, and my continued use just added to the trauma. I also continued meditating at home regularly, and all of the trauma and drug use and psychotic behavior was right in my experience with the meditation, and it all got interwoven together into my meditative experience, and I think this is when I think my problems started to permanently cement into what would become my schizophrenia. Meditation became my problem solving method, but I it was not sufficient to address the problems I was experiencing, although I was expecting it to. In fact I think it was more likely that it got me fixated on my problems, and unable to move on.

Soon after all of this, my Grandfather began declining into dementia and was dying. I volunteered myself to live at my Grandparents house to help him get along, partially because I was feeling virtuous from the meditation, and partially to get a break from my parents. While I was living there, although I do think I was a bit helpful to my Grandfather and we got to bond before he died, my mind went deep into all of my problems. I think the fact that I was living with him having dementia added a profound layer of sadness and existential anxiety to my experience. After about a month of living there, I had wound up calling the police to on my Grandparents, thinking they were using some sort of evil magic on me. A policeman came, and was very nice and talked to my grandmother, and told me she seemed very nice and that he didn’t think anything was wrong, and that he couldn’t help me. Another symptom at the time was that I was also talking to all sorts of “voices” in my head, mainly spiritual people I looked up to, but also other people in my head, I suppose in an attempt that I could get one of them to pray for me. I was so upset, that I was telling people that I was suicidal, and a few days later was my first trip to the psych ward.

I don’t remember much from my first trip to the psych ward, other than I got started on antipsychotic medication, and was in for about 2 weeks. I just remember laying there in bed thinking “I’m in the loony bin”, “I’m in the nuthouse”, and being extraordinarily overwhelmed and shocked that I of all people was diagnosed with schizophrenia. As I told you, most of my life growing up was wonderful, and I was smart, healthy, and loved. I just couldn’t imagine how I could have been the type of person who belonged there. Just the thought of getting diagnosed with schizophrenia weighed very heavy on me, and was very hard to accept. My mother has told me that she would go into see me in there the first time in visits, and she would try to talk to me, and I had a blank stare and wasn’t responding. I can imagine some of this was from the schizophrenia, some of it was from the medication, but most of it was probably my own shock and grief and indignation that I had landed myself in the psych ward of all places, getting diagnosed with schizophrenia.

When I got out, things didn’t change much, but I had medication now at least that was helping me. I didn’t mind the idea of medication that much, the effects weren’t that bad to me, but I was still in shock. I tried to stay with my grandparents and help some more for a while longer. I got in touch with a girl I knew in high school who I knew had used to have a crush on me in high school, and we began dating. I eventually moved back in with my parents and I think they hired some sort of nurse to help with my grandfather because it became a very hard job and I was too overwhelmed. He died pretty soon after this and it was overwhelmingly sad for me.

I got along with my girlfriend, but it was a strange experience, because she considered herself a Wiccan, so instead of talking me out of my superstitions, my experience with her wound up making my beliefs in magic and mind reading etc., even stronger. Her family also had a lot of its own problems with very strong conflict. I kept up with meditation though, because I thought that if my doctor says I’m “split from reality” that meditation would be the perfect antidote for that. We stayed together for about a year, and it was a nice distraction, but didn’t make me any better.

After splitting up with her, I decided to start going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings to treat my problems with addiction. I had a fling with another girlfriend there, relapsed once with her, but got back into recovery quickly. I wound up becoming best friends with her brother. He had similar experiences to mine, and we got along like two peas in a pod. He was older, but he had gotten diagnosed with schizoaffective after a breakdown during an attempt to become a monk at a Catholic monastery, and I thought it was similar to my experience with a breakdown after going to a Buddhist monastery, plus we could go to NA meetings together.

