IRWIN SPARKS, Exorcist
This claim arrived in June of 2004.
=========================================
I will "telepathically" cast a demon out of a person. Without prior knowledge, or even an understanding what is happening, the person will respond with some kind of audible or visual response. The observer will know when I cast him out, but no person will hear anything. There will not one word be spoken, nor will my lips move. There could be a delay (probably not) until the person asks Jesus into his heart, but in no case will this take more than 20 minutes. This will show the observer conclusively that there is a spirit world as all believers claim.
There can be from one to five subjects, in fact I prefer five. There can even be more if you like. They need to have serious problems such as drugs, child molestation, catatonic depression, they can be from a drug rehab program, a mental institution or a prison, or whatever. We can meet in their place of confinement, or any other location you name. More importantly, I don't even have to be present, if you like. It will work much better if they have each had a a recent catharsis in which they want to change their lifes. In order to be certain that I have not made previous arrangements, you will select subjects I have never met. You can put ringers in if you like to be sure I won't approach them ahead of time. The selection process will be part of the negotiations for mutually acceptable conditions.
- Irwin Sparks
=============================================
Dear Mr. Sparks,
Thank you for your recent correspondence and Challenge application. Unfortunately, your claim has been rejected.
JREF only tests allegedly paranormal phenomenon and claims that can be verified under controlled, scientific conditions. In order to "cast out a demon", you must first prove that demons actually exist, which has never been proven. If you believe that you can provide such proof, please advise. Once you have established the existence of demons, you must then provide proof that the test-subject(s) is possessed by one.
Should you wish to debate the matter further, please feel free to do so via my email address.
-Kramer, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept.
=============================================
I soon received the following diatribe:
Dear Ms. Kramer,
Are cowardice and ignorance words that describe James Randi? Certainly the evidence is there, isn't it? Cowardice? Fear? What are you afraid of? Finding out the truth? That there really is a spirit world out there and that Almighty God is the head of it? You said you wanted to see me perform any paranormal act. Now you wiggle out of it. If you see it, you might have to admit that there really is something to some of these claims of the sick being cured and other paranormal phenomenon. It is a fearsome, awesome thing, I admit. But I expected more curiosity than that out of you.
Are you afraid that you might have to actually give away that million dollars? As I said before, I will sign a release so that you don't have to part with it, but I can no longer serve as a beacon to draw people to you. You will have to actually change your mind about God, faith and superstition. You can no longer build this whole organization around the fact that people are different from you. It's not an "opinion" type of thing. God is not a fake and neither am I. True, I have only produced a response silently once before, and I cannot sday beyond a shadow of a doubt that it will happen again, but I get one shot at it per year, so I am willing to keep it up as long as it takes. But I do expect it to happen every time I will try. The demom will go and the person's life will be changed, no question about that. But will the demon's leaving be moanifested in some obervable phenomenon? Certainly it has in the past. I am quite certain it will in the future.
Ignorance. Along comes someone who can actually produce an observable phenomenon and you chose to change the rules so that you don't even have to look. From the sound of your rhetoric you have given other people the opportunity to prove that they can do the impossible, knowing full well that they can't. Yet when someone comes along who can actually convince you, you chose to ignore that one opportunity. You chose to make your conditions a self-fulfilling prophecy: "He'll never be able to prove that there are demons before the event". Of course not. You're observing the phenomenon will be the proof. Positive irrefutable proof. My only proof, before a test with you, that demons exist, would be an affadavit from me stating that I have seen the results. A polygraph test if you like. As I said before, neither my wife nor I actually saw the demon, but we did see the woman's reaction. If you saw such a reaction, how do you think I could fake it?
By pre-arranging it with the subject would be the only way possible. Hence, you pick the subjects.
I have been there. I have done this. Yet you chose to ignore what is right in front of your eyes. You have the opportunity to find what it is you claim to have been seeking for years, but closing your eyes to it is as bad as the blind man saying that the elephant is really a snake. I also am not playing into mkind games. There will be no second application. Unless you threw the first one away. It will be as stated in the first. I will do this for you.
An observable phenomenon from the possessed person following extrication from the demon would be proof that the person had been possessed by the demon. "Personal observation" is an acceptable scientific criteria. Of course you can, and should, have cameras present. I can identify possessed (influenced) persons by their behavior patterns. People who have no control over some part of their behavior have at some point given over their lives to a demon. They have to will him to come out.
They have to change their minds about continuing trhe behavior. That shakes losse the demon's foothold. But he will not go without the authority of Jesus. I have that authority. So does every person who has asked Jesus into his heart. But almost nobody knows they have that authority. So, even Born Again Christians suffer from the effects of demonic influence/possession.
