Wednesday, June 23, 2010

You have the right to say stupid things and I have the right to laugh at you

I recently received an email from someone complaining about my blog regarding Lorriane Scott which has prompted me to write this entry.

The premise of this lady's email (and by "lady" I mean someone with a name that is commonly associated with a person of the female gender, refers to being married to a husband who should "kick the shit out of (me)" and chooses to use words that most ladies would not) was that I should be "shut-up" and "censored" and that my "opinions not facts" should be "banned from publishing".

But first, a little back story.  This lady had complained that I would "dare interfer(sic) with a charity event that was going to help cancer victims" (I suspect that people who have died as a result of cancer won't benefit much from cancer research so technically her claim is wrong).  In simply responding with a link to my "I was wrong, I am sorry" blog entry, she promptly responded with a "You should never have posted the first one to start with..." and "you should delete all your stories about psychics cause your (sic) wrong psychics exist". 

It was clear to me that she had not even taken the time to read my entry about being wrong and sorry as I am not sorry and I don't feel that I was wrong in applying a skeptical eye to what the "Relay for Life" team was doing at their fundraiser.

I still believe that we should not simply toss all skepticism aside for things like this - the ends don't justify the means when the means can, themselves, cause substantial harm.  I took the time to write her a lengthy email stating that 1.) Censorship is wrong, 2.) I would defend her right to the death (her death, really) for her to say whatever she wanted, but, 3.) If she states something stupid, I'm going to laugh at her.

Adding to that, I suggested that the proposition that psychics exist, that people can predict the future and that faith healers exist is silly and (thanks Adam Sandler) they're all going to laugh at you.

Her reply?  "Your a stupid idiot never email me again."

To restate my point - the minute that I lose the ability to question your stupid claims, you lose the ability to make them.  I'd prefer the opportunity for a laugh.

10 comments:

RealityinSarnia said...

"they're all going to laugh at you."

That quote was from the original Carrie movie from her mother. Did Adam Sandler also say it?

Yes, psychics do not exist - only in the movies, books and TV. Totally fictional.

RealityinSarnia said...

Hey, post her email so we can all can have a laugh.

RealityinSarnia said...

Sandler said:

"they're all gonna to laugh at you."

Slightly different but means the same.

SherwoodSkeptic said...

I'm assuming the "lady"is not Scott.
I just don't understand how this person's mind works. Wouldn't it make more sense to summon Scott to town and whisk her directly to the hospital or hospice, instead of entertaining an audience?
When I contacted Scott, before her appearance, she chose to cancel the show and take my "threatening" email to the Observer, rather than the police? What does that tell you?
The "lady" is the idiot here.

RealityinSarnia said...

Ah, so your the one who emailed her.......

sarniaskeptic said...

Gauldar: I was tired of writing "sic" so I figured I'd leave that last one for everyone else to see.

"You're" or "You are" would be correct but punctuation is probably also necessary for that sentence.

RealityinSarnia: She has threatened to sue me if I use her emails on my blog so you can be assured that I will be posting all of them :)

SherwoodSkeptic: Lorriane Scott is a liar. She can't cure people (except of their thick wallet condition) and she is not psychic. She probably canceled because she'd be working illegally in Canada. And she wasn't ready for the anthrax, I bet :)

I would have attended the show in Sarnia (they had planned on some other hack pseudo-psychic) if I had been in town that weekend. I haven't heard anything since - nobody told me that it was (or wasn't) a success or anything about it. Just a couple people (like the one this entry was about) who felt the need to email me to tell me that I was wrong (and stupid). As you can see by the writing, I wasn't much of a match for their high level of intelligence.

I do get a laugh when people start the email conversation with me and then end it with "never email me again". Didn't their mom ever tell them to be careful what you wish for? (Maybe not but surely it wasn't because their moms were skeptical and thought, like prayer, wishing is a waste of time!)

SherwoodSkeptic said...

Yes Reality, I confess. When it was mentioned in the Observer, I contacted Sarnia Skeptic about the misunderstanding and we decided to let him take the backlash, so as not to muddle things. I fully expected to defend myself and would/will do the same again. The email was not threatening. I did call her a liar regarding her "abilities" and closed with "see you soon". I guess that was the threat.:) I'll post it if your interested but, honestly, it was way overblown.
And Sarnia Skeptic, thanks for taking any raking you may have recieved on my behalf.
I'd almost forgotten the anthrax :)

Ryan Hulshof said...

Wow, your a stupid idiot, really?

Above and beyond any idiocy displayed by the fact that she is supporting scott, stupid idiot?

Seriously?

That was only ironically funny even in early grade school. I cannot actually believe someone would bust that out. I mean, reading that did she think " wow i really outdid myself here , that one is comedic gold.".

I can picture her calling all her friends and informing them of how she zinged the living hell out of the dirty skeptic. The phrase stupid idiot becoming her trademark as the years pass, forever commemorating her linguistic prowess.

Seriously though i would love to see the e-mails. Heck if she wants to send me a hate mail or two she can go nuts, sadhatter@hotmail.com. I stand by the descision to not let a con artist take advantage of cancer victims and their families.

As an afterthought, with all the psychic powers out there, ( and trust me a quick search brings up many spells to harm others.) why would she need her husband to harm you? Wouldn't it be more effective and less likely to cause legal issues to simply cast a few high level spells your way?

Gauldar said...

@sarniaskeptic

That’s completely understandable. You shouldn't have responsibility for her bad English skills, but I figured that I may as well point them out.

sarniaskeptic said...

Gauldar: Don't get me wrong - I was hoping that people would notice that misspelling.

I broke her "never email me again" demand and let her know that I posted a blog about her.

She'll either read the blog and send me some more rather hilarious quotes or she'll not read the blog and send me some rather hilarious quotes. Either way, I think we all win.