Month: December 2019

On Friday, starting at 3 pm, we held the 2nd Annual Holiday Munchie Party at our home.

Everyone had a great time.

No one was counting, but we had over 40 guests, all of whom brought appetizers and/or desserts to share. We provided the ice, water, soft drinks, plates, utensils, and some warm appetizers.

The weather during the party was in the mid-50’s, which is actually quite pleasant in the desert. We kept the French doors to the back patio open so people could circulate, and I kept the thermostat in the house at 80 degrees. Most people went outside to begin with and migrated back into the house after a couple of hours.

We had lots of seating outside, perhaps enough to sit 30 people, with indoor seating for another dozen or so. Charlie had decorated the inside and outside of the house in a festive manner, and we gave green/red glow stick bracelets and necklaces to all of the guests for a fun touch.

There was a massive amount of food that magically disappeared over the several hour party until nary a scrap was left. Nobody went home hungry.

This party was a great social success, partly because Charlie and I had invited a number of newcomers to the existing neighborhood potluck group. Everyone got along great, and many new friendships were created.

Our neighborhood pal “Sandy” was a co-host with us. She provided ice, bottled water, a large piece of patio furniture that could hold cold drinks, and a 13′ inflatable Frosty the Snowman for decor.

We had such a good time that we’ve volunteered to hold the 3rd annual party next year.

This coming Friday we’re throwing our Second Annual Holiday Munchie Party at our home here in Mesquite. We’ve invited about 40 neighbors. The party will start at 3 p.m. and will probably end by 6 p.m.

We inaugurated the tradition last year about six weeks after we moved into our house. It was a good way to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood and make new friends. It was a big success.

Of course, last year we had virtually no backyard. Now, we have a BIG, landscaped yard,with a covered patio and a large separate patio with pergola built for outdoor events like this. We’ll have seating for about 30 people outside and another dozen or so inside. Not everyone will sit, so we’ll be fine.

It is a potluck, with every guest household bringing some kind of appetizer or dessert item to share. We will provide the plastic dishes, utensils, paper goods, and such. The neighborhood throws one of these potlucks about one a month. There is typically a TON of food, most of it real tasty. That’s a benefit when you live in a 55+ community: lots of good cooks.

Some of our neighbors are helping out. Our good friend “Sandy” is co-hosting, which means that she will bring water, soft drinks, ice, and some decor. I believe we are going to put her 13′ inflatable snowman in the backyard.

The Tapscotts (Darian and Barbara) are letting us use some patio furniture…a four-person setting with glass top table. Unfortunately, Darian broke one of the four glass panels when I picked it up at his house. I felt like a shit, even though it wasn’t my fault. But, the Tapscotts said, “No problem, we’ll fix it!”, so it will be ready on Friday.

One thing that we won’t have much of at this party is BOOZE. Last year, we bought eight bottles of wine and a case of beer. Virtually no one drank wine, and maybe four beers were consumed. We found out later that most of our neighbors don’t drink much, particularly at the potlucks. So, we’re skipping the alcohol freebies this time.

We’re going to need every square inch of space and seating for this party, so we will leave the French doors to the backyard patio OPEN and keep the household HVAC on “heat” for the three hours. Weather is supposed to be in high 50’s that afternoon, so we’ll tough out the chill in sweaters and such.

My left hip is just about back to normal now. It’s a bit stiff, but I have just a small limp and can do virtually everything I could before. I should be ready to PAR-TAY by Friday.

On or about March 5th of 1947, Richard and Barbara Manning were fooling around in the bedroom of their home in Los Angeles and created an embryo who, nine months later, would be named “Craig”.

I don’t remember a lot about 1947. I now know that tubeless tires and transistors were invented in that year, that the Cold War started, that UFO sightings occurred near Roswell, New Mexico, that the sound barrier was broken, and that the C.I.A. and the State of Israel were created.

Little Craig was oblivious to that, as he spent most of his time eating, crying, vomiting, pooping, and sleeping. That was his job back then, and he was good at it.

My memories started in the Fifties. I can remember my Mom sewing clothes for me, my Kindergarten teacher “Mrs. Harvey”, riding my first bike, playing (baseball) catch with my Dad, and our German Shepard dog, “Duke”.

