Karla McLaren

[ciphergoth]

Rarely have I hung on every word of an essay like I did with these two. A former prominent New Age speaker and author, Karla McLaren became a skeptic in 2004, and she has some very harsh words for the culture and communication of skeptics:

Bridging the Chasm between Two Cultures, the article she wrote for Skeptical Enquirer in 2004.

I have a selfish reason for asking these questions, because one of my first ideas was to make my own Web site a culturally sensitive portal to the skeptical sites - yet I cannot find a way to do so. I've got a Web page mock-up brewing in my files - a page that I've rewritten maybe fifty times or more-that tries to introduce the concept of skepticism in an open and nonthreatening way. I'd like to include links to the brilliant urban legends site (snopes.com), to Bob Carroll's online Skeptic's Dictionary (skepdic.com), to CSICOP and the Skeptical Inquirer (csicop.org), and to The Skeptic (skeptic.com). I also really wanted to include Quackwatch (quackwatch.org) and James Randi's site (randi.org) - but I just can't find the words. Sure, I can use my site to prepare people for the journey, but I know from experience that they would be in for quite a shock once they clicked on the links. I mean, it's one thing to find out that much of my culture and belief system was based on gossamer and hearsay, but it's another thing altogether to see people like myself being denigrated and pitied.

Her 2007 update

I wish she had a blog!

Comments

[purplerabbits.livejournal.com]

Interestingly Barbara Walker [1] is another person I would recommend to people who fine some kinship with New Age culture without wanting to believe things that aren't true. Maybe we should do a list fo resources? I've been looking for some stuff to use my new web pages for...

[1]Particularly The book of sacred stones: fact and fallacy in the crystal world and The skeptical feminist: discovering the virgin, mother, and crone

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Interesting. You know that Sam Harris takes time out from laying into religion - and sharing his scarily right-wing thoughts - to recommend meditation and mindfulness in The End Of Faith?