#2100: John Peloza

John Peloza is – or at least was – a California high school teacher. Peloza is also a creationist, and very unhappy that lying about science while trying to manipulate public school students into adopting his religious beliefs is illegal in the US. (Peloza did for instance give a student a Bible and told another Jewish student that she would go to hell if she did not convert to Christianity.) In 1994, Peloza sued his school district for forcing him to teach the “religion of evolutionism”, a case he of course lost (the ruling is here for those interested in revisiting a number of familiar creationist PRATTs). The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, as they had to, that there is no such religion. Of course, the suit itself showed that Peloza has a dangerously dim understanding of science, and was rather obviously unsuited for the job he had. And indeed, Peloza was subsequently reassigned to teach physical education instead of science.

Diagnosis: Yet another fine (if ultimately minor) example of the kinds of challenges truth, reason and science are up to, and a scary illustration of the kind of nonsense you can hold onto while still being considered qualified for teaching high-school kids. We have no idea what Peloza is up to these days, however.

#2099: Meghan Pearson

Meghan Pearson is a reiki practitioner and wellness blogger who primarily writes about vegan food. Though perhaps not a big name on the quack scene, Pearson does have a bit of a profile, insofar as her rants have been published by the Huffington Post. An example is her post titled “My Love Affair With Naturopathy”, the occasion being her visit to a naturopath (Toronto-based and therefore not separate-entry-qualified Erin Wiley). 

That article is pretty much as bad as you’d expect. Apparently, Pearson has a number of health problems (it’s a bit interesting how people promoting wellness and natural health very often do) and an attraction to all things “natural”, which to Pearson seems to mean that naturopathy can help her when conventional medicine does not. So according to Pearson, “Western” medicine never goes to the source and its recommendations are driven by big money, as opposed to the recommendations from altmed practitioners who sell untested supplements and treatment regimes unfettered by the dictatorial constraints of reality and evidence.

Well, so Pearson, given her “nutritional background and knowledge [she has no relevant education, of course], and my keen interest in Eastern medicinal techniques [i.e. orientalism]”, sought out naturopath Erin Wiley and was apparently mightily impressed when Wiley hooked her up to electrodes and “measured” a bunch of things in her body – the instruments both said “ping” and produced some sciency-looking charts – and promptly decided that Pearson suffered from, of course, “a condition called ‘adrenal fatigue’,” a favorite fake diagnosis among quacks everywhere. Pearson, of course, who wouldn’t be able to distinguish a real medical condition from a dolphin chakra if her life depended on it, happily accepted it all and bought in. Those darned science-based people with their integrity and evidence-based diagnoses would never have come up with anything like this.

Diagnosis: Yep, it’s a paean to letting oneself be fooled. I suppose, in a sense, it is a bit mean to call out the victim – and make no mistake: Pearson is a victim here – but she wrote up a glowing review (and not marked as an ad) for Huffington Post, and we have some sort of duty to remind people not to trust the advice of people like Meghan Pearson. (Besides, it's not like she's completely innocent herself, being a reiki practitioner and very much willing to share nonsense about nutrition.) 

Hat-tip: Respectful insolence

#2098: John Pearrell

John Pearrell is pastor of Gateway Community Church in Covington, Georgia, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Pearrell is a young earth creationist, and has spent quite some efforts promoting his creationist views in letters to the editor of outlets like Rockdale Citizenand Newton Citizen– a local village idiot, in other words, but a persistent one. In “Read Genesis carefully before dismissing the creation story”, for instance, he dismisses evolution as “a theory” and not “a hard science” (he would, of course, not be able to recognize science if it hit him with a stick, and has certainly not read his biology carefully) and focuses on assembling evidence for the Biblical creation story. “Moses is the editor of the entire Genesis account, not the author,” says Pearrell: “Moses did research and compiled ancient writings that existed in his day to give us this first book of the Bible. Bet you didn’t know that.” Indeed, we didn’t, and neither, of course, does Pearrell. Apparently, though, “[w]hat we read about the creation account comes from the pen of Adam.” And given that Adam was as close to an eyewitness as you could get, the case is – to Pearrell’s mind – closed: “I have chosen to believe the account of the person there (Adam), rather than the scientists who weren’t there.” Of course, according to Genesis, Adam was technically not there either. To demonstrate the power of his evidence: “Genesis 5:1 tells us that, ‘This is the written account of Adam,’” says Pearrell, who is clearly not using the King James Bible, at least (which has “This is the written account of Adam’s family line”, and then lists his descendants, at 5:1). (Meanwhile, “the story of the flood, that’s the written account of Noah, the guy who experienced it”). Teachers and scientists who claim otherwise are just lying to you. 