My Dad was a Ford mechanic and he worked in downtown Los Angeles. My Mom didn’t work, as she was busy in the Fifties having babies and tending to our (eventual) family of six. Our family income wasn’t great, but my parents raised us with a lot of love and special treats, like camping and going to the beach. My Dad and a buddy built us a ski boat called “Skisix”, and we spent a lot of time water skiing behind that boat.

My older brother Terry used to torment me and make fun of me when we were around the other neighborhood kids. He was bigger than the other boys, and could be a bit of a bully. My sisters, Kellie and Claudia, were several years younger than me, and I don’t recall engaging with them much at all way back then. Mostly, my brother and I hung around with our next door neighbor Mike and another neighbor named Paul. We got into all sorts of mischief, but neighbors would always point out the “redheads” as the culprits.

The Fifties were cool. Rock ‘n Roll was just getting started, televisions were beginning to appear in most homes, gasoline was 25 cents or less per gallon, and our neighborhood was thick with lots of traveling salesmen (Fuller Brush, Kirby Vacuum, Encyclopedia Britannica, etc.) and Good Humor Ice Cream and Helms Bakery trucks, and milk products were delivered to our back door every morning by the Carnation “milk man”.

I recall giant tail fins on cars (a neighbor of ours had a huge, garish Cadillac with oodles of chrome goodies) , TVs with porthole screens, girls swooning over Rickey Nelson on the “Ozzie and Harriet Show”, transistor radios, Hula Hoops, Pogo Sticks, Bozo the Clown, and such.

Our little 4-person neighborhood gang stopped by at a soda counter one day for a 25 cent Coke and the waitress was sobbing uncontrolably. That’s when she told us that the private plane had gone down carrying Buddy Holley, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Awwwwww. We hardly knew the guys.

My Mom, beginning late in the 1950’s (I believe), sold Avon cosmetics to pick up some extra coin for the household. She didn’t really need the stuff herself; she was naturally beautiful. Back in the early Fifties she was a brunette; later in the decade she began to color her hair strawberry blonde, probably to match three of her children.

My mother would make us a lunch each day for school. Along with a sandwich and milk in the thermos, she would always put some special item in the lunch pail that would let me know how much she cared. I loved it when she would include a homemade chocolate eclair. All the other guys would drool in envy when I whipped out that puppy. Mmmmmmm!

The first President that I remember was Dwight D. Eisenhower. He looked to me to be very old, wise, and dignified. I learned that he had been a military hero in World War II, and I remember that he liked golfing to relax. His Vice President was Richard Nixon who, on TV, always seemed to be sweating and in need of a shave.

Occasionally, the family would go in our station wagon to the drive-in movies. My brother and I liked it because we would spend intermission playing on the swing sets down by the giant screen. Then, we’d go back to the car and eat popcorn while we watched the movie. Sci-Fi was big then: “Forbidden Planet”, “The Blob”, “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, “Godzilla”, etc. Good stuff.

I liked baseball from an early age. My Dad had been a high school pitcher, at nearby Alhambra High, back in the day. He was a tall, lanky guy who could still bring the heat even when he was playing an innocent game of “catch” with his young son. I ended up playing Little League, was a pretty good second baseman, and in 1958 we won the City championship. I don’t recall my Dad ever attending one of my games, probably because he worked so hard and didn’t get home until the evening.

He loved to read when he had time to. I can remember him doing the newspaper crossword puzzle every evening, in ink. He got me into that, as well as reading history books. My Dad was a fan of Winston Churchill, so we read all of his stuff. In addition, my Dad convinced my Mom to pop for the Encyclopedia Britannica set, which I pored over every time I got a chance.

Somehow, my parents scraped together enough money to go halfsies on a vacation house down in Ensenada, Mexico. My Dad and a work buddy named “Gordy” actually built a structure onto a travel trailer, so that the adults could sleep in the trailer, and the kids could sleep in the add-on structure in bunk beds. We had that vacation house for many years, and spent a lot of neat times down there swimming, waterskiing, fishing, and (my parents) scuba diving. We ate lobster so much that we would complain about it. My brother and I became junior arsonists, collecting fizzled firecrackers and making little bombs and we would blow up on the beach. Lots of fun, although I did have a firecracker go off in my hand once. Owwwwwwwww!

