RSLancastr
2nd July 2010, 09:58 PM
STOPJAMESVANPRAAGH ========== RSL IN JVPLAND: CHAPTER 5: THE TWO JAMESES ==========
As I mentioned earlier, JVP said some vile things about James Randi when he and I
chatted. And most of us have read in Swift where Randi has expressed his strong views
on Van Praagh. There is certainly no love lost between them. For a while during that
strange month, I found myself emailing both of them about the other.
But early on in that month, the following happened:
First, in my research into JVP that month, I ran across a mention that, in May of 2009,
Van Praagh had announced on Larry King Live that he was in a same-sex marriage. No
shocker, right? I had assumed he was gay the first time I saw him. But for him to
announce his marriage on national television is, to me, a very big deal. He says that
his "spiritual" books have helped thousands of people. And I have no doubt that a lot
of people have told him that very thing. As a skeptic, I have my doubts that those
people were truly helped by those books. But I think it possible that TONS of people -
primarily gay teens - were truly helped by Van Praagh's announcement on LKL. I can
easily imagine an unhappy gay teen seeing this man - successful in his field -
expressing his love for his husband on national television, and seeing hope for
themselves and their futures. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but that is what I
see.
So one afternoon not long after reading about this, I was in the JVP chat Lobby when JVP
came in. He said something (perhaps he asked me how Susan was doing, I don't recall)
which made me think ofit and I said "Hey JVP, I just read about your marriage -
congrats!" He said something like "thanks, yes, I announced it on Larry King Live!"
I said "say, did you hear about Randi's announcement a couple of weeks ago?"
He said "No, what - he believes in psychics now?"
"No, he 'came out' in his blog!"
"He 'came out' about what?"
"as a homosexual!"
After a pause, JVP said "Randi is gay?!?! Somebody hand me a barf bag!"
Nope, no love lost there.
So, what did Randi have to say to me about Van Praagh?
As I mentioned earlier, Van Praagh had offered us free tickets to see him perform in
Grant's Pass, Oregon on June 25th. I thought that it was fair to give JVP the chance to
show me his stuff, and I felt that I knew enough about cold reading to not be fooled by
it. I also felt that seeing himin person before I even created a site about him would
nip in the bud any "you'd know he was real if you just saw him in person" criticisms of
the site, like ones I had received regarding Browne. My main concern was the fact that
Van Praagh had plenty of time to do research on me for "hot reading." What if he came
up with something about me which I could not explain could be obtained through
non-mediumistic means? Others on his site had heard I would be at the Grant's Pass
show, and were anxious to hear how it would go. Would JVP "convert" the skeptic?
I figured that if anyone could warn me of the pitfalls of such a situation, it was
Randi. I emailed him describing the situation, and asked for his advice.
Here is part of my email:
So, Randi: what do you think of the idea of me going to a VanPraagh performance? He did
not offer to give me a "reading," but I think it likely he will. He also posted on one
of my message board threads, saying "I promise I won't give you too hard a time in
Grant's Pass." There are likely to be others from the chat room at the Grant's Pass
show, so if he does a reading for me, they will likely spin it hard in the chat room.
I received a reply, which read, in part:
Interesting, Robert. I suggest that you decline to attend. You'd be
entering HIS territory, using HIS rules, before HIS fans -- who've paid big
money to be there, and HE would be in control.
In other words, "don't meet the enemy on his turf."
I was disappointed. I had hoped he would either tell me that I was sharp enough to not
be fooled, or at least give me an example of how JVP could manipulate the situation to
make me look bad. And Randi left then for Europe, not to return until after the Grant's
Pass show, so I could not press him for more details.
Randi had given me similar advice in 2008, advising me to not see Sylvia Browne at the
Excalibur. And THAT had turned out okay. But JVP seemed to be far more shrewd than
Browne. I really wanted to go - but I suredidn't want to tell Randi when he
returned that I had ignored his advice, and, worse yet, that he had been right.
