StopSylvia email: "so filled with hate"

RSLancastr said:
I don't think that is hate so much as it is utter disdain, combined with a total lack of compassion.

And it isn't so much that she wrongly told them, but that she told them anything when she didn't really know.
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There's a scene from Marjoe -- which should be required viewing for all skeptics (seriously) -- in which a tent preacher asks the congregation to form two lines.

One line is for people who want to make a regular offering.

The other line is for people who want to make a sacrifice offering. One that really hurts. Maybe it's money they were saving for a medical procedure, or to send a kid to school.

The ones in that line are the one with the true faith that God will provide if they give to His mission.

I think you can understand the psychology there.

The close-up on that woman's face as she watches the lines form... it's a study of cold, cruel, selfish greed.

It's that kind of heartlessness that I see in Sylvia Brown.
 
It's not hatred, though.

It's indifference and carelessness. And, as Robert said, disdain and lack of empathy.

That isn't hatred. Hatred is when you want someone hurt. Indifference is if you do not care if someone is hurt.

One is active, the other is passive because the hurt sustained by someone else is only the side effect of your greed.
 
RSLancastr said:
Here is another email I just received:



Here is my reply:
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You know rob, i swear somehow people are viewing what i say about sylvia and attributing it to you.

If i made a website with my commentary, i could see and understand comments like what you recieve ( on the flip side if i were to make a website, i wouldn't phrase my commentary as harshly as i do, but that is another issue.) , but with yours? Its nothing more than people being mad and stringing together any old series of words to try and make you feel bad.
 
ria_rokz said:
Your site definitely did not come across as hateful to me when I first happened upon it several years ago. I'm not sure how I came to it, but at that point in my life I was still undecided as to whether or not psychics were real. I started reading and found I couldn't stop. The site was clearly dedicated to finding the truth, and was not out to personally attack Sylvia.

I know that, with my frame of mind at the time, that I would have been swayed towards Sylvia's side if it was a hateful diatribe of unreasoned lies. The way you respectfully wrote and presented everything made it clear that you were seeking answers. This really got me thinking about psychics and then the paranormal in general.

Now that I think about it, that's the reason I'm on the forum now. When you stopped updating your site I became concerned and started googling for some information as to why. I found the thread on here about your stroke. I mostly lurked for a while, keeping an eye on your progress and quietly wishing you the best. Over time I started getting a bit braver and reading the other threads.
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ria, I'm glad my thread brought you here. Though I'm a little late, WELCOME to the JREF forums.

I had no idea what starting that thread was going to do. So many good things came from it. I just wanted his friends to know that he'd be out of commission for a while so his email and private message inboxes would not get flooded. The love and compassion (from forumites and others) that followed overwhelmed not only me, but Robert's entire family. I found a place to not only inform his friends of his progress, but vent my frustrations and hopes. And now, these forums and the people who post here are contributing to Robert's recovery. A-maz-ing!
 
tuoni said:
I also don't see how someone could read through your site and call you hateful. I, personally, find your way of approaching these claims respectful - something which appears to be thought amongst the "true believers" if you count your acceptance into their varying groups as the "house skeptic".

But then, I guess emails tirades like this are par for the course.
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obsessed, not hateful.
 
I always find the projection of believers to be utterly hilarious.
Seriously? You? Hateful?

The thing I found most funny, is that she never once claimed you said anything false or wrong. Probably because she never bothered reading in the first place...
 
mikeyx said:
obsessed, not hateful.
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Well Mikey, after writing neary one hundred articles about Browne, and creating at least that many threads about her here in the past 4 or 5 years, I can certainly see how someone could coe to the conclusion that I am obsessed with her.

But I believe (or perhaps I'd simply rather others would believe) that, if I'm obsessed, it is with showing the evidence about her.

YMMV.
 
Well, she replied:
I have actually read them, and frankly if you were right, which I don't believe (people are always willing to believe the worst about people), You are no better by doing this than you accuse her of being. It is not your job to police grown adults. They are not victims, they sign up. What you do is just mean. My letter was not spam by the way. It appears no one can have a different opinion. If you focused on what you need to change in yourself, and not someone else, you would a lot healthier and happier.
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Still evidently believes in Browne, but at least seems less full of vitriol.
Progress!

Here's My response:

Ms. [LastName]:

Thank you so much for replying. And thank you for reading however many of my articles you have read. I think it took some intellectual honesty and fortitude to honestly read and consider the opinion of someone with whom you disagree so strongly. So, again, thank you for doing so. I assume from your "My Letter was not spam by the way" statement that the subject of my reply to your first email had "[SPAM]" in it. Just so you know, that was not some snide comment on my part. It was inserted into the subject line of your original email to me, by my email software's "spam filter." It analyzes all incoming email and flags those it thinks may be spam that way. I'm not sure what about your first email made it suspicious. It flags so many emails that way that I don't even notice it any more. So, when I replied to it, the software inserted "Re: " in front of the subject of yous (already with the "[SPAM]" flag in it). Sorry if that bothered you. You are the second correspondent to remark on it, so I suppose I should be more aware of it in future. And I'll see if I can't make my email software a little more judicious about what it flags as spam.