My parents, although not religious, sent Terry and I off to Sunday School when we were young. We learned the basics. However, our core values were learned at home where the Golden Rule was taught and observed.

My Mom had basically raised herself in a household of alcoholics, while my Dad had been raised by his parents with a good deal of freedom…as long as he didn’t “cross the line”. We knew where that line was and, if we crossed it, we could expect a painful spanking. My Dad had fashioned a paddle in his garage shop, made out of carnauba wood, which got the job done, believe you me. Before the drama began, my Dad would always say, “This hurts me more than it hurts you!” (I scoffed at that back then, but, later, when I became a Dad, I felt exactly the same way.)

I think that the most valuable lesson that I learned from my parents was a sense of honor: “Do the right thing”, be kind to others, don’t lie, cheat, or steal, etc.

And, they were great role models: hardworking, loving, and fun-loving, too.

I am 72 years old today, and I know I was blessed to grow up in the Manning household.

“Thanks for the memories, Mom and Dad!”

It’s that time of year again when the Catholic Church, in a desperate effort to increase attendance at Christmas services, can be expected to publicly surface some of its thousands of supposedly authentic religious relics.

This week the big news is the world tour of some wood from Jesus’ manger (i.e. crib) from Bethlehem. This teeny inches-long piece of wood is normally kept in the Cathedral of St. Mary Maggiore in Rome. Charlie and I paid our respects thirty something years ago when we were visiting Italy. It looked like plain wood to me.

The supposed manger relic came to light in the 7^th century when it was brought from the Middle East to Pope Theodore I. It was vouched for by St. Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. So, of course, it was accepted as the real McCoy, as were tens of thousand of other supposed authentic relics from the Holy Lands that found their way to Catholic churches around the world.

Interestingly, there is no historical evidence of any veneration of the supposed birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth until long after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4^th century. That means that the crude stables noted in the Gospel of Luke containing Jesus’ manger would have had to survive 300 years plus in the Middle East climate…before any Christian faithful would have commenced a search for artifacts of the Holy birth and made a big deal out of the little backwater town of Bethlehem.

The provenance of the supposed Cradle of Bethlehem (i.e. the venerated manger wood) leaves much to be desired, particularly since…the alleged Holy wood shavings were scientifically examined and were found to have been manufactured from an 8^th century packing crate.

That’s what the Vatican is proudly exhibiting this Christmas season to…people who want to believe.

(Note: Below I’ve incorporated some material on Christian religious relics from my book, “Disbelief”)

The person often credited with the explosion of Christian relic discoveries in the Middle East was, in fact, Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine.

By the early 4^th century, Christian clergy had insinuated themselves at the court of the Emperor and were looking for ways to: (a) legitimize the fledgling religion; and, (b) convince the Emperor to favor said religion over others. And, they had Helena in their spell.

In 327 A.D., Helena, accompanied by a retinue of glad-handing Christian clergy, visited the Holy Lands and, specifically, Jerusalem. Not surprisingly, Helena and her group then supposedly “discovered” the burial crypt of Jesus, pieces of the cross that Jesus was crucified on, some of the nails that pierced his flesh, the centurion’s sword that pierced Jesus’ body, and a bunch of other Holy items.

The fact that this considerable booty had lain around for three centuries, undisturbed by the local population, Christian converts, and Christian clergy, who would have given anything to possess such relics…is hard to believe. How lucky we are that the Emperor’s mother (Saint Helena!) just stumbled into the treasure trove…and found the very cross that Jesus was crucified upon!

(Actually, it is an historic fact that Jerusalem was leveled to the ground by the Roman army in 70 A.D. and again in 135 A.D., long after Jesus supposedly lived. Holy artifacts, had there been any, would have been buried under quite a bit of rubble, probably more than the Emperor’s mother and some pencil-necked priests could have uncovered.)

By the way, if one can believe anything that the Church says, “very soon after the discovery of the True Cross, its wood was cut up into small relics and scattered throughout Christendom”. This preposterous assertion is made by the Catholic Encyclopedia with a straight face. 