There are, at most, two more chapters to this saga. I thank you all for your patience
and attention.
Thread closed; for continued discussion see: http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=179581
As I mentioned earlier, JVP said some vile things about James Randi when he and I
chatted. And most of us have read in Swift where Randi has expressed his strong views
on Van Praagh. There is certainly no love lost between them. For a while during that
strange month, I found myself emailing both of them about the other.
But early on in that month, the following happened:
First, in my research into JVP that month, I ran across a mention that, in May of 2009,
Van Praagh had announced on Larry King Live that he was in a same-sex marriage. No
shocker, right? I had assumed he was gay the first time I saw him. But for him to
announce his marriage on national television is, to me, a very big deal. He says that
his "spiritual" books have helped thousands of people. And I have no doubt that a lot
of people have told him that very thing. As a skeptic, I have my doubts that those
people were truly helped by those books. But I think it possible that TONS of people -
primarily gay teens - were truly helped by Van Praagh's announcement on LKL. I can
easily imagine an unhappy gay teen seeing this man - successful in his field -
expressing his love for his husband on national television, and seeing hope for
themselves and their futures. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but that is what I
see.
So one afternoon not long after reading about this, I was in the JVP chat Lobby when JVP
came in. He said something (perhaps he asked me how Susan was doing, I don't recall)
which made me think ofit and I said "Hey JVP, I just read about your marriage -
congrats!" He said something like "thanks, yes, I announced it on Larry King Live!"
I said "say, did you hear about Randi's announcement a couple of weeks ago?"
He said "No, what - he believes in psychics now?"
"No, he 'came out' in his blog!"
"He 'came out' about what?"
"as a homosexual!"
After a pause, JVP said "Randi is gay?!?! Somebody hand me a barf bag!"
Nope, no love lost there.
So, what did Randi have to say to me about Van Praagh?
As I mentioned earlier, Van Praagh had offered us free tickets to see him perform in
Grant's Pass, Oregon on June 25th. I thought that it was fair to give JVP the chance to
show me his stuff, and I felt that I knew enough about cold reading to not be fooled by
it. I also felt that seeing himin person before I even created a site about him would
nip in the bud any "you'd know he was real if you just saw him in person" criticisms of
the site, like ones I had received regarding Browne. My main concern was the fact that
Van Praagh had plenty of time to do research on me for "hot reading." What if he came
up with something about me which I could not explain could be obtained through
non-mediumistic means? Others on his site had heard I would be at the Grant's Pass
show, and were anxious to hear how it would go. Would JVP "convert" the skeptic?
I figured that if anyone could warn me of the pitfalls of such a situation, it was
Randi. I emailed him describing the situation, and asked for his advice.
Here is part of my email:
So, Randi: what do you think of the idea of me going to a VanPraagh performance? He did
not offer to give me a "reading," but I think it likely he will. He also posted on one
of my message board threads, saying "I promise I won't give you too hard a time in
Grant's Pass." There are likely to be others from the chat room at the Grant's Pass
show, so if he does a reading for me, they will likely spin it hard in the chat room.
I received a reply, which read, in part:
Interesting, Robert. I suggest that you decline to attend. You'd be
entering HIS territory, using HIS rules, before HIS fans -- who've paid big
money to be there, and HE would be in control.
In other words, "don't meet the enemy on his turf."
I was disappointed. I had hoped he would either tell me that I was sharp enough to not
be fooled, or at least give me an example of how JVP could manipulate the situation to
make me look bad. And Randi left then for Europe, not to return until after the Grant's
Pass show, so I could not press him for more details.
Randi had given me similar advice in 2008, advising me to not see Sylvia Browne at the
Excalibur. And THAT had turned out okay. But JVP seemed to be far more shrewd than
Browne. I really wanted to go - but I suredidn't want to tell Randi when he
returned that I had ignored his advice, and, worse yet, that he had been right.
There are, at most, two more chapters to this saga. I thank you all for your patience
and attention.
Thread closed; for continued discussion see: http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=179581