In the news again

Concerns expressed about the use of psychics, especially by police departments

Letters to the editor have been sent to this newspaper in the past regarding Sylvia Browne, the so-called psychic who says she communicates with the spirits of dead people.

This is not just harmless entertainment. While it might be fun to consult a fairground psychic about whether or not you’re going to win the lottery, Browne’s customers are often people who are suffering through trauma or grief, and telling desperate people that you can communicate with their dead loved ones is not in the same category at all.

Despite her numerous false predictions, she has in the past been consulted by police departments and the families of victims of abductions. Visit www.stopsylvia.com for plenty of examples. Another helpful site is the James Randi Educational Foundation at www.randi.org.

Browne’s lack of psychic ability is in the news once again. Amanda Berry was abducted as a teenager in 2003 and kept captive along with two other women in Cleveland, Ohio.

She managed to escape on May 6 and I hope she is on the road to recovering from her traumatic experience.

In 2004, Sylvia Browne appeared on the Montel Williams Show and told Amanda Berry’s mother that her daughter was dead. Imagine that for a moment: Your daughter has been abducted and you are told that she is dead. This kind of pronouncement is not something that should be made lightly, or for the purposes of entertainment. It is not something that anyone should say without good evidence.

Sylvia Browne has demonstrated, once again, that she lacks psychic powers. She performed in Vernon in April, and in Kelowna last spring. If she ever comes back, I very much hope that people will remember the suffering of Amanda Berry’s mother, instead of buying tickets for Browne’s show.

Zena Ryder,

Centre for Inquiry – Okanagan

 

Vernon Morning Star