ASTROLOGY IS
BIGOTRY
by Bob Steiner ©2004
Bigotry, n. Prejudgment of a person based upon an accident of birth over
which the person has no control, and which has no scientific validity.
Bob Steiner
The above seems to be a reasonable working definition of bigotry as it regards the
prejudgment of human beings.
When one person evaluates another for a job, jury selection, criminal guilt,
membership in an association, or any of several other areas of life, based upon the
color of the person's skin, the person's religion, or the color of the person's
eyes, there is a storm of protest. "Bigotry! Racism!" are the cries.
And yet, when one human being evaluates the worth of another based upon an accident
of birth--the date of birth, it is accepted. It is called astrology.
Friends, astrology is bigotry. That is a clear, demonstrable fact.
At issue in our discussion of astrology is not whether astrology is bigotry.
Astrology is bigotry. Rather, we are addressing whether you wish to defend bigotry,
whether you wish to base your life on bigotry.
Practitioners, some of whom are frauds and most of whom are sincere, cast
horoscopes--fancy charts devoid of useful meaning. They profess to interpret the
horoscopes, in order to gather and dispense great wisdom.
In repeated scientific tests to attempt to validate its efficacy, the bunkum called
astrology has failed miserably.
Is astrology a science? No. It is, at the most fundamental level, based on magical
thinking. An example of magical thinking is the principle of correspondences. The
planet Mars is red; blood is red. Therefore, so the nonsense of magical thinking
would go, someone born when Mars is visible from Earth is impulsive, hot-tempered,
and prone to fighting.
Is there a force that causes the stars and planets to have an influence on people?
Other than the Sun and the Moon, the answer is No. And for the Sun and the Moon, it
is not specific to your birth date. If you and I are together on a beach, high tide
will come in on that beach for both of us at the same time, even though you were
born in September and I was born in March. No birth-specific effects have been
demonstrated or measured, or even defined.
Could the force be gravity? No. The gravitational force of the hospital building
acting upon the newborn infant is greater than the gravitational force of all the
planets and stars together, save only the Sun and the Moon.
Hitler was an Aries.
"[Those born under the sign of Aries] can't lie worth a tinker."
{Linda Goodman, 1968. Linda Goodman's Sun Signs. New York: Bantam
Books, page 5.}
"The great masses of people . . . will more easily fall victims
to a big lie than to a small one."
{Adolf Hitler, [1925] 1971. Mein Kampf (My Battle). Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, vol I, ch. 10.}
Before dismissing astrology out of hand, most assuredly we should acquaint ourselves
with the characteristics that are attributed to us. We should also see with whom we
share our birth signs.
Linda Goodman's Sun Signs has sold millions of copies. From that we surmise that she
is an authority on astrology. In her book, for each sign she has a section on "How
to Recognize [that sign]." We shall take a quote from here and a snippet from there,
in order that you may learn about either 1) yourself and your characteristics, or
(not and) 2) the inconsistency and contradictions of this ancient wisdom called
astrology. Please understand that what we point out in Goodman's book is not unique.
Rather, it is representative of what you will find in most books touting astrology,
as well as in most books selling other mystical bunkum.
All quotations in the remainder of this article are from Linda Goodman's Sun Signs;
citations are page numbers.
ARIES the Ram, March 21st through April 20th.
óThe ram is conscious only of
himself (4).
ó His needs come first (4).
óAries is concerned with the world
only as it relates to himself (5).
óYou can look for a liberal
attitude, lavish generosity with both time and material things (6).
óThere's little that's graceful
about the ram (6).
óThe ram can also be the epitome of
social grace (10).
Are you getting the idea that if you read enough you will run across virtually all
facets of all behavior patterns? Bingo! The above contradictions are separated in
Goodman's text, so that you will not stumble upon them without some effort. That is
what attracts people to astrology in the first place: the idea that they can get
simple and immediate answers to life's complex problems without effort.
You will be pleased to know that you share your birth sign with Adolf Hitler.
TAURUS the Bull, April 21st through May 21st.
ó The most fertile places to look
for him would be a farm, a bank, or a real estate office (46).
óYou'll also find him grazing in
other pastures (46).
ó There are Taurean engineers, movie
stars, clerks, gardeners, kings and queens, chimney sweeps, butchers, bakers and
candlestick makers (46).
Well that sure narrows down the field for you.
ó Like Gibraltar, he is solid and
steady and nothing disturbs his tranquility (46).
óWhen the bull gets mad, he can
destroy everything in his path . . . .
Destroy is not the right word. Demolish is better. It may be some time before the
dust settles and peace reigns again (47).
Now that you know exactly where to find a Taurus and have a precise understanding
about said person's temperament regarding anger, let us give you a detailed,
specific description of what he or she looks like. Ready?
ó It's true that they frequently
have large, generous bodies,
ranging from muscular to plump to fat (48).
Got it? But wait! There is more.
óBut if you get that image too set
in your mind, you won't recognize the skinny ones, and it’s important to learn to
spot them, too (48).
Now let me see if I can make your day. You share your birth sign with Jim Jones, of
Peoples Temple, Jonestown, Guyana fame.
Rather than burden you with additional pages covering the remaining ten signs, allow
me to assure you that the same inane drivel continues throughout all of them. One
final example should lock in that idea.
ó Scorpio [who shares the birth sign
with Paul Joseph Goebbels and Charles Manson] likes to travel incognito. Thanks to
his well-controlled nature, he usually succeeds (278).
ó There's a crackling, electric
vitality about the very presence of a Scorpio that gives him away
(279).
Bob Steiner is a member of Professionals Against Confidence Crime
(PACC), and has given presentations at our conventions. He is Past National
President of The Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.), and is a Fellow of The
Committee For the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). He
was recently appointed National Chair of the Freedom From Drugs Committee of the
S.A.M.