For further evidence, Pearrell helpfully guides us to the webpages of Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research. Elsewhere, he has pointed out (well, repeated) that “the problem is we don’t have scientific proof for evolution; we have theories of evolution;” moreover, “[i]n the real world, you have complex creatures below many of the simplest creatures they are purported to have evolved from.” He really doesn’t understand how any of this works, does he?

And of course, there is a conspiracy. Evil “college professors” are trying to hide the fact that we are “discovering more and more the implausibility of the Darwinian model; the prevailing model today being punctuated equilibrium theory rather than the gradual change of Darwin.” Apparently that’s supposed to be some kind of objection. We suspect that Pearrell doesn’t really know what punctuated equilibrium is any more than he knows what evolution, or science, is – apparently he actually confuses punctuated equilibrium with the creationist idea of “sudden appearance”. Indeed, as Pearrell sees it evolution doesn’t count as science since it doesn’t fit “the two major criteria of scientific investigation – namely, that it be observable and repeatable,” which displays an utterly basic – but common among creationists – misunderstanding of what science is (hint: a scientific hypothesis must have observable consequences, and those observations must be repeatable (given a proper definition of “repeatable”); it’s not the phenomena described by the hypothesis that must be repeatable – why on earth should that be required? Indeed, the whole point of science is that the phenomena described by the hypothesis are unobservable or unobserved). And since evolution isn’t science, it is taught in public schools only because “Athiests [sic] want double standard when expressing their views in public.” Nope, the difference between scientific theory and religious creed is entirely lost on him.

Moreover, Darwin was a liar: “Case in point is when Darwin unearthed his Australopithecus he hid for 50 years under the floor board of his house, evidence that clearly contradicted his find.” It takes one to know one. The first Australopithecus fossil was discovered in 1925. It did not contradict “his find”.

Diagnosis: “Maybe I am a moron,” suggests Pearrell in one of his letters, and promptly goes on to make the best possible case for that hypothesis. Of course, Pearrell is hardly a major figure in the antiscience movement, and some may think we have given him a bit too much space here, but his claims are so densely – but typically – idiotic that we simply couldn’t resist.

Hat-tip: The Sensuous Curmudgeon

#2097: Vinnie Paz

A.k.a. Vincenzo Luvineri (real name)

Vincenzo Luvineri, or Vinnie Paz, formerly Ikon the Verbal Hologram, is an Italian American rapper for the hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) and frontman of the supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. JMT is primarily known for some pretty outspoken bigotry and crankery, and in the case of Paz it doesn’t seem to be all for show. Paz likes to write lyrics that are rather explicity about how much he enjoys punching faggots in the teeth and – this being a striking case of lack of self awareness – how homosexuality equals savagery. There is a fine list of quotes here. A Muslim, Paz also likes to compare himself to Mussolini (“we like to quote fascists,” says Paz) and Ayatollah Khomeini, and has claimed to find Iran’s regime preferable to the US one.

More importantly for our encyclopedia is JMT’s promotion of 9/11 conspiracy theories, AIDS denialism, anti-fluoridation conspiracies, and deranged antivax lunacy. Paz has for instance claimed, in an InfoWars interview, that polio vaccines killed more people than they cured – this is not correct. In another striking example of lack of selfawareness, Paz also urged us to “not believe the fearmongers”.

Diagnosis: Ok, so another celebrity loon. But Paz is awfully dumb, so it’s hard to avoid him. How much his audience actually buys into his nonsense is unclear, but he is certainly not helping.

