Negative responses to the Medium John Edward

[Nightrain]

John Edward is certainly one of today's most visible Psychic Mediums along with James Van Praagh and George Anderson, all of whom have strongly supported the existence of Reincarnation in their readings.

Yet, no other subject is as full of negative invective and angry visceral response as John Edward. Hard-core skeptics claim with certainty that it is all cold-reading and fraud, because nothing else can explain how he comes by his information. Dateline on Investigation discovery has tried to trap him during an interview, Shatner has told him to his face during a televised interview that it's all "Woo-woo", and even Time Magazine has published an unsupported scurrilous article that was done at the urging of James Randi's cohorts.

Yet, John Edward has been positively tested, along with several other Mediums, by Dr. Gary Schwartz at a University of Arizona Science Lab, and no one has ever witnessed hidden microphones and scores of private detectives sleuthing for information that could be used in his readings. In fact, some readings have included information that remained unknown to anyone until months and years after the readings.

So, in the face of all the reasonable evidence for After-Death Communication, how can normally reasonable and intelligent people react with such horrible and abusive comments like, "I want to stuff a dirty sock in his mouth!"?

 

[usetawuz]

I went to see Edwards with an enlightened woman friend and my wife and came away very impressed. Several of his "revelations" were very poignant and meaningful to both those involved and those watching. Afterwards the three of us went to dinner and the friend was enthusiastically reliving the event and my wife nearly walked out of the restuarant. She asked our friend to please stop...the whole event had scared her and somehow didn't agree with what she knew to be real. The friend and I were shocked as she was truly freaked out...and John Edwards was somehow a bad guy. In my wife's case there was no reason for her discomfort and dislike...it was simply an irrational reaction and she still will not discuss it. Apparently she is not the only one!

 

[johnny5alive]

In the past, people were persecuted for thinking that the earth was round .

 

[Nightrain]

In my wife's case there was no reason for her discomfort and dislike...it was simply an irrational reaction and she still will not discuss it. Apparently she is not the only one!

I have witnessed this kind of reaction on many levels involving a wide range of subject matter. My own response to a dream that I had many years ago is a good example. I believe that my deceased Mother visited me; but during the dream I reacted with shock and anger that I had been lied to about her death, and about what happens after we die. Of course, the dream may have been purely imagined, but my reaction was real and very surprising.


None of us can imagine or anticipate the profound emotional attachment we all have to the ideas that form the foundation of our lives, regardless whether they are right or wrong. Many of us have witnessed the violent knee-jerk reaction of some people when factual scientific evidence conflicts with their view of the world. Sometimes, even the most complacent mellow-mannered people have been known to react violently.

 

[Totoro]

I find this is common too. I think an adverse negative reaction is more telling than a flippantly casual "oh you don't believe that, do you?".


I think people with strong reactions may be blocking out certain things. Whereas someone who is casually dismissive may not have or not reached a level of awareness where they could begin to recognize or question their experiences.

 

[Jody]

I think John Edward gets a lot of grief because he has a very fast-talking, in-your-face style, which he thinks comes from the fact that he's a New Yorker. His wife calls him "the Judge Judy of psychics."


I suppose it could be a carry-over from a past life. One of this forum's guest speakers, Walter Semkiw, thinks John Edward is the reincarnation of Kate Fox, the youngest of the Fox sisters, who pretty much kicked off the spiritualist movement of the 1800's. According to Wikipedia (which I don't particularly trust, by the way) "In 1888 [sister] Margaret confessed that their rappings had been a hoax and publicly demonstrated their method. She attempted to recant her confession the next year, but their reputation was ruined and in less than five years they were all dead, with Margaret and Kate dying in abject poverty."

 

[johnny5alive]

I do not doubt John Edwards' ability at all. I do see how people react negatively to him though. I don't particularly care for watching or listening to him because his whole demeanor reminds me of someone who as a kid would take all the good planes and leave me with the older ones, all the while telling me how good he is a setting them up in a row.

 

[Mama2HRB]

I am now listening to his audiobook and am find it very informative. If he was a scam artist he would not have put out an item like this, where he shows people how to develop their abilities step by step.


Here is a link to the set for more information. I found mine at a thrift store. Someone had hidden it under a stack of old music sheets.


http://www.amazon.com/Developing-Your-Own-Psychic-Powers/dp/1561707627

 

[KnickKnack]

I enjoyed watching his program when it was on television (perhaps it's still on ... I've not seen it in quite awhile though). John Edward has seemed more on the up and up to me compared to some others, however, there was one moment when I thought okay, that was peculiar - it was on an episode of his tv show, and he asked something to the effect of 'does anyone have a religious dog?' and added that he was seeing his dog in a church. Turns out that the person he was reading on had a St. Bernard ... now, that could very well have been the image he saw, but there was something about it that sounded off a bit, and cheesy to me. I do think he is legitimate, it's just that one moment that sort of nagged at me a little. His info was accurate though, so that's what matters.


My mother is one who will lump all psychics or anything or any one that doesn't fit with her beliefs as 'fakes' simply for the reason that she doesn't think there is anything outside of her religion that is true. Based on seeing her response, I tend to think that those who have such strong negative reactions to Edward do so out of fear - either stemming from their religious beliefs (to be honest, if I thought those who were psychics conversed with demons, I'd probably be shaken too) or from their fear of them being real and having things about themselves exposed that they'd rather keep secret (what a better way to dismiss anything they may reveal than to cast doubt on their legitimacy as being what they claim to be).