Even a Stopped Clock is Right Twice a Day (You Can Decide Who the Clock in Question Is)
Look, it’s finally happening…the me and Billy Graham blog! I almost bumped it again because of the “Evangelical Manifesto” press conference, but then I thought maybe I should actually read the manifesto before writing about it.
Perhaps it’s hard to imagine, but I recently came across some advice Rev. Billy Graham gave someone, and I kind of agree. I know, spooky.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an Ask Dr. Graham section, weird but true. The column I read involved a Mrs. N.D. writing to Graham about her recently passed husband. Her friend says she knows a psychic that can put her in touch with a loved one who has passed, and asks if there is any reason to not visit this psychic.
Well, Graham advises against it, of course. First he explains that much of what passes for psychic activity is actually fraudulent, so she would be wasting her money. Then he goes on to play the usual song of “Let no one be found among you who…is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.” Party poopers.
If Mrs. N.D. had asked me, I would have also advised her against it. I truly believe there are people with psychic abilities, but I also believe that the profession of psychic is a nebulous one that is rife for abuse. When you visit most psychics they emphasize that it’s “for entertainment purposes only” and although I try not to make light of psychic readings I do try to put them into a perspective. I would not let anyone’s opinion, regardless of how informed; blindly tell me how to live my life or what to believe. Sure, a psychic may knows things that you don’t, but you know, my Mom does too and I don’t let her tell me what to do (much). I view the advice of a psychic the same as I view advice from my Mom, well intended.
And then there is the matter of who she wanted to speak to. That’s risky business in my book. Penn Juliette kind of sums it up on his show “Penn & Teller: Bullshit”. He talks about how when someone dies, you have the memories of them. Some are good, some are bad, but they are all 100% true and real memories. When you ask a psychic to communicate with that person after they passed, whatever that psychic tells you rewrites your history of that person and your relationship with them. In my opinion, that’s too big of a chance to take. I would talk to a psychic about my love life, or my career, but I don’t think I would trust a stranger with the memory of someone I loved. Maybe that’s just me.
So, there you have it, Graham and I would actually have given this woman the same advice. For different reasons, but still, we agreed. Yep, definitely scary.
Perhaps it’s hard to imagine, but I recently came across some advice Rev. Billy Graham gave someone, and I kind of agree. I know, spooky.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an Ask Dr. Graham section, weird but true. The column I read involved a Mrs. N.D. writing to Graham about her recently passed husband. Her friend says she knows a psychic that can put her in touch with a loved one who has passed, and asks if there is any reason to not visit this psychic.
Well, Graham advises against it, of course. First he explains that much of what passes for psychic activity is actually fraudulent, so she would be wasting her money. Then he goes on to play the usual song of “Let no one be found among you who…is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.” Party poopers.
If Mrs. N.D. had asked me, I would have also advised her against it. I truly believe there are people with psychic abilities, but I also believe that the profession of psychic is a nebulous one that is rife for abuse. When you visit most psychics they emphasize that it’s “for entertainment purposes only” and although I try not to make light of psychic readings I do try to put them into a perspective. I would not let anyone’s opinion, regardless of how informed; blindly tell me how to live my life or what to believe. Sure, a psychic may knows things that you don’t, but you know, my Mom does too and I don’t let her tell me what to do (much). I view the advice of a psychic the same as I view advice from my Mom, well intended.
And then there is the matter of who she wanted to speak to. That’s risky business in my book. Penn Juliette kind of sums it up on his show “Penn & Teller: Bullshit”. He talks about how when someone dies, you have the memories of them. Some are good, some are bad, but they are all 100% true and real memories. When you ask a psychic to communicate with that person after they passed, whatever that psychic tells you rewrites your history of that person and your relationship with them. In my opinion, that’s too big of a chance to take. I would talk to a psychic about my love life, or my career, but I don’t think I would trust a stranger with the memory of someone I loved. Maybe that’s just me.
So, there you have it, Graham and I would actually have given this woman the same advice. For different reasons, but still, we agreed. Yep, definitely scary.