Hat-tip: Rationalwiki

#2096: Anne Paulk

Anne Paulk is the executive director of Restored Hope Network, an ex-gay ministry largely consisting of former members of the now defunct Exodus International. Paulk, who identifies as an ex-lesbian, has some rather confused ideas about homosexuality. Apparently, she has even, uh, written a “study” (a “survey”, in fact, conducted among people whom Paulk expected to give the answers she wanted) showing that homophobia is not an issue, that homosexuality, to the extent that it exists, is caused by sexual abuse, and that  “sixty-six percent of [lesbian] women had incurred sexual abuse early on in their lives” (of course she also complained that the media wasn’t interested in her results, citing bias). Paulk is prepared to “offer Biblical answers for those struggling with same sex attraction,” which apparently includes telling them that gay men are punished by God with disease and early death for having sex with other men. Indeed, gay people are apparently “naïve” for thinking that God won’t do as she likes and punish them. Behind their sins and proclivities is Satan, of course, who is working in particular through his trusted servants teachers, who have “brainwashed” students into supporting gay rights, thereby pushing society into a “downward spiral” dominated by “gay propaganda.” As for parents who come to know that their children have fallen victim to homosexual lifestyles, Paulk asks them to remember that those kids are “rebelling against God” and recommends having a “healthy detachment” from them due to their “choices;” after all, denouncing your children tends to work out well for everyone involved.

Now, reparative therapy is dangerous pseudoscience and its success rate dismal, but according to Paulk this is largely because Satan is always trying to drag victims patients back into homosexuality. Moreover, reparative therapy is also being thwarted by Satanic means like facts and evidence and Satanic minions like experts and the government – opponents of ex-gay therapy are “abusing kids” and making sure the government begins “sacrificing our youth to HIV/AIDS, syphilis and gonorrhea.”. Indeed, the opposition to reparative therapy is clearly being driven by demons: it is, as Paulk sees it, obviously “demonic” that evidence, truth and reality are telling people “lies” about the opportunity people have to find “hope and healing” from homosexuality.

Her output includes the book Love Won Out: How God’s Love Helped 2 People Leave Homosexuality and Find Each Other, coauthored with her then-husband John. John Paulk later came out as ex-ex-gay, denounced reparative therapy and in the process also became Anne’s ex-husband. She has not been particularly eager to discuss this issue apart from lamenting how John Paulk has been “disobedient” to her God.

She also participated in David Kyle Foster’s anti-gay movie “Such Were Some Of You”.

Diagnosis: At least people like her are not exactly, shall we say, finding the tune with today’s kids, and for the most part seem hell-bent on marginalizing the anti-gay movement. Still, reparative therapy has produced, and continues to produce, plenty of suffering. Don’t forget that while you reward Paulk with the pointing and laughing she richly deserves.

#2095: Rand Paul

He probably needs no introduction, but Rand Paul is in any case the junior United States Senator from Kentucky, serving since 2011. Son of Ron, Rand Paul’s main qualification for an entry here is the fact that he is one of DC’s most prominent antivaccine apologists (after Congressman Bill Posey). NowPaul is in fact arguably an MD (ophthalmologist), but he is also a member of the deranged crank organization the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which sort of negates any credentials he might (perhaps) have on paper.

With regard to vaccines, Paul has bought heavily into the antivaccine propaganda, claiming in 2011 that “I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.” There is, of course, no link between vaccines and “profound mental disorders”. In fact, Paul clarified his comment a few days later, saying that “I did not say vaccines caused disorders, just that they were temporally related ... I support vaccines, I receive them myself and I had all of my children vaccinated.” Indeed, for all we know, Paul may, in fact, not believe that vaccines cause “profound mental disorders” (though the evidence is at best inconclusive and may have made the first comment just to appease the conspiracy theorists that tend to flock his events; it doesn’t matter – the mere willingness to cater to the antivaccine crowd in this manner makes you a serious loon. (In fact, the “temporal relation” claim is dubious, too.) In any case, Paul subsequently tried to frame his point, in typical antivaccine fashion, as a “health freedom” issue – what he opposes is really state- og government-mandated vaccines: “I think the parent should have some input. The state doesn’t own the children. Parents own the children.” Parents do not own their children. More recently, Paul has come out in support of conspiracy theorist and antivaxxer Michael Snyder’s run for Congress.

