Dear Jeanne,

Thanks for writing, and I appreciate your thoughts. A few thoughts of
mine in response to yours:

1. I'm sorry to hear about your friends bad experiences with James Randi.
Please give them my contact information, and I promise I will be more
fair. Unfortunately, I don't have $1 million to offer them, but it will
definitely serve the higher purpose of "convincing a skeptic."

2. Thank you for passing along the information regarding Percy Seymour.
When I have time, I will consider what he has to say in more detail before
offering my response. (So much to do, so little time!) Thank you for
regarding scientists as humans who are capable of learning and growing.
Most of us just want the best for humanity, and it pains us to see how
people take advantage of others via deception, which can easily be
uncovered with a little objective thought and experimentation. When we
try to use our brains and tools to expose these frauds or to simply
consider a matter very carefully, we are attacked for being self-serving,
dogmatic, and the enemies of humanity. What more can I say? I can only
try to live conscientiously and consistently. Thank you for giving me the
freedom to do so.

3. Regarding astrology ... pick up three newspapers (or visit three
on-line astrology sites) on any given day and compare what the horoscopes
say. How can we conduct an intelligent examination of whether astrology
is "valid" or not when astrologists do not speak in one voice? Which one
am I suppose to believe? The one that appeals to me the most? Which
astrologer is the "real" one that I should listen to? On what basis
should I make that judgment? Until astrology gets its own house in order,
there are many other topics and issues I can study which has a much more
firm (and believable) foundation. I respect those like Dr. Seymour who
propose there might be some physical mechanism which connects human beings
to the rest of the universe. But if there is, the "true astrology" will
arise from the meticulous scientific methods of astronomy and
astrophysics, and it will definitely speak in one voice.

Also, I wonder what the meta-message in astrology is ... that my life and
actions are dictated by external forces, and I have no power to control my
own destiny? Seems very binding to me. Christ said, "The truth shall set
you free." Science frees me from a whole host of ancient superstitions
and ideologies which bind. While I wouldn't go so far as equating science
to truth, I do believe it can show that some notions are not-so-true,
notions which don't serve us very well anymore.

Best,

HF