This trip to church wasn't a bit different than my previous trips.
I saw that a local "psychic" that I've written about before was giving a free class about past lives. Also different was the fact that I had company in the form of some fellow skeptics.
It was held at a place called Unity Church. To give you a clue about what kind of church they are, their marquee outside had the Coexist thing and a referred to themselves as a "Spiritual Community"
They also had this.
It's not relative to the rest of this story. I just thought it was worth sharing anyway.
By the time the room filled up, there were 100 or more people there. Although, at least 4 weren't going to get scammed since I had 3 skeptics with me.
A man, who I think was the pastor of the church, told the crowd that they could give their affirmations. To do this, you write down what you want, as if you already have it, and put it into the bowl with the others. If I had remembered to write mine before leaving, it would have said, "Thank you Congress for outlawing the fraudulent practice of psychics."
They then all held hands for a meditation. He talked about "light energy", other kinds of energy that aren't real, power of the universe (without ever mentioning He-Man). He told them to "become one with each other". It felt a lot life the Christian prayers I've sat through but with different dogma. Although, one difference I did notice was that Christian prayers don't usually make me feel like an orgy might be next.
After the prayer, er "meditation", it was time for Andy to start.
It was not at all surprising that he opened with something that included the phrase "whatever spiritual road led you here tonight". He mentioned that he's also a life coach, so he has two professions that are based on nonsense. What an over-achiever.
He then said was is clearly the basis of his entire shtick. "What I'm going to share with you tonight is my truth." Not THE truth. HIS truth. As in, he wants his audience to believe truth is relative.
I have no idea why he brought up déjà vu, but he thinks there are 3 possible causes.
1. Our lives are pre-planned & déjà vu is because sometimes we knew what the next step was.
2. You have an old soul. How do you know if you have an old soul? If you think you do, then you probably do. When he asked the crowd if they thought they had an old soul, most of the room raised their hands[1].
3. Brain fart. You forget what just happened right after it happened and then immediately remember it.
He ascribes it to the first 2. Not the one that makes the most realistic sense and is similar to what science says.
Apparently, his wife was a man more times than she's been a woman. And he was a woman more times. His basis for this is that she does more stereotypically manly things than he does. Not because gender roles are fabricated and are way more complicated than "ladies like to clean while the men watch football".
Another thing I learned was that we know everything from all of our lives while in Heaven in between them. How does he know that? He didn't say. Why would it even be useful if we don't remember it when we come back? He didn't say.
But he did ask if anyone had any questions.
I had a few that I wanted to ask even though I didn't actually ask anything.
In response to a question about death, Andy commented, "I see a lot of death in my work". He certainly does. That's the problem.
Speaking of evidence, Andy promised to interject randomly what he called "moments of proof". The proof was to be anecdotes about readings he'd done. I wonder how many of the attendees, who hadn't come with me, knew that stories are not proof. Do they get that the anecdotes are more claims that add to the need for actual proof. How many noticed that promised to provide proof and never delivered?
When asked about seeing family across lives, he mentioned the concept of soul groups. What it comes down to is someone you get along with is in your soul group. Oh, okay. That totally legit.
When asked about kids, he said that they are very intuitive. No mention of all the kids are must lose their super powers when they hit puberty[2]. No mention of that fact that kids tend to have wild imaginations.
He mentioned that some people are on their last lifetime. We reincarnate, but we can die? No mention of what determines when our last one is.
When asked about why we forget dreams, he used the phrase "scientific spin" to dismiss what science says about it. Spin? It has evidence. You do not.
In addition to not believing in demon possession, he doesn't thin we ever reincarnate as animals. But he was open to being wrong as if he knew that he was just making this shit up.
A woman in the back told a story about her mother who was dying and was going "between worlds". Andy never mentioned the word "dementia". Instead, he said that you knew it was true because she had said it with confidence. I can see how he want his audience to believe that confidence when saying something is evidence of its accuracy.
When my friend asked about the math of where the souls come from for our rapid population growth, he claimed that they are a lot of extras. No mention of a specific number. No mention of why life wasn't better for all the people in the past who surely had way more guardian angels than people alive today. No real explanation of why he's never found someone on their first lifetime.
Lastly, I want to address the question someone asked about mean people or bullies. He mentioned social media. He probably thinks I'm a bully for this post, the future posts I'm planning and tweets I've sent him.
When I got home, I decided to have a bowl of cereal & finished the box.
It was the end of this Life, but I believe I'll get another one in due time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------I saw that a local "psychic" that I've written about before was giving a free class about past lives. Also different was the fact that I had company in the form of some fellow skeptics.
It was held at a place called Unity Church. To give you a clue about what kind of church they are, their marquee outside had the Coexist thing and a referred to themselves as a "Spiritual Community"
They also had this.
It's not relative to the rest of this story. I just thought it was worth sharing anyway.
By the time the room filled up, there were 100 or more people there. Although, at least 4 weren't going to get scammed since I had 3 skeptics with me.
