Many leaders in the skeptic community have proven themselves to be untrustworthy sources of information on the topics they speak about. They’ve misled me often about what others believe and why. Moreover, genuine skepticism seems to be far less important to the skeptic community than the kind of conclusions one comes to. Failure to adopt the required list of beliefs disqualifies one from being a real skeptic, it would seem. In today’s episode, I talk about how my atheism caused me to gravitate towards the skeptic community, and how the same subject caused me to drift away. We also discuss how skeptics mishandle the subjects of theism, parapsychology, the JFK assassination, 9/11, and aliens.

For the record, this should not be seen as a comprehensive treatment of the topics raised (e.g. conspiracy theories). My framework was the following: Skeptics told me conspiracy theorists believed X for reason Y, but they were often wrong on both counts. I used a few examples, but I wasn’t aiming to provide a full account of what 9/11 truthers believe, or what alien abductees think, nor was I trying to defend a rejection of the Warren Commission. I especially shied away from that last topic, since it’s a bit different from the others for me. In the case of the JFK assassination, I’m more solidly on the side of the conspiracy theorists. Along with the majority of Americans, I don’t accept the Warren Commission.

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Transcript

Twitter @waldenpod 

Linktree

For a more accurate picture of what these common skeptic targets believe and why:

/ JFK

Oliver Stone’s documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass /or/ JFK: Destiny Betrayed [longer version of same doc] 

Mark Lane interviewed on JFK assassination (1992) 

/ 9/11

Three-part article in CovertAction Magazine - Peter Dale Scott, Aaron Good, Ben Howard

The Road to 9/11 (University of California Press) Peter Dale Scott 

/ Theism

Kenny Pierce defends theism against Graham Oppy (Dialogue) 

Joshua Rasmussen defends theism against Felipe Leon (Dialogue) 

/ Parapsychology 

Mitch Horowitz: A parapsychologist’s take on James Randi

/ Aliens

Nick Pope w/ Michael Shermer on UAPs and UFOs

Avi Loeb w/ Michael Shermer on alien life and oumuamua