Million Dollar Challenge and Psychics who avoid it.

[Haunted]

I get so tired of hearing the same excuse from psychics that the money has never been substantiated... in all actuality would it matter if it was actually available to someone who passed the test or not? I imagine that million dollars would pale in comparison to the potential future profits of someone who has actually "proven" themselves to be a psychic. The books, the clients... $750 might sound cheap to pay if the psychic had actually proven themselves in the public eye under scientific method, why not charge $2000 a reading then? Who wouldn't pay top dollar for a "real" psychic?... the profit potential is infinite. This claim of the million dollars not being able to be proven is getting old, and I am losing my patience with them. I am so glad there are sites now like stopsylvia.com... it's time to take the fight to them. I just pray more will follow in these footsteps, I like the idea of the stopallisondubois.com site as well.

Ryan

[Reno]

pray?

[Haunted]

Pray: to hope strongly for something.

[Beady]

Wrong. Prayer is a request for God to change His mind. Why He would do that, when He already knows the outcome, is beyond me.

[Haunted]

Main Entry: pray
Pronunciation: \ˈprā\
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French prier, praer, preier, from Latin precari, from prec-, prex request, prayer; akin to Old High German frāga question, frāgēn to ask, Sanskrit pṛcchati he asks
Date: 13th century
transitive verb
1 : entreat, implore — often used as a function word in introducing a question, request, or plea <pray be careful>
2 : to get or bring by praying
intransitive verb
1 : to make a request in a humble manner
2 : to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving


I'm pretty sure I know the manner of which I would wish to use the word... but thanks for your definition... when you finish that dictionary let me know. :D I'll be more careful of my wording in future posts.

[George]

Main Entry: pray
Pronunciation: \ˈprā\
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French prier, praer, preier, from Latin precari, from prec-, prex request, prayer; akin to Old High German frāga question, frāgēn to ask, Sanskrit pṛcchati he asks
Date: 13th century
transitive verb
1 : entreat, implore — often used as a function word in introducing a question, request, or plea <pray be careful>
2 : to get or bring by praying
intransitive verb
1 : to make a request in a humble manner
2 : to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving


I'm pretty sure I know the manner of which I would wish to use the word... but thanks for your definition... when you finish that dictionary let me know. :D I'll be more careful of my wording in future posts.

You mean their's going to be more of this :eek:

My high lites.

[vexed]

I agree Haunted, but it's hard to convince some that psychics are truly frauds.

[Brattus]

I get so tired of hearing the same excuse from psychics that the money has never been substantiated... in all actuality would it matter if it was actually available to someone who passed the test or not? I imagine that million dollars would pale in comparison to the potential future profits of someone who has actually "proven" themselves to be a psychic. The books, the clients... $750 might sound cheap to pay if the psychic had actually proven themselves in the public eye under scientific method, why not charge $2000 a reading then? Who wouldn't pay top dollar for a "real" psychic?... the profit potential is infinite. This claim of the million dollars not being able to be proven is getting old, and I am losing my patience with them. I am so glad there are sites now like stopsylvia.com... it's time to take the fight to them. I just pray more will follow in these footsteps, I like the idea of the stopallisondubois.com site as well.

Ryan

OK. What else are they going to say? No one has or ever had psychic powers. Knowing that, they can't say the reason they don't take the challenge is because they are frauds or anything having to do with their "powers".
So all they are left with is the excuse that the challenge is rigged or somehow dishonest. That's why you hear it over and over.
I hope your prayers bring you some form of comfort. If I were you I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any changes in anything because of said prayers.

[angrybeliever]

OK. What else are they going to say? No one has or ever had psychic powers. Knowing that, they can't say the reason they don't take the challenge is because they are frauds or anything having to do with their "powers".
So all they are left with is the excuse that the challenge is rigged or somehow dishonest. That's why you hear it over and over.
I hope your prayers bring you some form of comfort. If I were you I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any changes in anything because of said prayers.

And in the meantime, Sylvia and others like her will continue to PREY on the masses.

[Locknar]

I agree Haunted, but it's hard to convince some that psychics are truly frauds.


Psychics frauds? STOP THE PRESSES! :)

[Rasmus55]

Wrong. Prayer is a request for God to change His mind. Why He would do that, when He already knows the outcome, is beyond me.

Hmm, how about some off topic blatent god contraditions? Such as this one:

If he knows the outcome
and he changes his mind
and changes the outcome;
then he did not initially know the outcome.
Knowing the outcome of an event with certainty is a necessary qualification for an omniscient and omnipowerful being such as that posited by the traditional notion of god.
Therefore, god cannot be omniscient if he did not know the outcome having changed it himself because he did not predict that he would change his mind thereby altering the outcome.

Or;

If god is all powerful he can choose to be anything at anytime;
Can he therefore choose to be a simple piece of wood lying on the beach?
If so, to actually become a simple piece of wood with all its qualities but only its qualities, he would thus no longer be god and could not change back to the form of god (This assumes that pieces of wood as described cannot, in and of themselves, spontaneously change their forms).
God would therefore no longer exist.

Heheheh, just silly little god contradictions.

[JQH]

If God can do anything, can he make a stone that is too heavy for him to lift?

Thanks to the late Carl Sagan for this one.

[ksbluesfan]

If God can do anything, can he make a stone that is too heavy for him to lift?

Thanks to the late Carl Sagan for this one.

I don't know about God, but Chuck Norris can create a rock so heavy that even he can't lift it. And then he lifts it anyways, just to show you who Chuck Norris is.

:D

[gnome]

Why does God want things? Surely to an all powerful being, anything it wills, can come to be immediately. Why all this mucking about with free will and souls?

