What's the Harm? Hoaxes, Lies, and Open Minds Grab Bag

2/10/2016

A story making the rounds on the internet alleges that an Ohio teenager said that her out of wedlock pregnancy occurred because one of the Nephilim came to her in July and impregnated her with Jesus Christ’s baby. “He told me that he was a Nephilim, like those described in the Bible,” the girl allegedly said. “He told me that he had a message from Jesus, He said that I was going to be pregnant, and that I would give birth to a son, Jesus’ son.” If the news report were true, it would be worth trying to disentangle the confused Nephilim theology, which appears to be derived more from the recent Freeform Shadowhunters TV series than esoteric religion. However, the story is a hoax, from the “satire” site World News Daily Report that social media and some international news outlets mistook for a real news report.

All too true, however, is the upset and terror that California comedian and podcaster Ryan Singer claims to feel in the face of supernatural monsters who may or may not be extraterrestrials. Singer runs a paranormal podcast called Me & Paranormal You in which he talks to individuals who have had paranormal experiences, and he says that his discussions with people who live in “a different reality” have transformed him. But it didn’t take a lot of effort since Singer says that his mother was a believer in a range of paranormal ideas. “It’s more fun to believe. That’s how I live my life. I will believe anything until someone can prove it is false and then I move on.”

And yet, his own behavior undermines the assertion that belief is either fun or beneficial. One thing that struck me was his admission that he is afraid of imaginary beings from Arabian lore:

I’m currently pretty terrified of djinn. Americans know about the bastardization of that idea as genies, but true djinn are not Robin Williams. I was reading about djinn and I actually became so scared that I opened an Etsy account so I could buy a protective necklace from a girl in Thailand. That’s a bit in my standup now, about being so scared of genies that, as an adult man, I set up an Etsy account. It’s a funny joke for the audiences, but I’m also supposed to be saving for a retirement and instead I’m covered in crystals I bought off the internet. I don’t do drugs anymore, but I do spend a lot of time with crystals. You have to get your juice from the universe somehow.

Is it really fun to waste money trying to save oneself from prehistoric supernatural myths? I don’t want to harp on the notion of harm, but it’s pretty clear that leaving one’s mind too far open leads to some terrible consequences.

Another case in point comes to us from the ConspiraSea paranoia cruise that wrapped up last week, as I briefly mentioned a few days ago. Colin McRoberts, a lawyer and a skeptic, attended and witnessed the most recent act in the ongoing saga of Sean David Morton, erstwhile Ancient Aliens pundit and current fake attorney. According to McRoberts, Morton portrayed himself as an expert in law and lectured attendees on the conspiracy theory cruise about bizarre extralegal tactics for making debts disappear, relying on a WordPress blog post he asserted was really a U.S. Supreme Court decision restricting federal courts’ jurisdiction to the District of Columbia. He also claimed to have had one of his books optioned for a “$100 million” movie or TV series. Morton was arrested upon disembarking the ConspiraSea cruise for conspiracy to defraud the United States (income tax fraud) as a result of following his own legal conspiracy theories. Morton then tried to get out of the indictment by creating a trust and naming his prosecutor as fiduciary, in some bizarre tactic that I wasn’t able to understand. He faces more than 600 years in prison.

Morton must be a pretty awful character to have been kicked off of Ancient Aliens after his first indictment—for psychic fraud, resulting in an $11 million judgment against him—considering that the show is happy to have on racists, advocates of anti-Semitic conspiracies, and other such distasteful claims—plus David Wilcock, who once appeared on Russian TV to denounce the United States.

Anyway, McRoberts had a fascinating blog post (linked above) in which he discussed his attempts to convince one of Morton’s audience members, whom he named only as Q, not to take Morton’s advice, or that of fellow fake legal expert Winston Shrout. The short answer is that McRoberts failed, for reasons you can read about in his blog post. He concluded, though, that the people who profit directly from organizing events where con artists and delusional halfwits spew lies that can, if implemented, lead believers to financial ruin or even prison deserve to be blamed for the damage they cause:

The cruise promoted Shrout and Morton and gave them the credibility they used to put people like Q in danger. Its promoters share some of the responsibility. I’m not naming names because I can’t tell, from the outside, where that responsibility should fall. But I know that they have the power to notify the people who paid them money for the privilege of learning at Morton’s feet that his lessons bear tragic fruit. And I don’t think they’re going to do it. For all the cruise’s high rhetoric about fighting abuses of power and supporting light energy and peace and justice, they seem very unconcerned with actually reaching out to help their own customers.