That a one-of-a-kind relic, the most symbolic and important of the Faith, would not be safeguarded in the most secure vault in Christendom, is absurd.  And, the idea that the Church fathers would desecrate such a relic, one that had Jesus’ own blood on it, is an outlandish idea.

Nowadays there are so many supposed authentic pieces of the True Cross preserved in churches and private collections, and available for purchase on E-bay, that some wag recently commented, “If all of the relics of the True Cross were brought together, there would be enough wood to build Noah’s Ark.”

Helena’s Holy Land discoveries basically instigated a Bible relic “gold rush”, wherein many Christian pilgrims and Crusaders feverishly acquired supposed Holy items from Middle Eastern con men.

Eventually, it became the norm for all Catholic churches to possess relics for adoration by the faithful.  In fact, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 decreed that every altar in every Catholic church should contain a relic.  This leant a certain holiness to the church, where the dim-witted parishioners tip-toed around the shrines in awe…exactly as the Church intended.  And, it started a stampede in the “authentic” relic business.

That is exactly how the Cathedral of St. Mary Maggiore in Rome came to possess its piece of “authentic” manger wood which is now being publicly displayed by the Vatican.

(This fascination and obsession with presumed holy objects was reaffirmed by the Council of Trent in 1546, which forbade the consecration of any Church without a supply of relics.)

Other dubious Christian relics residing in churches and cathedrals, and not currently on tour, include:

The Crown of Thorns – Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, said in 409 A.D. that the “thorns with which our Saviour was crowned” resided in Jerusalem.  The crown was amazingly produced by Bishop Gregory of Tours (in what is now France) in the 6^th century.  At that time, the Bishop reported that “the thorns in the Crown still looked green, a freshness which was miraculously renewed every day”, to which the Catholic Encyclopedia has skeptically remarked “does not much strengthen testimony for the authenticity of the relic”.  The relic was passed around Europe for hundreds of years, which is another indication that it was probably inauthentic.

The Crown of Thorns that is preserved in the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris has been carbon dated to around 695 A.D., only about six hundred years “newer” than the one Jesus wore.

The Holy Lance – This is reputedly the lance with which one of the Roman centurions pierced Jesus’ side while he was on the cross.  It is also known as the Spear of Longinus, the supposed Roman Centurion.  This lance is supposedly the same one found in the tomb by Saint Helen.  It is alleged to have appeared in Jerusalem in the 6^th century, after apparently being lost for several hundred years.  Later, it supposedly fell into the hands of pagans.

In 1241,the point of the lance was supposedly presented by King Baldwin of Jerusalem to St. Louis during the Crusades.  It was then enshrined in the Sainte Chapelle cathedral in Paris along with…the Crown of Thorns, if that can be believed.

Other Holy Lances or parts thereof are claimed to be preserved under the dome of St. Peter’s in Rome, at a cathedral in Nuremberg, and two others are said to be preserved, one in Vienna and the other in Cracow.

One of the curiosities about the “Holy Lance” is that it was an important piece of armament of the Roman centurion.  That a military man would have given up his weapon (which in most armies is a crime) to someone at the Crucifixion event is quite preposterous.  How it supposedly ended up in a tomb along with all of the other named items involved in the Holy Event is a bigger mystery.  Especially since it was then misplaced for several hundred years.

The Holy Stairs — This is allegedly the very stairway “consisting of twenty-eight white marble steps…the stairway leading once to the Praetorium of Pilate, hence sanctified by the footsteps of Our Lord during his Passion”, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.  Supposedly this 300 year-old relic was brought from Jerusalem to Rome by Saint Helena in 326, although the alleged eyewitness Bishop Macarius failed to note this enormous item at the time.  The “stairway” now leads to the Sancta Sanctorum (Holy of Holies) of the Lateran Palace in Rome.

The alleged discovery of this large intact relic by amateur archaeologist Saint Helen is truly a miracle, considering that all of the main buildings of Jerusalem were razed (completely destroyed) twice by the Romans in 70 and 135 A.D.  Normally, real archaeologists dig for years before they uncover bits and shards of historic material.  Yet, the amateur relic hunter, Saint Helen, on a brief pilgrimage to Jerusalem, was able to uncover some of the most unique treasures of Christendom, buried under hundreds of years of debris and subsequent building.  In addition, neither Helena, Bishop Macarius, or anyone else accompanying the ex-Empress could have possibly known what the real stairway looked like, since it had last been standing 200 years previously.