An opponent of rights to health care, Paul has stated that a right to health care equals slavery for health care workers, since you would in that case “have a right to come to my house and conscript me” and “have a right to beat down my door with the police, escort me away and force me to take care of you.” This is not how having a right to something works, but the description may be instructive when it comes to understanding how Paul conceives of e.g. constitutionally enshrined rights. He seems to have some serious difficulties with ownership-slavery relations, to the extent that normal people should be a bit concerned about putting him in any position of power.

As you’d expect Paul has also voiced support for a number of crank wingnut conspiracy theories related to the North American Union, such as the NAFTA Superhighway and the Amero. He has also toyed with religiously motivated historical revisionism, including claiming that the US is a Christian nation whose laws must be based on the Bible; in fact, we wouldn’t need laws if everyone were Christian, said Paul, which is demonstrably idiotic unless intended – we suspect it is – as a no-true-Scotsman gambit. Like David Barton’s books, Paul’s books are riddled with fake “quotes” by the founding fathers to support his agenda.

On climate change, Paul’s position is that “while I do think that man may have a role in our climate, I think nature also has a role,” which is such a feeble attempt at waffling that it justifies chalking him up as a denialist. In 2011, Paul chastised President Obama – not BP – for BP’s handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; apparently Obama’s criticism was “anti-business” and “un-American”. Then he thought that people should stop playing the blame game because shit just happens.

There is a decent Rand Paul resource here.

Diagnosis: Conspiracy theorist and, more significantly, conspiracy theorist enabler. And Paul has a significant following (even though he seems to lack his father’s charisma) and as such quite a bit of power to realize the deranged aims of such conspiracy theorists. Extremely dangerous.

#2094: Ileana Paugh

Ileana Johnson Paugh is an author, blogger and columnist, who has for instance written for the WND, which is sufficient to establish with some confidence that she is a serious loon. Paugh delivers. In 2013, for instance, Paugh criticized Pope Francis’s commitment to social justice teachings (really a core component of the Roman Catholic Church doctrine, to the discomfort of numerous wingnuts) and tied them to the KGB, no less. So, in her column “Communism and the Pope,” Paugh “traces Francis’ thinking to KGB-influence in S. America”, claiming that social justice is foreign to the teachings of Jesus Christ but instead a “Soviet communist-led idea” that have helped the KGB “infiltrate” the Catholic Church. It’s worth noting that she relies to a large extent on the writings of Ion Pacepa (Paugh, like Pacepa, apparently grew up under communism in Romania). 

Perhaps Paugh’s main schtick, however, is Agenda 21 conspiracy theories. She has even written a book, U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy, where she describes Agenda 21 as a nefarious conspiracy that “has been in the works for decades, spearheaded by environmentalists, foreign individuals, third world countries, and non-profit organizations around the world. In the name of protecting the environment, socialist global governance has been quietly implemented at all levels of government” to mandate “population re-distribution in the name of biodiversity”, brainwashing our kids and “rezone us, resettle us, reduce our numbers, and tax us into the sustainable community described in the Wildlands Project Map.” In short, it is an agenda to control and oppress us all: “Our sovereignty is at stake. We must stop U.N. Agenda 21 before it is too late. Every chapter of it violates our Constitution.” Yes, environmentalism is a depopulation conspiracy.

Of course, Paugh is a hardcore global warming denialist (when you’ve already decided that the UN is an evil conspiracy to oppress us all, you better make the data fit), claiming that the global warming idea “lacks academic rigor” and “intellectual honesty” (Paugh seems to have no scientific background and doesn’t seem to be able to distinguish scientific rigor from stream of consciousness ranting if her life depended on it); instead, it is apparently a conspiracy among scientists to take our money and give control of the world to George Soros (or perhaps, it seems, Maurice Strong).

Her other books are Echoes of Communism and Liberty on Life Support.

Diagnosis: Crazy as they come. That this is standard wingnut fare does not exactly make it any better.