The Editorial By Scot Rhoads More Major Changes!
PLEASE READ!
Condolences
Don Kraig's mother recently suffered a stroke and died suddenly. Please join us in sending Don energy to help him deal with his painful loss, and in wishing Mrs. Kraig a peaceful transition to the Summerland. Lesser Transitions New Address We are now situated in the area of Portland, Oregon. Our new address is: New Moon Rising
12345 SE Fuller Rd. #119
Milwaukie OR 97222 Still no Back Issues We don't know yet when we our back issues will again be accessible. We may already have them by the time you read this, or it may not be till late next year. We will announce it here when we know, and start publishing our back issue list again. In the mean time, we will hold orders until we can fulfill them. The Near Future Our immediate plans are to get real jobs and start saving and investing like civilians to make ourselves ready for the goal of starting that community we've mentioned here from time to time. The changes to the magazine will still have to wait, but not as long. Once we are settled at an address where we intend stay for more than a year, we will be doing everything we can to expand and improve New Moon Rising. We welcome your suggestions! Still No Mail Order We will not be doing mail order again for the foreseeable future, though we do expect to eventually in some manifestation. But Mystic Moon will still be offering mail order! Mystic Moon Changes Ownership! Yes, we have sold the Mystic Moon Bookstore. That means if you're trying to reach us, address your letters to New Moon Rising. More important, make all those checks out to New Moon Rising! So Who Bought It? Dennis and Karna Riddle bought the Mystic Moon in mid-October. They intend to keep the main focus the same, but will be adding many things as opportunities arise. Dennis and Karna have many great plans for the shop and it is sure to flourish under their guidance. We hope you all will continue the wonderful support you have shown us over the years. But Wait! MORE Mail Order! One way you can show your support and get better stuff than a tote-bag or coffee mug is to order the new Mystic Moon Mail-Order catalog. Dennis and Karna are upgrading the old catalog of moderately-cool-stuff-in-an-eye-straining-format to a shiny new catalog of way-cool-stuff-in-a-totally-spiffy-format. Don't hold back. You know you want it. Blinded Me with Scientism I think I've mentioned before that one of the cool things about being an editor is the opportunity to release my frustrations. You can now again consider yourselves my therapist. Today (7-28-95) I was almost on Talk of the Nation, Science Friday on Public Radio—one of my very favorite programs. I waited for 55 minutes, Ira gave me the perfect intro, he said my name and that I'd have the last word—then hit the wrong button and someone else came on. Blast! You can blame Ira's errant finger for my writing the following text. I feel that the flight from science that we observe is a result of Scientism—the irrational belief in scientific models and foundations as Gospel Truth. We absolutely need more respect for science, but we are only likely to get it through more respect for the alternatives. Science is the art of modeling the Objective within specific, arbitrary limits. It is wildly successful in its appropriate application. But where science works brilliantly it does so by ignoring most of human experience. It does not address the Subjective, or any models outside its parameters—no action at a distance, no meaningful coincidence; only Reductionism, Universal Laws, Mechanism, etc. Science does address a huge field, but that field is dwarfed by the breadth of all human experience. We need to learn the appropriate contexts for scientific thought, and when we should look to other modes of thought. But we can't do that when people insist that it must be all or none. When people insist it must be all science, that is Scientism. Scientism dismisses the Subjective. It is the irrational application of Rationalism. It refuses to submit science to scientific examination—or even imagine such a thing. This bullies everything that doesn't successfully pretend to be science. We should not be surprised at a hostile reaction. But this is an unhelpful reaction. Hostility, conscious or unconscious, feeds the problem. We need to support more education in science and add to that an education about science—what it is and isn't, where it applies and doesn't. As things now stand, it is as if we are a lithic tribe arguing over whether we're going to have fire or stone tools. The stone tools won't cook meat, but the fire won't butcher a gazelle. What to do? What to do? The simile is as absurd as the conflict. We can look forward to vastly more improvements if we adopt all modes of thought, than if we pretend we must only use one. BLESSED BE! | 
