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Criticism on Feng Shui

Victorian-era commentators on feng shui were generally ethnocentric, and as such skeptical and derogatory of what little they knew of feng shui. In 1896 at a meeting of the Educational Association of China, Rev. P.W. Pitcher railed at the "rottenness of the whole scheme of Chinese architecture," and urged fellow missionaries "to erect unabashedly Western edifices of several stories and with towering spires in order to destroy nonsense about fung-shuy." Ernest Eitel derided it as a form of superstition, "a conglomeration of rough guesses at nature, sublimated by fanciful play with puerile diagrams." Modern Christians have a similar opinion of feng shui.     It is entirely inconsistent with Christianity to believe that harmony and balance result from the manipulation and channeling of nonphysical forces or energies, or that such can be done by means of the proper placement of physical objects. Such techniques, in fact, belong to the world of sorcery. Feng Shui practitioners have been skeptical of claims and methods in the "cultural supermarket." Mark Johnson made a telling point:     This present state of affairs is ludicrous and confusing. Do we really believe that mirrors and flutes are going to change people's tendencies in any lasting and meaningful way? ... There is a lot of investigation that needs to be done or we will all go down the tubes because of our inability to match our exaggerated claims with lasting changes. A travelogue-type article from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry explained feng shui initially as "a commonsense alignment of structures to conform to the shape of the land, an idea shared by any sensible architect in a land fraught with typhoons and torrential rains." However, after reading two books (one by field researcher Ole Bruun), the writer's conclusion was that feng shui "is more of a mystical belief in cosmic harmony." Penn & Teller did an episode of their television show Bullshit! that featured several Feng Shui practitioners in the US, and was highly critical of the inconsistent (and frequently odd) advice. In the show, the entertainers make the important point that if it is a science as some claim, why isn't there a consistent methodology? People have reacted skeptically towards the alleged benefits of crystals, wind chimes, table fountains, and mirrored balls, etc., on one's life, finances, and relationships. Often, these claims are dismissed as New Age, pseudoscience, relying on the placebo effect, or even outright fraud. Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form Name Email Website Title Comment Write the displayed characters Add Comment Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.

 

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