Skeptics Shut Down Free Discussion

For those who don’t know me, let me tell you that beside being involved in magick, I have also been involved with stage magic for many years. As such, I’m a member of one of the most active forums on the internet for magicians, The Magic Café.

One area of magic that has always fascinated me is where magicians simulate psychic or paranormal phenomena, a specialty called mentalism. For a long time, one of the many areas for discussion on the Magic Café has been “Penny for your Thoughts,” where the topics were about mentalism. According to the owner of the site, Steve Brooks, over the years skeptics started coming to this forum and arguing with the mentalists. So he created a forum for the skeptics called “Stand the Test.”

This new area became very popular. I often posted there. But all was not good. Brooks wrote, “I began receiving profanity filled emails (from various skeptics) whos contents ranged from death threats to law suit threats.” Unfortunately, these attacks worked. Mr. Brooks, tired of getting garbage when all he wanted to do was provide a place for discussion, and not wanting to waste time eliminating nasty threads and banning nasty people, simply removed the “Stand the Test” area.

Note that this was specifically done because of the actions of so-called skeptics. They succeeded in shutting down free speech and debate.

One wonders what they’re