No, it is not my job to "police grown adults", nor is that what I am doing, nor what I am attempting to do. I am merely putting the facts about Browne out where they can be easily accessed, and inviting interested parties to examine those facts and come to their own conclusions about her and her "abilities". I make my own conclusions clear, and, obviously, hope the reader comes to agree with me. You, just as obviously, have NOT come to agree with me. This disappoints me, and I again invite you to point out aything on my site which is untrue or inaccurate, or any flaws you may have noticed in my reasoning. Please know that I do respect your right to your opinion, whether I respect the opinion itself or not.

How is what I do "mean"? I suppose it would be if I made things up, or made fun of Browne (or her followers). I know that I haven't made anything up, And I know I have TRIED not to make fun, though I may well have let some of that slip in from time to time (and my site's logo certainly comes close in that regard).

As far as focusing what I need to change in myself, I do that every day. My physical ailments (discussed in my most recent article, I believe) force me to work on changing them for the better every day of my life. But I think you meant changing the way I think or behave. If you would like to be more specific in that, I am certainly open to your suggestions, but am not aware of any change I need to make in that regard.


All the best,

Robert S. Lancaster
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GrandMasterFox said:
I always find the projection of believers to be utterly hilarious.
Seriously? You? Hateful?
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Thanks, Fox!

The thing I found most funny, is that she never once claimed you said anything false or wrong. Probably because she never bothered reading in the first place...
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According to her reply, she has (see above), though she does not say how many.
 
It was nice of you to not point out how much time she is taking in criticizing and policing you.
 
shandyjan said:
Spot on, that's what it was. :D
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Only it wasn't really "free", was it?

No, I'd wager that your escape from "woo" cost you an awful lot of reading, thought, and consideration. Brava for paying that cost! All that I (through SSB) did was to put the evidence about Browne in one place, in a format you found acceptable and non-confrontational. You took it from there!

Just to add I found this place due to a link to some Uri Gellar palaver on youtube. Lucky I clicked that link, I found Swift, which led to here and SS within days. I've never looked back!
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And we're glad! :D
 
ria_rokz said:
Your site definitely did not come across as hateful to me when I first happened upon it several years ago. I'm not sure how I came to it, but at that point in my life I was still undecided as to whether or not psychics were real. I started reading and found I couldn't stop. The site was clearly dedicated to finding the truth, and was not out to personally attack Sylvia.
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By the way, ria rokz, I've been meaning to mention that your user name reminds me of this epic thread, which a later-self-confessed troll named "Sylvia Rokz" created in 2007.

Please, nobody post any more in that thread. perhaps I should not have even linked to it...

I know that, with my frame of mind at the time, that I would have been swayed towards Sylvia's side if it was a hateful diatribe of unreasoned lies. The way you respectfully wrote and presented everything made it clear that you were seeking answers. This really got me thinking about psychics and then the paranormal in general.

Now that I think about it, that's the reason I'm on the forum now. When you stopped updating your site I became concerned and started googling for some information as to why. I found the thread on here about your stroke. I mostly lurked for a while, keeping an eye on your progress and quietly wishing you the best. Over time I started getting a bit braver and reading the other threads.[/QUOTE]
 
At the risk of sounding like an old geezer, I'm not sure a lot of people today know what "hate" is.

To my way of thinking, hate is an emotion, one borne heavily (and sometimes exclusively) upon irrationality.

People today confuse "hate" with criticism, or with jealousy, or with disagreeable political leanings, or with religious belief, or (worst of all) with honest, rational disagreement.
 
RSL's better half said:
ria, I'm glad my thread brought you here. Though I'm a little late, WELCOME to the JREF forums.

I had no idea what starting that thread was going to do. So many good things came from it. I just wanted his friends to know that he'd be out of commission for a while so his email and private message inboxes would not get flooded. The love and compassion (from forumites and others) that followed overwhelmed not only me, but Robert's entire family. I found a place to not only inform his friends of his progress, but vent my frustrations and hopes. And now, these forums and the people who post here are contributing to Robert's recovery. A-maz-ing!
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I've always found that what you put into life comes back to you.
 
Nicely handled, RSL.

It seems to be a recurrent theme in the e-mails you post here that people accuse you of "policing" others. Do you find that charge being made frequently, or is it just me?
 
RSL, you should add to your site a "Wall of shame", where you post some of the dumbest emails you get.
 
One Tenth said:
I don't think that would really fit with the whole tone of his approach.
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No, it wouldn't.

But I must confess, Snape, I was tempted to post the one from "Myotismon, vampire King of the Night".

and the one which predicted my death the next day (some four years ago or more. I spent the appointed time in the unofficial JREF chat room, where we all did a countdown to...nothing. A tad anticlimactic, but it was fun discussing my impending doom with friends.
 
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