A man, who I think was the pastor of the church, told the crowd that they could give their affirmations. To do this, you write down what you want, as if you already have it, and put it into the bowl with the others. If I had remembered to write mine before leaving, it would have said, "Thank you Congress for outlawing the fraudulent practice of psychics."
They then all held hands for a meditation. He talked about "light energy", other kinds of energy that aren't real, power of the universe (without ever mentioning He-Man). He told them to "become one with each other". It felt a lot life the Christian prayers I've sat through but with different dogma. Although, one difference I did notice was that Christian prayers don't usually make me feel like an orgy might be next.
After the prayer, er "meditation", it was time for Andy to start.
It was not at all surprising that he opened with something that included the phrase "whatever spiritual road led you here tonight". He mentioned that he's also a life coach, so he has two professions that are based on nonsense. What an over-achiever.
He then said was is clearly the basis of his entire shtick. "What I'm going to share with you tonight is my truth." Not THE truth. HIS truth. As in, he wants his audience to believe truth is relative.
I have no idea why he brought up déjà vu, but he thinks there are 3 possible causes.
1. Our lives are pre-planned & déjà vu is because sometimes we knew what the next step was.
2. You have an old soul. How do you know if you have an old soul? If you think you do, then you probably do. When he asked the crowd if they thought they had an old soul, most of the room raised their hands[1].
3. Brain fart. You forget what just happened right after it happened and then immediately remember it.
He ascribes it to the first 2. Not the one that makes the most realistic sense and is similar to what science says.
Apparently, his wife was a man more times than she's been a woman. And he was a woman more times. His basis for this is that she does more stereotypically manly things than he does. Not because gender roles are fabricated and are way more complicated than "ladies like to clean while the men watch football".
Another thing I learned was that we know everything from all of our lives while in Heaven in between them. How does he know that? He didn't say. Why would it even be useful if we don't remember it when we come back? He didn't say.
But he did ask if anyone had any questions.
I had a few that I wanted to ask even though I didn't actually ask anything.
- How many times has he told someone this was their first life?
- Is Heaven limited to souls from Earth? Or can we live lives on other planets?
- What determines if a baby is a new soul or preowned?
In response to a question about death, Andy commented, "I see a lot of death in my work". He certainly does. That's the problem.
They call her renowned.
Why not call her what she was?
A grief vampire. http://t.co/9fg9Uv5OMu
— Skeptical Haiku (@SkepticalHaiku) November 21, 2013
When asked about demon possession, he said he doesn't believe in it. I wondered why not. Something tells me it's not the lack of evidence.Speaking of evidence, Andy promised to interject randomly what he called "moments of proof". The proof was to be anecdotes about readings he'd done. I wonder how many of the attendees, who hadn't come with me, knew that stories are not proof. Do they get that the anecdotes are more claims that add to the need for actual proof. How many noticed that promised to provide proof and never delivered?
When asked about seeing family across lives, he mentioned the concept of soul groups. What it comes down to is someone you get along with is in your soul group. Oh, okay. That totally legit.
When asked about kids, he said that they are very intuitive. No mention of all the kids are must lose their super powers when they hit puberty[2]. No mention of that fact that kids tend to have wild imaginations.
He mentioned that some people are on their last lifetime. We reincarnate, but we can die? No mention of what determines when our last one is.
When asked about why we forget dreams, he used the phrase "scientific spin" to dismiss what science says about it. Spin? It has evidence. You do not.
In addition to not believing in demon possession, he doesn't thin we ever reincarnate as animals. But he was open to being wrong as if he knew that he was just making this shit up.
A woman in the back told a story about her mother who was dying and was going "between worlds". Andy never mentioned the word "dementia". Instead, he said that you knew it was true because she had said it with confidence. I can see how he want his audience to believe that confidence when saying something is evidence of its accuracy.
When my friend asked about the math of where the souls come from for our rapid population growth, he claimed that they are a lot of extras. No mention of a specific number. No mention of why life wasn't better for all the people in the past who surely had way more guardian angels than people alive today. No real explanation of why he's never found someone on their first lifetime.
Lastly, I want to address the question someone asked about mean people or bullies. He mentioned social media. He probably thinks I'm a bully for this post, the future posts I'm planning and tweets I've sent him.
@AndysIntuition Not me. It's incredibly disappointing. You should be in jail for fraud.
@PatAndJT @OmaHaunts @WriteLifeLLC @iliveinomaha
— Robert Fuller (@aparticularA) January 21, 2014
But that's just fine with me. I've dealt with worse. I'd rather be called a bully by a fraud than take money from good people by preying on their grief and selling a service I cannot actually provide.When I got home, I decided to have a bowl of cereal & finished the box.
It was the end of this Life, but I believe I'll get another one in due time.
1. The world population in 1800 was barely a billion. 200 year later, it's 7 times that. I wonder where all the extra souls came from.
2. Backward from how it works for the X-Men.