Despite all of that, Saint Helena was able to confidently declare, “Yes, those are the Holy Stairs!”

The Holy Nails — These spikes are allegedly the ones that secured Jesus to his cross.  Saint Helena discovered four of them in the infamous vault adjacent to the supposed Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 326 A.D.  According to legend, she is said to have taken them to Constantinople.  Two were worked into her son’s helmet and bridle, and the others were (honest to God!)…cast into the Adriatic Sea to calm a storm.

Constantine’s helmet, the Iron Crown of Lombardy, is in the cathedral at Monza, Italy, while the bridle is in Carpentras, France or Milan, Italy, depending on who you believe.  Other Holy Nail repositories are located in Rome, Naples, and Venice.  And, the bottom of the ocean.

Two additional nails were found in 1990 in the supposed grave of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest who supposedly organized the plot to kill Jesus.

The Catholic Encyclopedia says, “Little reliance can be placed upon the authenticity of the 30 or more holy nails which are still venerated.”  That is an understatement.

The Titulus Crucis – This is the title board (“This is the King of the Jews”) that Pilate allegedly ordered placed on the cross.  Saint Helena supposedly found this on her fateful trip to Jerusalem.  She supposedly divided it into three pieces, of which only one remains…at Rome’s Church of the Holy Cross.

Modern science has determined that the Titulus Crucis is a forgery.  Not only does it contain linguistic problems in the way it is written, but it has been radiocarbon-dated within the 980 to 1146 A.D. range.  This corresponds closely to the period in the 12^th century when the artifact was first acquired by the Church of the Holy Cross.

The Holy Robe – This is the seamless garment that Jesus wore on his way to Calvary.  It was allegedly in Saint Helena’s treasure trove but it disappeared for many hundreds of years.  One story has it that the Byzantine Empress Irene made a gift of the Holy Robe to Charlemagne in 800 A.D.  The remains of that robe are supposedly preserved in a Benedictine church in France.

On the other hand, on May 1, 1196 A.D., Archbishop Johann I of Trier (near Luxembourg) consecrated the altar of his church, which allegedly contained the Holy Robe.

But, wait a minute!  The Eastern Orthodox Church also has several authentic Holy Robes.  One of them is preserved to this day in a crypt in the Patriarchal Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.  Other portions of the robe (evidently this official copy was divided up) are venerated in Saint Petersburg, Russia in two cathedrals, one at the Winter Palace and the other at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Still more are allegedly housed at the Cathedral of the Dormition, in Moscow, at Kiev’s Sophia Cathedral, and at the Ipatiev monastery near Kostroma.  One supposes that they need a lot of robes in Russia because it gets so cold there.

The bible only verifies one official Jesus Robe, and that one was won by the centurion who prevailed when the Roman security contingent “cast lots” to determine who would own it.  Why he would later throw it in the sepulchre with all of the other Crucifixion goodies is a mystery to us all.  And, there is no mention in the Bible of the carpenter’s son owning a wardrobe of…robes.

The Holy Burial Shroud – Jesus’ body was supposedly wrapped in a linen shroud before he was placed in the sepulchre.  Saint Helena allegedly discovered the authentic shroud in 326.  However, like all of the other invaluable treasures she supposedly found, the shroud disappeared from sight for many centuries.

A large quantity of alleged Holy Burial Shrouds were trafficked within Europe during the Middle Ages.  It was the time of the “holy relic” craze, and between 26 and 40 “authentic” burial shrouds were preserved throughout the abbeys of Europe at that time.

In 1355, one of them was exhibited at the Church of St. Mary in Lirey, France.  Supposedly it had been given to the church by a French knight, Geoffroy de Charny.  This is the supposed authentic item that has become known as the “Shroud of Turin”.  It is a yellowed, 14-foot long linen that appears to contain the image of a crucified man.  The Shroud of Turin has gone on to become probably the most famous Christian relic of all time.