He and I were great friends, and we supported each other a lot, mainly by supporting each other’s religious commitments. He was very austere about his beliefs and while I was with him I spent most of my time studying and practicing Buddhism, while he did his Catholicism. We became very isolated and didn’t seem to branch out with any other friends while we were friends. We did some; I had a few other friends I met in NA, but not much. Part of the reason was that he was gay and I think looking back this was mainly what led us to isolate together so much, was that he thought of me as a boyfriend. I was trying to ignore that part because I liked that we had so much in common and supported each other as friends so much. However, I think he and I had a habit of supporting each other’s delusions as well, so I didn’t really ever get much better during this time either, and continued going in and out of psych wards every once in awhile. I had fun and I learned a lot on my own though, particularly about Buddhist philosophy, which also seemed to be support for my delusions a lot of the time as well.

I kept going to NA meetings, and learning and practicing more about Buddhism, and hanging out with him, and that was my life for about 3 years. I loved to read all sorts of stuff beyond Buddhism as well, science books at least, and spent a lot of time learning on my own through books, and eventually I discovered audio books, and got obsessed with those. One of the books I read was called “Rethinking Madness” by Paris Williams. It was about how he had helped people with schizophrenia recover from schizophrenia to the point that they were eventually able to manage their lives without medication. I didn’t read all of it, but the first part of the book was dedicated to demonstrating the dangerous side effects of antipsychotics, and the flaws in the theory of what schizophrenia is and how it should be treated. I didn’t even finish the rest of the book, before I was convinced that I needed to get off of all of my medications. I read some of the rest, where he talked about his alternative theories of recovery, but I was already convinced. Honestly, looking back, I think his alternative theories of schizophrenia and recovery are much less solid than the standard understanding. Some of his ideas that I was influenced by though, about flaws in the current understanding and treatment were actually probably accurate. I think looking back also, I need to know that just because a current theory is flawed, doesn’t give a license to make up alternative theories that are even less corroborated and pretend they are solid theories. I think it may also be true that some people with schizophrenia can manage without medications, but that is not related to his theories being true or false.

So I told everyone I was going to try going without medication, I was pretty hopeful, and fairly cautious, and I got people to accept that this is what I wanted to do, and I told my doctor I wasn’t going to take my medications anymore. He cautioned me, but I was convinced. Parts of my convictions were centered in Buddhist ideas as well, which Paris Williams was also endorsing in his book. I had become so knowledgeable and practiced in meditation, I was sure that would help me.

It felt really good for a while. I felt like I was doing the right thing and that I was making the right choice. I wound up getting into a conflict with my best friend of so long for reasons that I won’t get into. I wound up calling another friend I had who I had met from NA and became close with her, who had a lot of problems herself, and was involved with drugs, mainly just marijuana, but wound up getting me involved in smoking pot, drinking, and eventually going back to experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs. I actually managed my symptoms effectively for a little over 6 months this way, but eventually got a DUI, was in jail for a night, and when I got out, had my license suspended, so I was stuck in the house with my parents with no way to get out of the house. Eventually, conflict with my parents started building up slowly again, I started going into a mania, and wound up calling the police because I was convinced that my Dad had killed someone and had buried them in our backyard. I just knew this based on intuition.

The police came, then a crisis team came, and my family tried to get the crisis team to put me into the psych ward, but they said they couldn’t do anything because I was not a danger to myself or others. So my sister decided to get a court order telling the police that I was at danger to myself or others, which I think we all knew was not true, to get me involuntarily committed, in an attempt to help me get better. It did not work. I was furious that I was being held against my will when I was truly not a danger to myself or others, and I knew it. I was so furious that when I was in the hospital, I resisted treatment so adamantly, that I was stuck in the hospital for over a month. When I got out, I wasn’t any better, and was still furious about what happened, and still manic, etc… My parents got to their wits end and told me that if I wouldn’t go to the hospital that they would take me to the homeless shelter. I didn’t want to go to the hospital because I still felt like it was so wrong that I had been wronged like that, so they took me to the homeless shelter. I couldn’t sleep in the homeless shelter I was so upset, so I left and walked over to the jail and used their phone, and called my parents to come pick me up and go ahead and take me to the hospital.

