Peace and Comfort

[Keri]

I just read this week's commentary. One of the emails from a Sylvia fan struck me. I don' think that Randi should necessarily respond to these folks, but, just in case the subject comes up again. I would like to go on the record as saying that he has certainly brought me peace and comfort. I am comforted by the knowledge that there are leaders like Randi who will fight against pseudo-science and scam artists. I find peace in the knowledge that reason and compassion will continue to have a place in our culture as long as there are skeptics like him around. I also suspect that I am not alone. I would bet that there are many others whose lives have been enriched by his efforts.

[jmercer]

Nicely said. Welcome, by the way. :)

[Keri]

Originally posted by jmercer:
Nicely said. Welcome, by the way.

Thank you for the kind words and the welcome!:)

[JLam]

Welcome Keri,

I think you'll find that you'll like it here :)

[Brown]

Originally posted by Keri
I would like to go on the record as saying that he [Randi] has certainly brought me peace and comfort. I am comforted by the knowledge that there are leaders like Randi who will fight against pseudo-science and scam artists. I find peace in the knowledge that reason and compassion will continue to have a place in our culture as long as there are skeptics like him around. In the final years of her life, one of my dear relatives gave money--lots of money--to faith healers. These faith healers were batting .000, but that did not faze her. She felt that she too had been healed by one of these charlatans, just a few years before she died.

This series of events soured me on televangelists and faith healers, who preyed upon those who were desperate and who sincerely believed that those who used the name of the Almighty could not possibly tell lies.

When I read Mr. Randi's "The Faith Healers," I was already angry. The tenor of the book was angry too, and that emotion resonated.

A few years later, it was my pleasure to meet Mr. Randi and shake his hand, and to treat him to a dinner at a fine restaurant. It is hard to express the gratification that I felt for being able to repay--in some small way--the man who stood up to these shameless pretenders.

(By the way, I've been to Westminster many times, and always loved it.)

[Keri]

jlam4911:

Thank you for the welcome. Everyone is great here!

Brown: I too get very angry when I see people being taken advantage of. Often times when I talk to friends or family they think that there is no harm in pseudo-science, faith healers and the like. I disagree, the scam artists take peoples time and money (often money they can't really afford to spend). Also, dishonesty, even when it causes no harm and is innocuous, feels to me like an insult to humanity.

James Randi and all the other active skeptics in the world are doing really good work!