Skeptical Eye

I found this on the internet recently. It is from the Skeptical Eye which purports to debunk psychic phenomena. At the time I had a live chat online program on The Washington Post website where I would answer all new age questions in real time. Their question and my response, was reported in their publication:

the write stuff - skeptical correspondence - Skeptical Eye Vol. 13, No. 1 2001

Question Posed to the Post’s On-line Astrologer...and her Answer

by Gary Goldberg Silver Spring, MD

Long ago you asked if the $1 million challenge for proof that astrology—or any “paranormal” phenomenon—still existed. I can tell you the offer is still good—see http://www.randi.org. Why haven’t other astrologers—or YOU—taken advantage of this offer to conclusively and objectively demonstrate what you claim to be able to do? Think of the good you could do with the money,even if you don’t want it!

Reply from Charlene Lichtenstein:

I guess you have not been reading my program intros each week. Tsk! Tsk! Each week in my intro I say “Astrology does not predict the future. We must make our own decisions based on the set of choices that life doles out. Astrology, however, can help us see the choices.” Astrology to me is a personal growth and enlightenment tool. Whether others try (successfully or not) to predict the future with astrology is of no interest to me. That’s not what it is for. That being said, I visited Mr. Randi’s site. It struck me that if Mr. Randi was truly interested in discovering the value of astrology he would read and recognize the work of Gallaquin and Jung, both of whom, in their quest to discredit astrology, found its immense value and became “believers.” Frankly, folks that offer suspiciously high rewards to debunk their own ingrained prejudices are not sincerely seeking the truth; they are seeking attention. A more extreme example is the Holocaust denier who offered $1million reward to anyone who could “prove” the Holocaust really happened. When the overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence came forward—from eyewitness testimony, photographs, films and even nazi paperwork—these supposedly objective “truth seekers” refused to accept the obvious and held onto their mythical million. Trying to convince folks who are not truly interested in seeking the real answer is a waste of time. ‘Nuf said!