I went into the hospital and was still so worked up, that I was in there for another three weeks freaking out about my situation. I got out and was finally exhausted with it all and fell into a sort of manic depression, and just slept. I just crashed. I was exhausted. I felt like I had been beaten to a pulp through it all. I was that way for a long time. I don’t remember how long. But I remember that during that time, I started studying atheism, because I was worn out with using my faith to fight all of my battles. Just thinking about meditation or my Buddhist beliefs or anything religious caused so much negativity, that I needed something to relieve that. And I think that what I learned during this time studying the atheist and skeptic movements has been what I have needed for so long and never knew what I was missing.

Along with taking medication again and getting help from my mental health team, I learned something called “Street Epistemology” that is growing in the atheist movement. It is a method of conversation based on the Socratic Method, where you ask people about their deeply held beliefs, respectfully, find out why they believe it, how they concluded it was true, and finding out if the methods they are using to come to their conclusions can reliably lead to truth. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy concerned with studying knowledge, what it is, how it works, and particularly how we can know a belief is justified.  Often times, with deeply held beliefs, the method used is faith. Many people have their own definition for faith, but you can let them give their own definition, and analyze it with them as a method of coming to truth, it is very simple, but you can use it on everything. It is not focused on what the belief is, or metaphysics, but how you know the belief is true, or epistemology.

Focusing on epistemology is exactly what I needed to learn. I needed to figure out whether or not the methods I am employing to come to my conclusions is actually reliable. I think that is why people have problems with schizophrenia. It has nothing to do with the actual conclusions they are coming to. There is nothing wrong with the particular conclusions in themselves. The problems come by employing faulty methods of reasoning that creates problems in their daily lives. I am convinced that if we changed the way we think about delusions, by using epistemology, not metaphysics, that people could actually get better by learning critical thinking and reasoning. It has helped me so much, and I am still getting better, but I have hope that there is a way. All of these problems that contributed to my mental health problems are not insoluble, but pretending to know things I don’t know, and can’t know, isn’t a solution to the problem.

I am equally as convinced that when we give an exception from certain metaphysical conclusions as exceptions from being considered as delusions, simply because people consider them sacred beliefs, that it does a huge disservice to the way we are treating mental health problems. It’s what I’ve heard called “belief in belief” or believing holding certain metaphysical conclusions are moral virtues. When you analyze this it doesn’t seem rational that believing in certain metaphysical ideas can be moral virtues.

The idea that we should just let people believe whatever they want and protect certain ideas from scrutiny, leads to a failure in reasoning that can have real life consequences on our society. We live in a democracy and the ability to engage with each other’s ideas freely and openly and without fear is crucial to our societies functioning properly and healthily. A failure to engage on these topics can have a real detrimental effect on our own and each other’s well being. If you don’t believe it, just turn on the news or open a newspaper. It is alarming. And once you become aware of the problem, you will see that to live and let live may not always be the best policy. We need to be able to engage with each other.

I’m going to go to school for philosophy, and stay involved with the skeptical community, and keep practicing Street Epistemology, but I’m not going to give up hope on people.

Street Epistemology: A Primer on Beliefs and Finding Truth

Image courtesy Ex-Muslims of North America. This message was printed on the t-shirts in question.

Jim, The Conservative Skeptic, and I have been debating as to whether a recent incident in which the Ex-Muslims of North America were asked to remove themselves from a Starbucks and Houston Hilton was lawful or a case of religious discrimination.

See Part 1 of our debate on religious discrimination and the Ex-Muslims of North America here:

FFRF Believes Denial of Service to Ex-Muslims at Starbucks/Hilton to be Civil Rights Violation

First, let me say I agree wholeheartedly with Jim (The Conservative Skeptic) that our goal here is not to spoil the reputation of a business or to presume nefarious intentions. That said, it is still an important issue that deserves a conversation.

Jim makes some valid points in his arguments that this may not actually be a case of religious discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act:

He writes:

“The hotel and Starbucks believed that these EXMNA members were protesting and desired to avoid any possible confrontation with the ISNA attendees. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.”

Also, “What constitutes a protest? A protest may be people marching down the street, peacefully, carrying signs, displaying banners, chanting slogans, or even sitting in a coffee bar silently wearing t-shirts that may cause offense to someone else.”

