Sue St.Clair and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

Don't worry about collateral damage! Launch the nukes!

No one has ever assumed that dealing with paranormal studies would be an easy, downhill ride.

All of us, good and bad, know that there are many detractors and vehement "non-believers" who will decry us, make lame excuses for why we're wasting our time, and generally say that everyone who believes in the paranormal is wonky and anyone who looks into the paranormal is the lead of the wonky-ites.

In fact, so brutal is this that the vehement "non-believers" are truly a church and religion unto themselves... the "cult of non-belief"... and are as passionate and nasty as any believer or "woo-woo"... and at times, far worse.

Now, enough pixels have been used to explain the difference between a "sceptic" and a "non-believer"... a sceptic doubts, but does not deny. A sceptic is waiting for better evidence to make a decision, not dismissing everything out-of-hand without dint of evidence or clinging to an even more ludicrous "explanation" for things when even less evidence supports the explanation than supports the initial report.

That said, the leaders of the cults of non-belief and poor science try to rally their faithful by telling them that they are the BASTIONS of education and without them, the human race would become a mass of mouth-breathing idiots duped by those of "us" who are out to soak them for their cash or willpower... interesting for groups that proclaim "science" as their mantra... but ignore the concept of the hypothesis...

Anyway... Here's one for ya... they are partially correct... but this would be the equivalent of saying I found a case of a bad policeman who is on the take! What!?! There's MORE THAN ONE!?! DISBAND ALL POLICE FORCES IMMEDIATELY!

I believe that a little review of some people within the field is a VERY good thing... and on occasion, through the lack of real peer review within these studies, "groups" and "people" do fall through the cracks and some really bad folks get a pulpit from which to preach their brand of poison...

For example, as a kid watching The Amazing Randi on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson perform "psychic surgery" did more to convince me of fraud, hoaxery, and trickery than almost anything else...

...that said, it's one thing to PROVE something to be a fraud... it's another thing to QUESTION something publicly and ask for better answers...

...but recently, it was taken WAY too far by the "Cult of Non-Believers"... it transcended to "hate".

A "group" in the states started a spoof-site about a popular "ghost" TV program... they spoofed the name and generally were SUPPOSED to find the problems and yes, "dirt" on the stars of said program.

This, again, is laudable and should be done.

...and then they found something... and then went too far...

The TV stars claimed to be "Non-Profit", but when an examination turned up that they hadn't registered as "Non-Profit" (and you can't call a group or organization non-profit without registration,) they went at 'em...

...which is fine...

Heck, we GENTLY went at the same folks long before their TV stardom for using "Dr." in front of their names... it was a non-accredited title, and made them and that's something we at PSICAN can't stand... you want to USE the word "doctor", EARN the degree, don't buy it online.

To their credit, they DID remove the phony accreditation from their site and names, and actually used our arguments against another group they had issues with... which we found kind of amusing, personally.

...but when we did find this ill-use of "doctoral" titles, we went after them gently... using facts... and that's all...

Sure, we had and have other issues with them, but that was the real humdinger for us.

Now, learning about this non-filed "Non-Profit" thing would be another issue for us as we're currently trying VERY hard to do our filing and get accepted as a charity in Canada... but we are VERY careful about the words and verbiage we use... and to find out that these "stars" use those words without taking the appropriate steps is irritating at the least... and we SHOULD be on board with the "spoof site"... until we found this out...

The spoof site gave the TV star's exact address, and phone number out publicly on their website.

I know that at least one of these TV "stars" has a family... a wife and child... and as much as this cult wanted to mock him and make him suffer, what right did they have to go that personal?

...apparently they did not as they were forced to remove the offending data.

Still, think about it... We believe these people are dishonest! We almost have proof and evidence! We're so adamant in our conviction we invite EVERY WEIRDO ONLINE to VISIT THEIR HOME and CHAT WITH THEIR FAMILY!

You lost me there...

When did the concept of investigative debate become drawing personal attention to a persons home and family? Do you believe this fellow's kid (or kids) were the ones that put the words "Non-Profit" on their website and documents?

What COULD have been a decent debate and possibly some relevant data and information that MIGHT have helped stop something bad became a ridiculous flame-war with The Cult of Non-Belief becoming bullies and, more-or-less, stalkers.

This SHREDDED their credibility with me personally... and many that I know both in sceptical organizations, and within the field of paranormal study.

It also doesn't help that their "spoof" site seems altogether "media friendly" with a somewhat "sexy" picture as their top logo... I know when I want the truth and good evidence, I look for the "babe" in the skimpy top as the logo graphic!

Far from being bastions of education, literacy, and with the "common good" in mind, these people have simply shown themselves to be nothing better than hate-filled wannabe media whores in our opinion, hoping for their fifteen minutes of nasty fame... and thus, despite any worthy data or arguments they bring to the field, their stupidity overshadows anything else.

Flame wars are pointless... and those masquerading as "educated" and "doing the right thing" that seem only interested in a scrap are worthy of this week's SMACKDOWN!