The same can be said of all the pseudosciences and the pseudohistories. They leave the vulnerable believing in things that are untrue, frighten them into paying for the next revelation of “truth,” and are blithely unconcerned for consequences. It’s upsetting to see that the same jackasses simply move on from one field to the next—Morton pretended to be a psychic, a theologian, an ancient astronaut theorist, a sexual guru, and a legal expert, just for starters—destroying everything in their path. And the only reason Morton got stopped is because he didn’t pay his taxes, just like Al Capone!

The lesson seems to be that you can get away with anything as long as the government gets its cut. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than thinking that the government is plotting with the Nephilim to establish a Freemasonic dictatorship.

33 Comments

Clete

2/10/2016 02:05:24 pm

Frankly, I believe in vampires, that is why over every door and window in my house is garlic. It scares away vampires, along with my family, neighbors, door to door salesman and political pollsters.

Jonathan Feinstein

2/10/2016 04:58:52 pm

Wow,,, I didn't think anything would scare away political pollsters.

DaveR

2/10/2016 02:26:04 pm

It appears to be exceedingly simple to separate gullible people from their money. All you need is a good story and the moral/ethical disconnect to willingly damage people so you can get their money.

Bob Jase

2/10/2016 02:32:37 pm

"The lesson seems to be that you can get away with anything as long as the government gets its cut."

Or a church, at least a Christian one.

Time Machine

2/10/2016 02:36:19 pm

This explains the evergreen popularity of religions.

2/10/2016 02:41:38 pm

>>>government is plotting with the Nephilim to establish a Freemasonic dictatorship<<<

The USA based itself on the principles of the Bavarian Illuminati following the War of Independence.

So piffling, this automatic dismissal of something that is so firmly fixed and established within American Culture.

Skepticism for skepticism's sake.

There was no anti-Semitism involved following the Bill of Rights and the Independence represented the establishment of a New Order.

Only Me

2/10/2016 06:34:23 pm

So, how was that ConspiraSea cruise? Did you get your money's worth?

2/10/2016 08:05:47 pm

The connection between secret societies and political subversion goes back to Emperor Trajan.

It exists in Italy today in the form of Propaganda Due (P2).
On 21 May 1981, the Italian government released a list of 962 names of members of P2 that included important state officials, important politicians and a number of military officers, including the heads of the three Italian secret services - this is from the 2005 book by Paul Ginsborg " Italy and Its Discontent" published by Palgrave Macmillan - Paul Ginsborg is Professor of Contemporary European History at the University of Florence.

I need not remind you that the connection between Freemasonry and the French Revolution is not a disputed subject matter in France, and that the French Grand Orient is cognate with the French Parliament.

I need not remind you that it was the Roman Catholic Church that invented the lie that Freemasonry was a Jewish Plot to take over the world because the Jews were the master rulers behind the scenes of world politics and world finance (there was no anti-semitism in Freemasonry).

Yes, Freemasonry played an important role in the history of Western Civilization as part of The Enlightenment and this is acknowledged by historians.

The Freemasonry and Illuminati of the pop world and cottage industry books bears no relation to the real thing.

Bear in mind that Skull and Bones and The Bohemian Lodge still figure prominently and therefore cannot be dismissed and are esoteric based groups access to which is restricted to the select.

2/10/2016 08:16:14 pm

The real historical Freemasonry and the real historical Bavarian Illuminati do form a part of the real history of Europe and it is pathetic that this is linked and cannot be differentiated from the wacky conspiracy theories and cottage industry books about them.

It was the Roman Catholic church that invented the dirt that Freemasonry was part of a Jewish Plot to conquer the world and form a New World Order --- because Church and Throne were toppled. The best known example of which is the French Revolution (enter the Abbe Barruel, "Abbe Larudan", etc).

We should not be too hard on this Blog and its posters --- since there aren't that many ENGLISH-LANGUAGE historians who OPENLY state that France is an atheistic and secular state in active opposition to religion and that its Parliament is cognate with the Grand Orient that played its active role in restricting the role of the Church in France (The Grand Orient advanced the concept of Laïcité, a French concept of the separation of church and state and the absence of religious interference in government affairs).

2/10/2016 08:28:45 pm

>>>I need not remind you<<<

No, you really don't. You've hijacked enough blog posts with repetitious comments on your favorite subject. Just like a certain KRS enthusiast.

In fact, you repeated yourself in the last two comments alone.

>>>acknowledged by historians<<<

This is where I remind you again your arguments are invalid. You have already stated the work of historians is nothing more than theories and opinions and highly flawed.

2/10/2016 08:29:33 pm

For the record, the real history of Freemasonry is to do with banal politics. Banal is the operative word, not "esoteric".

There is meaning behind the rituals, degrees, passwords, regalia, symbolism, etc -- but that is all back burner stuff.

2/10/2016 08:41:27 pm

>>>work of historians is nothing more than theories and opinions and highly flawed<<<

Conservative Biblical Historians from the 20th century who are churchgoers. Those "historians"...