So, Jim’s point that a t-shirt message may be interpreted as a protest is reasonable. However, I’m going to double down on my contention that the t-shirts were not sufficient cause for expelling the group from the facility—only this time I am going to appeal to the First Amendment. Here’s why:

Starbucks/Hilton is classified as a public accommodation as I illustrated in Part 1 of my argument. The FFRF press release confirms my contention that they are legally defined as a public accommodation.

So, next I turned to the ACLU to research laws and protections for t-shirts that contain messaging. As I discovered, t-shirt messages are considered a form of speech (freedom of speech) as long as they are not obscene, threatening, lewd or vulgar.

But, there is a problem: there is a hazy area where a shirt may be perceived to cause a significant disruption or interfere with the rights of others. If there is a legitimate fear of a disruption, then censorship of it may be justified—otherwise, it is just mere censorship of an unpopular message and does violate free speech rights.

But, how do you prove there is about to be a disruption or hostile reaction? Did the facility receive a threat of violence if the shirts were not removed? Merely feeling offended or fearing the potential offense to others may not qualify without some factual evidence. At what point does fear of disruption become no more than the heckler’s veto in which those offended decided what speech may be heard or expressed?

Are other shirts with potentially unpopular messaging being scrutinized and turned away by the public accommodation? Let’s say someone comes into the facility with a t-shirt insulting President Trump (which has likely happened)? Was that person asked to leave because it might cause a disruption or hostile reaction? What about a shirt in support of LGBTQ rights (which is also likely to have happened)? Was that offensive and potentially disruptive to some, or is that free expression? How about an NRA or Second Amendment shirt?

What’s the difference between those instances and the “I’m an Ex-Muslim” message? Has prohibiting t-shirt messaging been applied consistently with other “controversial” messages? The burden of proof will fall on the public accommodation to justify silencing the right to passive expression of opinion, assuring us that they are not giving special favors to one side of the conversation.

Meanwhile, for your consideration, here’s The Conservative Skeptic’s new post doubling down on his side of the argument:

No, It’s Not Religious Discrimination

Photo courtesy Linda Sarsour, Twitter

What is ISNA?

Islamic Society of North America

VISION: To be an exemplary and unifying Islamic organization in North America that contributes to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large.

MISSION: To foster the development of the Muslim community, interfaith relations, civic engagement, and better understanding of Islam.

STRATEGIC GOALS: Achieve organizational excellence: operational efficacy, transparency, accountability, high-performance, effective communication, short-term and long-term financial stability.

Strengthen and develop American Muslim communities.

Enhance interfaith collaboration and civic engagement.

Share the contributions of the American Muslim community.

RECENT ISNA STATEMENTS

ISNA DENOUNCES THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO UPHOLD THE TRAVEL BAN

ISNA DISAPPOINTED WITH U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BILL ON HUNGER

FAITH LEADER STATEMENT ON FAMILY SEPARATION

ISNA’S DIRECTOR’S NOTE

“This past year has been one of the most politically and socially turbulent in decades. From unabashed racial animus to wealth inequality increased further by inequitable federal tax legislation, the challenges we face as a nation cannot be overstated. But neither can the positive responses from the best of our country be overlooked. Muslims are running for local and federal office in record numbers, and winning, especially women. Jewish, Christian, and other faith communities are partnering with Muslims in record numbers on gun violence prevention, climate change, and other issues beyond civil rights and hate crimes. Youth are quickly realizing that rallies are important, but not enough to shift the tide in favor of equity and justice for all people. The number of challenges is large, but so too are the opportunities, and the Muslim-American community seems to have woken up. We are confident that our Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances (IOICA) will continue to serve as a platform for our community to grow (through our Policy Fellowship Program), contribute to anti-poverty advocacy (like our #MuslimsAgainstHunger Lobby Day), and stand with faith partners to live out the Prophetic principles of compassion, mercy, and justice that our beloved Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) showed us over 1400 years ago. Our time and place may be different, but the struggles remain the same.” Colin Christopher, Director, Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances Islamic Society of North America

———–

So, while the ISNA organization publicly promotes interfaith understanding and social justice concerns common to all Americans, Linda Sarsour’s convention quotes appear to be an attempt to shame fellow Muslims into supporting her own political platform, suggesting that if they are not on board she questions their true faith and American patriotism.

