Great response. My problem with Jim lies in the fact that he goes
out of his way to ensure that the public believes his abilities are real - even going so far as to challenging the James Randi Educational Foundation (which is absolutely ludicrous, Randi obviously being a magician "in the know" himself). Some quotes from his site:
I am a Paranormalist challenging the world's foremost and most vocal skeptic. For years it has worked the other way around quite successfully for Randi and his group.
One last thing before leaving the subject. I have two challenge presentations - one metal bending, the other the Deja-vue Experiment on the site. Both are backed up with documentation and can be verified.
I would also point out that my views on numerology still stand. Randi and his followers have yet to prove the statements wrong.
As a practicing mentalist that values ethics in performing, comments and claims like that leave an extremely awkward taste in my mouth - and it wasn't the yogurt raisins I just consumed.
I don't think there's any reason, in this day in age, to make claims about your performing art that simply aren't true. It's equivalent to a popular recording artist lip-syncing on stage, unbeknownst to your audience. Although many may do it or have done it in the past, it doesn't make it anymore
right or
okay.
I think it would be much more ethical for Jim to refrain from making any statement regarding whether or not his abilities are genuine, and let the audience decide for themselves. On another note, we have really gotten off topic here... I'm a horrible admin.