Freethought & Rationalism Archive

lpetrich · 03-10-2003, 10:41 PM

Judith Hayes, in her article Smacked by an Angel, rather brutally dissects pop singer Natalie Cole's book Angel on my Shoulder.

Natalie Cole credits various "guardian angels" for rescuing her from various misfortunes, such as leaving a crackhouse only seconds before the cops arrived to bust the place.

Also, when she was tripping with LSD, she became convinced that she could fly, so she tried to test her skills by climbing out of a window. She was rescued by some slightly-less-stoned fellow druggies, whom she calls some guardian angels.

Likewise, when she is tossed into jail for some drug charge, she called her bandmates yet more Guardian Angels for having put up some bail money.

I'm reminded me of some of Dr. Isaac Asimov's comments. He once had a high-school history teacher describe how George Washington escaped without a scratch a badly-lost battle of the French and Indian War in 1755, despite having some horses shot from under him. That history teacher claimed that God was protecting him so that he could become us Americans' first leader. Dr. A. asked if some possibly-better leader had died in the battle, one who could have made the Colonies independent without a war. And the teacher got mad and asked whether Dr. A. thought that someone was better than GW.

Also, Dr. A, in a discussion of Adolf Hitler, noted that he had escaped several attempts to assassinate him, sometimes by quirks of fate "that seemed as if someone down there likes him."

christ-on-a-stick · 03-10-2003, 10:53 PM

I've always enjoyed her articles - she definitely doesn't pull any punches. I like that.

Ensign Steve · 03-11-2003, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lpetrich
"that seemed as if someone down there likes him."

I don't get it. So when a good person (GW) is rescued, it's god's doing, and when a bad person (AH) is rescued, it's someone down there? Typical.

As far as Natalie Cole is concerned, I'm sure the angels and god or whoever make it their priority to rescue pop-singers from the mean-old-police and bad LSD trips. In between helping rap artists win Grammy's, that is. No wonder they have no time to feed the starving people in Africa.

lpetrich · 03-11-2003, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JenniferD
I don't get it. So when a good person (GW) is rescued, it's god's doing, and when a bad person (AH) is rescued, it's someone down there? Typical.

Dr. A. was not commenting that that was what he himself had believed. He was commenting on others' beliefs; he noted that what may seem like the "finger of God" to the winner may seem like the Devil's hoofprint to the loser.

Ensign Steve · 03-11-2003, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lpetrich
Dr. A. was not commenting that that was what he himself had believed. He was commenting on others' beliefs; he noted that what may seem like the "finger of God" to the winner may seem like the Devil's hoofprint to the loser.

Okay, I get it. It took a couple of reads through it, but I see the difference. Thanks for clearing that up!

Shake · 03-13-2003, 12:22 PM

From the article in the o.p.:

Quote:

The money Natalie made singing couldn't begin to cover her habit, so she sought other means of support, mainly forging checks and being a "lure" to attract customers for prostitutes. In Harlem she hung out with pimps, pushers and hookers, but she had singing gigs all the way up New England to Springfield. While she was there a cop took her "downtown" for a talk and kindly invited her to get the hell out of town. He could easily have arrested her and charged her with a plethora or crimes; but he did not. The detective, Big Al, let her go. "Big Al was another one of my unlikely Angels." Uh, yeah.

He probably didn't want to be the one who had jailed "the-daughter-of" and later face possible litigation.

Umm... I think I had more to say, but I got distracted reading more on the Happy Heretic's site. Good stuff!

03-10-2003, 10:41 PM	#1
lpetrich Contributor Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Lebanon, OR, USA Posts: 16,829	The Happy Heretic on Someone's Religious Narcissism Judith Hayes, in her article Smacked by an Angel, rather brutally dissects pop singer Natalie Cole's book Angel on my Shoulder. Natalie Cole credits various "guardian angels" for rescuing her from various misfortunes, such as leaving a crackhouse only seconds before the cops arrived to bust the place. Also, when she was tripping with LSD, she became convinced that she could fly, so she tried to test her skills by climbing out of a window. She was rescued by some slightly-less-stoned fellow druggies, whom she calls some guardian angels. Likewise, when she is tossed into jail for some drug charge, she called her bandmates yet more Guardian Angels for having put up some bail money. I'm reminded me of some of Dr. Isaac Asimov's comments. He once had a high-school history teacher describe how George Washington escaped without a scratch a badly-lost battle of the French and Indian War in 1755, despite having some horses shot from under him. That history teacher claimed that God was protecting him so that he could become us Americans' first leader. Dr. A. asked if some possibly-better leader had died in the battle, one who could have made the Colonies independent without a war. And the teacher got mad and asked whether Dr. A. thought that someone was better than GW. Also, Dr. A, in a discussion of Adolf Hitler, noted that he had escaped several attempts to assassinate him, sometimes by quirks of fate "that seemed as if someone down there likes him."

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03-10-2003, 10:53 PM	#2
christ-on-a-stick Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Durango, Colorado Posts: 7,116	I've always enjoyed her articles - she definitely doesn't pull any punches. I like that.

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