Sarsour quotes from her appearance at this year’s ISNA convention courtesy The Investigative Project on Terrorism:

“If you’re on the side of the oppressor, or you’re defending the oppressor or you’re actually trying to humanize the oppressor,” she said, “then that’s a problem sisters and brothers and we got to be able to say: that is not the position of the Muslim American community.”

“You as an American Muslim are complicit in the occupation of Palestinians, in the murder of Palestinian protesters. So when we start debating in the Muslim community about Palestine, it tells me a lot about you and about the type of faith that you have in your heart.”

“In fact, when you are silent, you are the one that’s not a patriot and you are the one that’s not a true American and not proud to be an American.”

“When I stand up here and I’m fighting for your rights and the rights of all people in these United States of America, I am a true patriot. And those of you who have fear in your hearts and don’t have the courage to stand up for your deen (religion), for your communities, for your religious institutions, for your children, that is not just a question of your patriotism. It is a question of your iman (faith).”

(Note:  According to the original article, Wajahat Ali, was disinvited from speaking the convention for failing to make the Palestinian cause his paramount issue as a Muslim.)

The 55^th annual convention was held in Houston Aug 31-Sept 3, 2018.

https://www.investigativeproject.org/7598/isna-convention-uses-shame-fear-to-stir-muslims

T-shirt images courtesy Sarah Haider

The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is calling the recent incident when Ex-Muslims of North America were refused service and expelled from a Starbucks and Hilton a Civil Rights violation, but not everyone agrees.

Fellow Blogger Jim (aka Conservative Skeptic) provides a counter argument here. We agreed to do this when we discovered on Twitter that we had different perspectives on the incident. You may find him on Twitter at Outwest @jeh7041.

Religious Discrimination Toward Non-Believers?

Here’s why I believe FFRF is correct:

Background:

Ex-Muslims banned from Houston Hilton Starbucks for Atheist shirts

Facts as presented by the Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) in their public statement:

Off video:

‏On Saturday, September 1st, 2018, Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) volunteers were forcibly expelled from a Starbucks within a Hilton hotel in Houston, Texas, after refusing to change out of t-shirts stating “Love (overprinted over God) is Greatest” and “I’m an Ex-Muslim, Ask Me Why.” They were informed by staff that they must leave the establishment.

Back of both shirts:

The EXMNA volunteers were taking a coffee break at the Starbucks after a day of handing out flyers and speaking with and interviewing attendees at the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) annual conference.

Volunteer Lina’s statement: “I was told that they are not allowing protestors at the property. I assured the woman that I was not a protestor. She then asked me if I was part of the event or a guest at the hotel. I was neither. I was then told that even though I was a paying customer, I was not allowed to be on the premise as it was reserved for guests and event members for the weekend and that they will not be allowing anyone else on their private property. However, I noticed the Starbucks was still open to the public and I didn’t see anyone else being asked to leave.”

On video:

Upon additional inquiry after leaving the premises, a hotel employee stated on video that the EXMNA group was not welcome due to their T-shirts, and repeatedly claimed the group was “protesting,” a charge which all volunteers explicitly denied multiple times.

President of Ex-Muslims of North America, Muhammad Syed, said: “We were asked to leave the premises and informed that we could only enter the premises if we removed the shirts, none of which stated anything inflammatory.”

———–

Refusal of service:

The reasons provided by Starbucks and Hilton do not seem to follow any coherent or consistent policy (see arbitrary clause at the end of this article).

First, Starbucks claims (according to Lina’s statement) that Starbucks was suddenly restricted to guests of the hotel or attendees of the ISNA event only. This appears to be false by Lina’s observation, was not posted as “reserved” prior to their entry into the Starbucks, nor was it brought up when they ordered and were served their drinks without objection.

