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Freethought Association of West Michigan Meeting minutes for August 25, 1999; #53.
It was announced by Dirk N. that Rick Nelson from People For The American Way was looking for facilities this Church/ State separation group could use for a Fall event. Dirk had suggested Fountain Street Church in GR. If anyone has any other ideas, let us know to pass along.
Don H. announced that Jeff S. would not be with us for this meeting because he was being interviewed by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal regarding the encroachment of religion in Charter Schools. Jeff has been involved in a law suit over this very issue of Establishment Clause violations at one particular charter school.
Greg F., who will be moderating the topic of evolution at our September 8th meeting, announced that he is involved in starting the Michigan Science Evolution Initiative. Its purpose is to retrain K-12 teachers in teaching the scientific method and evolution better in the schools. This will begin locally but is intended to spread nationwide as they have been given grant money toward this.
Our topic for this meeting was "Claims of the Paranormal" presented by Paul Critelli, a conjurer, skeptical investigator and psychologist. He provided us with a lively, information-dense, and fast-paced talk, punctuated by multi-media items culled from home.
He gave us an overview of his background, including paranormal investigations he had been involved in, with some well-known names emerging; both those of charlatans he had aided in exposing or skeptics he had worked with; of the latter- James "The Amazing" Randi will be recognized by most of our members.
He spoke of how we are inundated by all sorts of wacky claims these days, with new ones being added and old ones persisting; sometimes modifying to fit the times better. The Incubus and Succubus of old re-emerging as the Alien Abductor in our more technological times. Paul showed us several prints depicting age-old scams to a gullible public; again with both the type of scam and credulity of the masses seen today. When someone mentioned "New Age" phenomena, he quipped of this misnomer that "the only thing new about New Age is they make better jewelry."
Skeptics are often seen by the public as not being very nice people who spoil things for the rest of us (in contrast to those making supernatural claims who are innocuous at worst or provide a wondrous service at best). It was asked if there really was any harm in getting swept up in these paranormal forays. Is there any real benefit in the skeptic's debunking of supernatural claims? Along these lines, such claims as "Facilitated Communication" was mentioned, where many parents of autistic children had their hopes and dreams raised via this modern-day ouija board only to be dashed when it was realized to be ineffective. "False Memory Syndrome" where many innocent people have been charged with heinous crimes due to claims made by therapist- manipulated patients. People who forego medical attention for themselves or their children because they believe prayer or some untested alternative therapy will cure the individual. Many unnecessary deaths and much avoidable agony could have been prevented in these cases. Regarding religious claims, the sick individual is further victimized often by being told his/her faith isn't strong enough or he/she is sinful if recovery isn't taking place.
Paul mentioned how many untested claims are combined with more prosaic treatments with the alternative "therapy" getting the credit for results (i.e. Aromatherapy, coupled with a warm bath, soft music, etc. for relaxation; massage but with talk of Chi and meridians and "energy fields" being manipulated as the curative forces, and so on.
He brought with him tabloids with bizarre sensational headlines and mentioned their popularity. People wouldn't mass to lap up this stuff or flock to the hucksters and purveyors of extraordinary claims if they didn't get something out of it. When he had done radio spots with an accent, as a supposed psychic the call-in lines were lit up solid but when he was announced as himself; a skeptic- this was met with a dearth of calls. Paul stated that we seem to have an evolutionary propensity to jump to more wild conclusions; our remote ancestors might have been more likely to survive, if they treated a noise as potential danger rather than critically examining the potential lethality of the situation. Coupled with this is the abysmal teaching of the scientific method, critical thinking skills and our own pattern seeking minds. The latter has aided us but also causes us to believe we are psychic when a coincidence arises, to find confirmatory evidence for our biased beliefs, to see strange forces and the "hot hand" in one part of a random string of events while disregarding the negating aspects, to see a "face" on Mars or Jesus or Mary in a stain or a tortilla chip.
Paul ended his presentation with a video showing claims of the paranormal investigated in "Operation Crystal Ball" and a "Lizza" talk- show segment, where the guest was a "spiritualist." She wowed her host and the audience by linking two parties via diseased children she was "in communication with." Besides misses forgotten and "hits" magnified, an earlier program showed the connection of these two parties with all the details, so all the spiritualist would have had to do was view that program. This was some how lost on the amazed viewers.
Our calendar of events is: - Evolution, moderated by Dr. Greg Forbes (GRCC; Skeptic magazine editorial board) on September 8. - Religion in the Media, moderated by Charles Honey (Religion section columnist for the GR Press) o September 22. - Highway clean-up, coordinated by Charley Moore (meet @ NE corner of Plainfield and 5 Mile). - Richard Dawkins Lecture on "Science, Delusion and the Appetite For Wonder" open to the public @ the Grand Valley State University Allendale Campus; Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, on October 11 @ 7PM. (Those interested in socializing following the lecture can meet @ Afterwards Coffee House.) - NO MTG. on Oct. 13 due to Dawkins lecture!! - The Religion of Our Founding Fathers, moderated by Bill Jacobks, History Professor, Muskegon Community College on October 27. - November 3 @ 7:30 PM "It's Elementary", the documentary film on Gay/Lesbian issues in public education that GVU-TV35 decided not to air locally will be presented @ the Trinity United Methodist Church, 1100 Lake Drive SE, Grand Rapids in the Discovery Room. This sponsored by Dignity of Grand Rapids. All other regular meetings will be held @ the Wyoming Public Library, GR, @ 7PM. ---------------------------------------------------------- "Why is it that Satan never needs money but God always does?" Paul Critelli, regarding televangelists.
"Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence." Carl Sagan.
recorder: Charles LaRue |
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