However, the earliest written record of this particular holy shroud is a Catholic bishop’s report to Pope Clement VII, dated 1389, stating that it originated as part of a faith-healing scheme.  The Bishop of Troyes, Henri of Poitiers, alleged “pretended miracles” being staged to defraud credulous pilgrims, and stated that his predecessor bishop had “discovered the fraud and how the said cloth had been cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who had painted it”.

Yes, the forger had copped to the crime in 1389.

As a result of these revelations, in 1390, Pope Clement VII declared that it (the Shroud of Turin) was not the true shroud but could be used as a representation of the real thing, provided the faithful be told that it was not genuine.  This has since been done, but with a wink.

Because of that, millions of faithful have continued to venerate the phony relic in the seven hundred years since.

Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud in 1988 showed that the linen material was made between 1260 and 1390, which indicates that the shroud was a relatively recent forgery when the Pope correctly declared it one in 1390.

Yet, millions of Christian faithful continue to believe that the Shroud of Turin actually touched Jesus.

The previously-discussed items are those vouched-for relics that were supposedly uncovered by Saint Helena in 326.  However, many other items have surfaced over the years to populate church altars and monastic shrines throughout the world.

For example, twenty-one different churches in Europe at one time claimed to possess the Holy Foreskin of Jesus.  The first one (there can only be one, right?) surfaced in 800 A.D., when Charlemagne presented it as a gift to Pope Leo III.  That someone attending Jesus’ bris in Bethlehem had the foresight to pick up this useless piece of flesh demonstrates amazing foresight.

The Shroud of Orvieto is a bloodstained cloth said to have covered Jesus’ head after he died.  Supposedly, it was found in Jerusalem in the 6^th century.  That’s right, almost six hundred years after the Crucifixion, in a city that was totally demolished twice, someone just happened to see the precious relic lying in the road!

The Holy Sponge is that which was dipped in vinegar and given to Christ to drink during the crucifixion.  Some other lucky treasure hunter found this item by chance in Jerusalem…about one hundred years after that other charlatan “discovered” the Shroud of Ovieto.  This fake sponge, presumably still reeking of vinegar, resides in the Santa Croce Church in Rome, with several fake fragments of the True Cross, one of the fake Holy Nails, and several of the fake thorns from Jesus’ crown.

The Throne of St. Peter is also displayed in Rome, at the Vatican.  Supposedly, it was the chair that the first pope sat in.  However, there is no historical evidence (even in the Bible) that St. Peter ever made it to Rome, and, if he did, he was not a pope at the time and certainly didn’t sit on this pretentious chair.

Other well-known relics, of which there are many “duplicates”, include:

                A Drop of the Breast Milk of the Virgin Mary

                A Vial of Christ’s Blood

                One of Jesus’ Baby Teeth

                Swaddling Clothes of the Baby Jesus

                The Umbilical Cord of Jesus

                The Cloak of the Blessed Virgin

                The Loin Cloth worn by Jesus on the Cross

                The Remains of the Three Wise Men

Wing and Tail Feathers of the Holy Ghost

Manna that Fell from Heaven in 371 A.D.

The Sweat of St. Michael (from his tussle with Satan)

All of the above fake relics were purchased and proudly venerated by naïve Christians and Catholic churches during the Middle Ages.  The supposed sacred items were the crowd-pullers of the Medieval age.  Any church of monastery that could lay claim to a relic would be assured a steady stream of fee-paying pilgrims.  P.T. Barnum would have been proud.

What was the Catholic Church’s attitude about relics that were most likely fakes?  As the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it, “Supposing the relic to be spurious, NO DISHONOR IS DONE TO GOD by the continuance of an error handed down in perfect good faith for many centuries”!

In other words, if a church enticed parishioners and pilgrims for centuries on the basis of particular “sacred” relic, the Church presumption is that no one could have possibly known that the relic was fake…even if it was a preposterous forgery on its face.  A good example would be the many churches in Europe that venerate supposed samples of the breast milk of the Virgin Mary.

The bottom line, as quoted by the Catholic Encyclopedia, is this: “…the Church is tolerant of ‘pious beliefs’ which have helped to further Christianity”.

No shit.

It seems to me that “fake news” has been around for a long time, and that snake oil salesmen, like our President, have learned well from the masters of the art…the Catholic Church.

“People believe what they want to believe.”