On video, the Hilton representative said he was refusing service because they were protestors. When they denied being protestors or causing any problem, he said their t-shirts were the problem. When they pointed to one member having a plain shirt and asked if he could enter, the representative said no. At one point, the Hilton rep threw out the possibility that they could remove the shirts, but then abandoned that idea and threatened arrest for trespassing.

I believe the focus the Hilton rep made on the t-shirts being the final deciding factor were discriminatory against a protected class. Specifically, I believe the protected class would fall under the category of religion, or in this case, the lack of religion (atheism or Ex-Muslims).

An article published by CNN after Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant touches upon some of the issues which are pertinent to this event.

CNN: “Under the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination in public businesses in the United States is prohibited on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin.”

CNN: “It depends on a number of factors, including whether the business’s reasons are political, moral or discriminatory, and the person claiming discrimination falls under a protected trait or class, such as race or religion, lawyers say.”

What about refusal of service and dress codes?

This issue is problematic and is certainly not a simple one. We all know the policies of “No shirts, no shoes, no service,” or “We reserve the right to refuse the service to anyone,” which are often used by private businesses to protect themselves.

However, these policies do not make the private businesses exempt from allegations of discrimination under certain circumstances. CNN: “Legal experts say business owners are at liberty to enforce dress codes — as long as they don’t fall under discrimination categories.”

Shake Law: “Laws that deal with refusal of service generally govern places of ‘public accommodation.’ These include any facilities that offer lodging, food, entertainment, sales or rental services, health care, or recreation to the general public. So even though restaurants, stores, and swanky rooftop bars may be operated on private property, they still qualify as public accommodations and are thus subject to the service regulations set forth by federal and state laws.”

Shake Law: “WHEN IT’S ILLEGAL TO REFUSE SERVICE

Two federal laws govern when a refusal of service is illegal. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation based on a patron’s race, color, religion, or national origin, and the Americans with Disabilities Act prevents discrimination on the basis of physical, mental, or emotional impairments. Additionally, some (but not all) state laws extend their anti-discrimination policies to protect customers from refusals of service based on other criteria, including age, gender, sexual orientation, and military status.”

Shake Law: “Bottom line: Dress codes are not illegal, but discriminatory ones are — sign or no sign.”

Shake Law: “WHEN YOU ARE PERMITTED TO REFUSE SERVICE

The patron lacks adequate personal hygiene (extreme body odor, excess dirt, etc.)

The patron is visibly intoxicated

The patron is unreasonably rowdy or causing trouble

The patron’s presence would overfill venue capacity

There is good reason to believe the patron will not be a paying customer

The patron has chosen not to abide by a venue’s neutral dress requirements, in a manner that is somehow within the patron’s control

That last point is important. It’s why although ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’ policies are rarely mandated by law, they are also rarely illegal, because they don’t discriminate against any particular category of person.”

The last point above may provide a legal out for Starbucks and Hilton. However, an article titled “The Right to Refuse Service: Can a Business Refuse Service to Someone?” offers the following caveat:

“You can refuse to serve someone even if they’re in a protected group, but the refusal can’t be arbitrary and you can’t apply it to just one group of people.

To avoid being arbitrary, there must be a reason for refusing service and you must be consistent. There could be a dress code to maintain a sense of decorum, or fire code restrictions on how many people can be in your place of business at one time, or a policy related to the health and safety of your customers and employees. But you can’t just randomly refuse service to someone because you don’t like the way they look or dress.”

Sources:

“Here’s why some businesses can deny you service – but others can’t,” Faith Karimi, CNN, June 30, 2018.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/29/us/when-businesses-can-deny-you-service-trnd/index.html

“No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service? What You Need to Know About Refusal-of-Service Laws,” Lauren Kreps, 05.30.15.

http://www.shakelaw.com/blog/refusal-of-service/

“The Right to Refuse Service: Can a Business Refuse Service to Someone?” Jane Haskins, Esq., LegalZoom, September 2007.

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/the-right-to-refuse-service-can-a-business-refuse-service-to-someone-because-of-appearance

Religious Discrimination Toward Non-Believers?