[arthwollipot]

Prayer can be more than just asking God to change his mind. It can also be mindless, worshipful adoration with no clear end purpose except to massage God's enormous ego.

[Brattus]

And in the meantime, Sylvia and others like her will continue to PREY on the masses.

Prey on the foolish with more money than sense.
It's very hard to sympathize with these people.

Prey on the desperate people of missing loved ones who will grasp at any straw in hopes of getting their loved ones back.
It's impossible not to sympathize with these people.
Unless your a "psychic" or your name is SylviaRox.

[JoeTheJuggler]

Sort of on this topic: when the challenge rules got re-vamped, I thought the idea was more or less to target a famous woo in public forums. I was thinking like an ad in the New York Times briefly re-hashing Sylvia Browne's agreement to take the challenge and acceptance of a protocol and then subsequent refusal. If all her bogus arguments ("the money doesn't exist" etc.) were addressed publicly, wouldn't she be pressured to face the music?

Are there any plans afoot to do something like this? I for one would contribute to a fund dedicated to that purpose.

[Haunted]

That's what I was thinking....

[Beady]

Why does God want things? Surely to an all powerful being, anything it wills, can come to be immediately. Why all this mucking about with free will and souls?

Because He treasures love that is freely given, and not coerced. That's why you go to hell if you don't love Him.

[SeekingTruth]

I get so tired of hearing the same excuse from psychics that the money has never been substantiated... in all actuality would it matter if it was actually available to someone who passed the test or not? I imagine that million dollars would pale in comparison to the potential future profits of someone who has actually "proven" themselves to be a psychic. The books, the clients... $750 might sound cheap to pay if the psychic had actually proven themselves in the public eye under scientific method, why not charge $2000 a reading then? Who wouldn't pay top dollar for a "real" psychic?... the profit potential is infinite. This claim of the million dollars not being able to be proven is getting old, and I am losing my patience with them. I am so glad there are sites now like stopsylvia.com... it's time to take the fight to them. I just pray more will follow in these footsteps, I like the idea of the stopallisondubois.com site as well.

Ryan

I'm wondering why almost everyone's focus on this thread has turned away from the message itself - the million dollar challenge and psychics proving themselves, and instead appears, at least to me, to be more about pulling one word out of the post "pray" and making so much of Ryan's choice of words. Had Ryan said "I just "HOPE" more will follow in these footsteps", rather than "I just "PRAY" more will follow in these footsteps" I assume there wouldn't be response after response dealing with one word rather than the post itself.

Based on so many discussions I've read here, I've concluded that many of the members here do not pray - do not believe in the concept of prayer. But the OP is about the million dollar challenge not about whether the poster prays or not, so why do so many feel the need to jump on Ryan's choice of word rather than addressing the topic itself? While some of you may not be people who pray, obviously the original poster does.

When someone began a thread a couple of weeks ago wanting to discuss the beliefs of the former SNS members, seeing this thread reminded me of why I, and obviously all the other former SNS members chose not to "bite" on that request. I had no desire to have my beliefs maligned by those who don't share my beliefs. Now I see clearly that I made the correct decision.

Brattus, you said, "I hope your prayers bring you some form of comfort. If I were you I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any changes in anything because of said prayers."

While I'm sure Ryan won't be holding his breath, his prayers probably do bring him some form of comfort. Prayer does that for many of us.

ST

[Rasmus55]

Sort of on this topic: when the challenge rules got re-vamped, I thought the idea was more or less to target a famous woo in public forums. I was thinking like an ad in the New York Times briefly re-hashing Sylvia Browne's agreement to take the challenge and acceptance of a protocol and then subsequent refusal. If all her bogus arguments ("the money doesn't exist" etc.) were addressed publicly, wouldn't she be pressured to face the music?

Are there any plans afoot to do something like this? I for one would contribute to a fund dedicated to that purpose.

Excellent suggestion Joe; wage a public campaign war! I would also be willing to contribute. I wonder what the JREF thinks about that idea? If nothing else, it would force her to duck appearances and lay low for awhile.

[gnome]

Because He treasures love that is freely given, and not coerced. That's why you go to hell if you don't love Him.

I realize your post is tongue-in-cheek, but it lets me continue my point... he wants love that is freely given because he enjoys it. Being all powerful, why not eliminate the middleman and just will the enjoyment into happening?

"Want" implies delay between one's will and the satisfaction of that will. I see no reason for an all powerful God to wait.

[gnome]

I'm wondering why almost everyone's focus on this thread has turned away from the message itself - the million dollar challenge and psychics proving themselves, and instead appears, at least to me, to be more about pulling one word out of the post "pray" and making so much of Ryan's choice of words. Had Ryan said "I just "HOPE" more will follow in these footsteps", rather than "I just "PRAY" more will follow in these footsteps" I assume there wouldn't be response after response dealing with one word rather than the post itself.

Based on so many discussions I've read here, I've concluded that many of the members here do not pray - do not believe in the concept of prayer. But the OP is about the million dollar challenge not about whether the poster prays or not, so why do so many feel the need to jump on Ryan's choice of word rather than addressing the topic itself? While some of you may not be people who pray, obviously the original poster does.

When someone began a thread a couple of weeks ago wanting to discuss the beliefs of the former SNS members, seeing this thread reminded me of why I, and obviously all the other former SNS members chose not to "bite" on that request. I had no desire to have my beliefs maligned by those who don't share my beliefs. Now I see clearly that I made the correct decision.

Brattus, you said, "I hope your prayers bring you some form of comfort. If I were you I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any changes in anything because of said prayers."

While I'm sure Ryan won't be holding his breath, his prayers probably do bring him some form of comfort. Prayer does that for many of us.

ST

I have to confess... we're unfortunately an easily distractible bunch sometimes.

Though, as for the OP... he kind of said it all.