A few years ago a controversy erupted in the U.K. concerning allegedly nefarious techniques being used by popular ‘psychic’, Sally Morgan. At the time, I wrote a commentary concerning how quickly skeptics turned hearsay into a witch hunt (literally?), based only on anecdotal evidence. Now comes a new controversy, though this time there is far less reason to offer any defence of Morgan. In the above video (NSFW language), skeptic Mark Tilbrook documents the harassment and threats directed his way by Psychic Sally’s husband (and tour manager) John Morgan while handing out skeptical information regarding psychics outside of one of Morgan’s shows:
As I explained in the Guardian on 7 October, 2014, I decided earlier this year to leaflet outside various psychic stage shows, encouraging members of the audience to ask themselves questions about psychic ability. My first three visits were to shows by Sally Morgan, and on each occasion her husband John Morgan approached me. I found him to be threatening and abusive.
After being threatened during my first encounter with John Morgan, I felt it necessary to have a camera with me when leafleting, to record events and provide evidence of the threats I faced. This footage shows what happened on the third occasion, at the Shaw Theatre in London on March 30, 2014. I’ve subtitled the video as accurately as I can make out, and you can make up your mind about his behaviour after seeing it for yourself.
None of this has stopped me from being determined to continue leafleting at psychic stage shows. This is why I have been working with the Good Thinking Society to hand out more leaflets at psychic shows throughout October 2014. You can find out about ‘Psychic Awareness Month’ at the Good Thinking website
Now while I don’t think this necessarily provides any direct evidence that Sally Morgan is a fraud, and can understand family members sticking up for their loved ones, in this case things are beyond the pale. John Morgan comes across like a standover man and a bigot, with his threats against Tilbrook surely verging on being criminal (caveat: I’m no expert on British law). I have no problem with Tilbrook providing information outside the theatre – indeed, I encourage people to understand the debate about psychic abilities as thoroughly as possible – as long as he wasn’t bothering those attending, or causing real distress to Sally Morgan in some way.
Hayley Stevens has written an intelligent blog post pointing out that, in the somewhat dodgy world of people claiming psychic ability, when too many incidents start adding up, perhaps it might be time to consider the likelihood that you’re being fooled (and also, whether you’re fooling yourself) – rather than making excuses for the behaviour of people like John Morgan.
When people make excuses for this sort of behaviour what they’re actually doing is acting in their own best interests. They are convincing themselves that the person they have put their faith in- Sally Morgan -is not dodgy in any way and that the beliefs they have invested in are not tainted by any of this controversy. It is difficult to accept that a psychic you so strongly believe in has fooled you into thinking they are psychic and are a good, caring person… but at what point to do you accept that you’re wrong?
While I would say Hayley’s list of negatives against Sally Morgan is longer than mine would be – e.g. I don’t blame anyone for not being tested within James Randi’s framework – it is a very good point. As Robert Anton Wilson once counseled, in regards to the tension between not being dogmatic but needing to make decisions: “I don’t believe anything, but I have many suspicions.” At a certain time, too many suspicions should at least set alarm bells ringing.
For her part Sally Morgan has sacked her husband, saying she is “utterly ashamed” of his behaviour and is not sure where this leaves their marriage. But perhaps at this point further redemption is needed – such as allowing herself to be tested by open-minded scientists endowed with enough skepticism to provide a valid examination of claimed abilities.
Though I’d like to see some sort of system doing exactly that for all professional psychics, regardless of how dickish their spouses are…
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