You need not be reminded that there are only a handful of secular Biblical Historians who offer critical examinations of the Bible.

These conservative Biblical Historians love to repeat time and time again that the Gospels "date from the first century" --- without offering a single shred of evidence to back-up their statements.

Critical Biblical Historians of the 19th century held that the Gospels dated from the second century because the first Christian to recognize their existence was Justin Martyr (First Apology,chapter 66),

Rylands Fragment P52, containing a few verses from the Gospel of John, discovered in 1920, dates from approximately the same period of time as Justin Martyr.

There are no fragments of the Gospels dating from the first century. There is no archaeological evidence that the Gospels date from the first century --- therefore the claims of modern day conservative Biblical scholars cannot be trusted.

2/10/2016 09:08:46 pm

Nope, sorry. You said:

"Any...historian worth their salt would own up to the fact that they are short on their databases and that their opinions and theories are only that and nothing else."

Too late for damage control now. And no, I don't need to be reminded of your second favorite subject. Besides, I can dismiss that just as easily, by using ANOTHER one of your arguments:

"I cannot accept your 'summary' because I do not accept your standards."

2/11/2016 05:47:38 am

Only Me,

You are stuttering and spamming again and introducing misquotes

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT I AM TELLING YOU THIS

The discussion about the Sphinx - you introduced two links that you accepted as containing "historical facts" about the Sphinx, when in fact they were only historian's theories about the Sphinx ---- which they themselves acknowledged were only theories in the opening statements on their webpages.

Because nobody knows anything about the origin of the Sphinx. The precise historical details are lost to us and everything is left to intelligent guesswork. This was when I began stating that scholars and professors do not know anything at all about certain historical matters, and they only way to find out specific facts was to travel back in a time machine.

The Sphinx bears a plaque that does not date from the period that it was constructed.

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT I HAVE TOLD YOU THIS,

2/11/2016 05:58:41 am

We only know about the link between the Great Pyramid and Cheops because the name exists as graffiti on the outside of the pyramid, inscribed by one of the workers. Only because of that one thing.

2/11/2016 06:13:48 am

And I repeat yet again - any academic or scholar anywhere worth his salt would immediately state they were engaging in theorising, and this they do.

The problem lies with people like ONLY ME who miss this, and treat historical theories as "historical facts",

Spamming will only come back to burn you, ONLY ME.

2/11/2016 11:14:23 am

>>>You are stuttering and spamming again and introducing misquotes<<<

Not when I'm using your quotes verbatim.

>>>The discussion about the Sphinx - you introduced two links that you accepted as containing "historical facts" about the Sphinx<<<

No, I introduced one.

>>>This was when I began stating that scholars and professors do not know anything at all about certain historical matters, and they only way to find out specific facts was to travel back in a time machine.<<<

But you said "any archaeologist or historian", which means all, regardless of subject.

>>>any academic or scholar anywhere worth his salt would immediately state they were engaging in theorising, and this they do.<<<

That's my point. The Sphinx debate is where you said the work of historians is nothing but theory and opinion. In this debate, you doubled down on that assertion. Knowing this, you continue to make contradictory statements like this:

>>>All of my comments about Freemasonry are supported by historical facts.<<<

Historical facts, presented by historians and scholars, that you insist are theories, guesswork and opinions based on "short databases" lacking material.

You attempt to justify your double-think by saying, "There are verifiable and demonstrable facts, and then there are opinions and theories." Unfortunately, you are only capable of accepting "verifiable and demonstrable facts" when it comes to sources in support of your claims. Those sources that don't, you dismiss. This is called cherry-picking and I've called you out on that more than once.

Hey, don't be upset when I point out your contradictions and use your own arguments against you.

Ken

2/10/2016 03:07:05 pm

Frankly, I see little difference between 'psychics' and other charlatans selling nonsense to the gullible masses and churches selling non-existent salvation for ten percent of ones earnings.

Thankfully the government stays out of how stupid people spend their money.

Scott Hamilton

2/10/2016 03:27:52 pm

It has been interesting to me how the fringe community has, over the last decade, collectively (if not universally) accepted the reality of djinn. It's just random -- why are these mythical beings from outside your belief system the real ones? Why not Chinese entities, or Iroquois?

Good to know that Middle Eastern entities can be warded off with Thai necklaces, though.

2/10/2016 03:35:06 pm

I laughed when I read Ryan Singer is terrified of djinn. Seriously, I hope he's being sarcastic, being a comedian, but if he is truly terrified of djinn he needs psychiatric help.

2/10/2016 09:17:50 pm

....because Chinese entities aren't terrorists.

No, seriously. The connection is actually there. It is from Islam, all Muslims are terrorists, therefore anything from Islam must be horrifyingly evil.

