Crap Detectors

In "Teaching as a Subversive Activity, " Neil Postman
and Charles Weingartner argued that "crap detectors" have
played a key role in history:

One way of looking at the history of the human
group is that it has been a continuing struggle
against the veneration of 'crap.' Our
intellectual history is a chronicle of the anguish
and suffering of men who tried to help their
contemporaries see that some part of their fondest
beliefs were misconceptions, faulty assumptions,
superstitions, and even outright lies. (p. 3).

--
Reminds me of a song
"earth has no sorrow"

it's time to get the lash it's time to get the rope
sharpen the razor grab the microscope
it won't be pretty when they cut the tether
sometimes you lose your address to find your shelter

why is joy something i must steal
starving skeletons looking for a meal
out in the graveyard the church bells peal
earth has no sorrow heaven can't heal

i bought a crap detector it emptied all my savings
it's got a hair trigger feel for the slightest provocation
not there to spill blood or judge out of line
it's just a modern convenience to save you some time

johnny says to sarah as he takes her by the hand
"i hear angels 'cross that river in beulahland"
the waters are cold and they're deep my friend
i'm going down down down and coming up again

i'm checking my closets since i don't know when
surely life is more than learning how to live with your skeletons
wind swing low whisper in my ears
wind swing low dry these tears

--"earth has no sorrow"
by bill mallonee and vigilantes of love