How do you select a subject? Go to a homeless shelter or a tent city if you still have them in Fort Lauderdale.Ask if anyone wants to get rid of a really destructive behavior such a drugs. Then invite them to meet you next day. If you make it your office, you'll have people showing up every day for months expecting $20. I suggest a public park. It has to be no later than the next day, or these guys will never show. But I can do it that same night if you like. Then you call aside the ones that agree to do it, ostensibly to give them a piece of paper with an address on it, and offer them, say, $20 to show up, cementing the fact that they won't change their minds. Make sure you take down their names and be certain that they don't tell anyone else about the money. If they don't have the right name when they show up, no $20. If they tell anybody else they're getting paid, you'll have 100 people on your doorstep that are not ready to change their destructive behavior.
Sorry about the Madison Avenue "grabbers' of Cowardice and Ignorace. They weren't designed just to get your attention. I am sorry I had to use them, but I do not recant them.It does appear that James Randi is the real fake. He talks with one side of his mouth, then when he is presented with the truth, he tried to wriggle out of his so-called committment. You turn out to be a big disappointment. Cease and desist from making it impossible to do what you've thrown down the gauntlet for. I am picking it up. Let's go!
- Irwin Sparks
=============================================
Well, Irwin lost me several times on this one. My response:
Dear Irwin,
An affadavit from you claiming absolute confidence in the existence of demons is not scientific proof of anything. Please read the Challenge rules. They cannot be circumvented under any circumstances. I regret that you cannot be tested under the protocol you proposed. There are many claims that cannot be tested under scientific conditions, as per the Challenge rules. The existence of gods or demons is clearly one of those claims. If you can make a demon appear before a team of observers, however, or if you can summon some other type of supernatural appearance, you would most certainly qualify for the JREF Challenge. Simply stating that they exist is hardly the type of proof JREF requires, and the onus of proof is upon the applicant.
If you truly wish to see your claim tested, you must devise a test protocol that will provide observable proof of your claim. Do you really think that observing a subject's unusual behavior is proof of the existence of a demon? You demand that we "believe". We do not ask to be convinced or made to believe. We ask only for a simple demonstration. The million dollars is not awarded to someone prepared to slay us with words or theories. It is awarded to anyone, anywhere, who can provide a demonstration that verifies their paranormal claim.
You are ignoring the Challenge rules entirely. We require a demonstration. Show us.
Until then, you can stop the insults and the threats, as they will fall upon deaf ears. If your claim cannot be tested, it is YOUR fault, and not the fault of JREF. Give us some proof, and the money is yours.
-Kramer, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept. ===========================================
I got a few more abusive emails that just re-hash what I have already re-printed above, along with some of the standard "god will smite you" stuff and the usual series of curses.
I declined to respond except to remind the applicant that should he ever devise an acceptable test protocol, his file would be re-opened and he would be tested at the earliest possible convenience. I haven't heard from him again.
This claim arrived in June of 2004.
=========================================
I will "telepathically" cast a demon out of a person. Without prior knowledge, or even an understanding what is happening, the person will respond with some kind of audible or visual response. The observer will know when I cast him out, but no person will hear anything. There will not one word be spoken, nor will my lips move. There could be a delay (probably not) until the person asks Jesus into his heart, but in no case will this take more than 20 minutes. This will show the observer conclusively that there is a spirit world as all believers claim.
There can be from one to five subjects, in fact I prefer five. There can even be more if you like. They need to have serious problems such as drugs, child molestation, catatonic depression, they can be from a drug rehab program, a mental institution or a prison, or whatever. We can meet in their place of confinement, or any other location you name. More importantly, I don't even have to be present, if you like. It will work much better if they have each had a a recent catharsis in which they want to change their lifes. In order to be certain that I have not made previous arrangements, you will select subjects I have never met. You can put ringers in if you like to be sure I won't approach them ahead of time. The selection process will be part of the negotiations for mutually acceptable conditions.
- Irwin Sparks
=============================================
Dear Mr. Sparks,
Thank you for your recent correspondence and Challenge application. Unfortunately, your claim has been rejected.
JREF only tests allegedly paranormal phenomenon and claims that can be verified under controlled, scientific conditions. In order to "cast out a demon", you must first prove that demons actually exist, which has never been proven. If you believe that you can provide such proof, please advise. Once you have established the existence of demons, you must then provide proof that the test-subject(s) is possessed by one.
Should you wish to debate the matter further, please feel free to do so via my email address.
-Kramer, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept.
=============================================
I soon received the following diatribe:
Dear Ms. Kramer,
Are cowardice and ignorance words that describe James Randi? Certainly the evidence is there, isn't it? Cowardice? Fear? What are you afraid of? Finding out the truth? That there really is a spirit world out there and that Almighty God is the head of it? You said you wanted to see me perform any paranormal act. Now you wiggle out of it. If you see it, you might have to admit that there really is something to some of these claims of the sick being cured and other paranormal phenomenon. It is a fearsome, awesome thing, I admit. But I expected more curiosity than that out of you.