Never mind that Middle Eastern mythology is FAR more complex than that, and that the unlawful djinn are sealed and the lawful djinn bound not to hurt mankind lest they become unlawful, no, none of that matters. They're MUSLIM! Even when they're not!

2/11/2016 01:18:08 pm

That's different. There are certainly people who think everything Muslim is evil, Christian fundamentalists mostly, but they DON'T accept the validity of Islamic mythology. Instead, they do what you'd expect: they subordinate Islam to Christian mythology. Allah is a demon who deceived Mohammad into thinking he's God, all supernatural beings in Islamic mythology are Christian demons in disguise, etc.

The current crop of djinn believers may sometimes be Christians, but of a far New Age-ier type.They don't subordinate djinns to Christianity. They think the djinns are separate from Christianity, or maybe even superior. They, as Singer's anecdote shows, believe that Islamic rituals and charms work against djinn. It's more an example of the orientalism that we expect whenever the US gets involved in a war in some far flung part of the world.

2/11/2016 10:31:47 pm

Scott, there are A LOT of people who think "Muslim == evil," and they're not all fundies. At least in my local community, that STRONGLY includes large segments of the New Agers of various flavors ranging from Wiccan to neo-pagan to free-thinking but spiritual. I think that's where you're actually going wrong with your assumption--that you are assuming that it's ONLY Christian fundamentalists who think Islam is evil, and the evidence just doesn't back up that assumption. The media portrayals of "ISLAM IS TERRORISM!" is hitting EVERYBODY. And that is the answer to "why djinn and not Chinese or Iroquois supernatural beings." Because it's a reflection of current politics and media bias. If the Chinese were being overtly threatening in a violent way--as opposed to a financial way--or if there were an Iroquois revolution taking place in New England, you'd probably see more New Agers freaking out about Chinese or Iroquois "evil beings" and buying Navajo and Russian charms to ward them off.

Maybe we're saying the same basic things, but it seems like you thought that I was actually saying "Islam is evil," as opposed to sarcastically expressing what I perceive to be the viewpoint of people like that. If that's what "orientalism" is (I haven't encountered that term before), then there's no need to b at loggerheads.

Believe me, I am WELL aware that not all Muslims not even MOST Muslims, in fact a very small percentage of Muslims who bear about as much resemblance to average Muslims as the Westboro group does to average Christians are actually terrorists--not "evil" because I don't believe in "evil," I believe in people who are terrifying and dangerous instead. Unfortunately, there are a LOOOOOOT of people in the Western world who are not aware of this at all, and it's sad and terrifying and horrible.

2/10/2016 03:30:51 pm

"Morton then tried to get out of the indictment by creating a trust and naming his prosecutor as fiduciary, in some bizarre tactic that I wasn’t able to understand. "

Was he trying to create a conflict of interest? Because that's kind of clever, in an insane way. Though I'd think it would be more effective to make the judge the beneficiary, but maybe he didn't know who that was yet.

2/10/2016 03:32:41 pm

That's what I'm thinking, however I think a different prosecutor would be assigned.

Clever, but it doesn't look like it's working.

Harry

2/11/2016 07:07:08 am

In addition to hoping to create a conflict of interest, I think that Morton might also try to argue that, as his trustees, the prosecutors have a fiduciary duty to protect him from harm (i.e., keep him out of jail). Of course, it has no chance of working either way, because no one has an obligation to become his trustee.

crainey

2/10/2016 04:55:40 pm

Why would anyone be afraid of djinn? I have only fond memories of genies! Dreams you might say. As a young man I can't tell you what a warm feeling I got every time Barbara Eden would materialize out of that bottle when Major Nelson got home. This guy is obviously messed up.

Shane Sullivan

2/10/2016 05:59:30 pm

"You have to get your juice from the universe somehow."

And meditation just isn't expensive enough.

Kal

2/11/2016 01:37:18 am

The original guy afraid of genies just never got his 3 wishes, or he did, but they were all declared dumb wishes later, and it was too late.

John Melvin link

2/11/2016 07:43:39 am

Jason:

I want to read your book about Cthulhu and world mythology and hope to soon. But I was wondering if you have any regrets about the book, since (as I understand it) it is a kind of joke history that could just conceivably be misused by people trying to say Lovecraft's creation was a real myth. Some people have tried to make that very claim. The dangers of fictions in general bother me lately, but I keep making them, though I hope they are labeled clearly.

Jason Colavito link

2/11/2016 04:13:57 pm

It's a bit hard to have regrets about the content of a book that was never actually published. The publisher had a personal crisis and as of this writing never had the book printed and released, and I've never seen a dime from the electronic copies.

I hope I made it sufficiently clear in the book that it was a joke, especially in citing fake writers and intentionally mislabeling photographs. Nevertheless, it does not surprise me that there are people online who have taken the press release about it as serious.