Are you afraid that you might have to actually give away that million dollars? As I said before, I will sign a release so that you don't have to part with it, but I can no longer serve as a beacon to draw people to you. You will have to actually change your mind about God, faith and superstition. You can no longer build this whole organization around the fact that people are different from you. It's not an "opinion" type of thing. God is not a fake and neither am I. True, I have only produced a response silently once before, and I cannot sday beyond a shadow of a doubt that it will happen again, but I get one shot at it per year, so I am willing to keep it up as long as it takes. But I do expect it to happen every time I will try. The demom will go and the person's life will be changed, no question about that. But will the demon's leaving be moanifested in some obervable phenomenon? Certainly it has in the past. I am quite certain it will in the future.
Ignorance. Along comes someone who can actually produce an observable phenomenon and you chose to change the rules so that you don't even have to look. From the sound of your rhetoric you have given other people the opportunity to prove that they can do the impossible, knowing full well that they can't. Yet when someone comes along who can actually convince you, you chose to ignore that one opportunity. You chose to make your conditions a self-fulfilling prophecy: "He'll never be able to prove that there are demons before the event". Of course not. You're observing the phenomenon will be the proof. Positive irrefutable proof. My only proof, before a test with you, that demons exist, would be an affadavit from me stating that I have seen the results. A polygraph test if you like. As I said before, neither my wife nor I actually saw the demon, but we did see the woman's reaction. If you saw such a reaction, how do you think I could fake it?
By pre-arranging it with the subject would be the only way possible. Hence, you pick the subjects.
I have been there. I have done this. Yet you chose to ignore what is right in front of your eyes. You have the opportunity to find what it is you claim to have been seeking for years, but closing your eyes to it is as bad as the blind man saying that the elephant is really a snake. I also am not playing into mkind games. There will be no second application. Unless you threw the first one away. It will be as stated in the first. I will do this for you.
An observable phenomenon from the possessed person following extrication from the demon would be proof that the person had been possessed by the demon. "Personal observation" is an acceptable scientific criteria. Of course you can, and should, have cameras present. I can identify possessed (influenced) persons by their behavior patterns. People who have no control over some part of their behavior have at some point given over their lives to a demon. They have to will him to come out.
They have to change their minds about continuing trhe behavior. That shakes losse the demon's foothold. But he will not go without the authority of Jesus. I have that authority. So does every person who has asked Jesus into his heart. But almost nobody knows they have that authority. So, even Born Again Christians suffer from the effects of demonic influence/possession.
How do you select a subject? Go to a homeless shelter or a tent city if you still have them in Fort Lauderdale.Ask if anyone wants to get rid of a really destructive behavior such a drugs. Then invite them to meet you next day. If you make it your office, you'll have people showing up every day for months expecting $20. I suggest a public park. It has to be no later than the next day, or these guys will never show. But I can do it that same night if you like. Then you call aside the ones that agree to do it, ostensibly to give them a piece of paper with an address on it, and offer them, say, $20 to show up, cementing the fact that they won't change their minds. Make sure you take down their names and be certain that they don't tell anyone else about the money. If they don't have the right name when they show up, no $20. If they tell anybody else they're getting paid, you'll have 100 people on your doorstep that are not ready to change their destructive behavior.
Sorry about the Madison Avenue "grabbers' of Cowardice and Ignorace. They weren't designed just to get your attention. I am sorry I had to use them, but I do not recant them.It does appear that James Randi is the real fake. He talks with one side of his mouth, then when he is presented with the truth, he tried to wriggle out of his so-called committment. You turn out to be a big disappointment. Cease and desist from making it impossible to do what you've thrown down the gauntlet for. I am picking it up. Let's go!
- Irwin Sparks
=============================================
Well, Irwin lost me several times on this one. My response:
Dear Irwin,
An affadavit from you claiming absolute confidence in the existence of demons is not scientific proof of anything. Please read the Challenge rules. They cannot be circumvented under any circumstances. I regret that you cannot be tested under the protocol you proposed. There are many claims that cannot be tested under scientific conditions, as per the Challenge rules. The existence of gods or demons is clearly one of those claims. If you can make a demon appear before a team of observers, however, or if you can summon some other type of supernatural appearance, you would most certainly qualify for the JREF Challenge. Simply stating that they exist is hardly the type of proof JREF requires, and the onus of proof is upon the applicant.
If you truly wish to see your claim tested, you must devise a test protocol that will provide observable proof of your claim. Do you really think that observing a subject's unusual behavior is proof of the existence of a demon? You demand that we "believe". We do not ask to be convinced or made to believe. We ask only for a simple demonstration. The million dollars is not awarded to someone prepared to slay us with words or theories. It is awarded to anyone, anywhere, who can provide a demonstration that verifies their paranormal claim.
You are ignoring the Challenge rules entirely. We require a demonstration. Show us.
Until then, you can stop the insults and the threats, as they will fall upon deaf ears. If your claim cannot be tested, it is YOUR fault, and not the fault of JREF. Give us some proof, and the money is yours.
-Kramer, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept. ===========================================
I got a few more abusive emails that just re-hash what I have already re-printed above, along with some of the standard "god will smite you" stuff and the usual series of curses.
I declined to respond except to remind the applicant that should he ever devise an acceptable test protocol, his file would be re-opened and he would be tested at the earliest possible convenience. I haven't heard from him again.