The Project Barnum Bandwagon
Where to start with Project Barnum, a campaign which aims to pressurise UK theatres and venues into refusing to host mediums on their stages? This is wrong on so many levels, from freedom of speech to discrimination to logical fallacy and beyond.
Created as a jump onto the bandwagon of the discredited Sally Morgan accusations, the project is as disingenuous as it is mistaken. It’s laughable how spiritualists and people who attend mediumship evenings can be called gullible and stupid, yet the skeptic mafia fall over themselves to believe false accusations and unreliable witnesses, even once the tech staff responsible for what was overheard in Sally’s show have personally spoken up admitting their actions, which were mistaken for Sally being fraudulent.
So: what’s wrong with a campaign calling upon theatres to refuse to book mediums?
For a start, the way it’s being conducted and the wording being used. Clearly, those behind it believe that every medium in the country is a fake. They are entitled to that view, of course – but it’s a logical fallacy. There are and always have been, undoubtedly, some fake mediums. That does not prove that all are fake, any more than we can claim that all men are rapists or that all premiership footballers are stupid.
Then we have discrimination. Spiritualism, like it or not, is a religion. Project Barnum, among many other sceptical voices, complains that no medium has ever satisfied them, under controlled conditions, that they are “talking to the dead”. Leaving aside the issue of controlled conditions, which is a whole other post – when was the last time they tested a vicar, a mullah, a rabbi or any other kind of religious figure in order to ascertain proof of what they were saying? By its very nature, spiritualism cannot be proven or disproven; something it has in common with every other religion going. Shall we stop people going to church or other religious institutions then, on the basis that there is a chance they may be being duped? Okey dokey. Like to see them get that one through, but no, spiritualism has always been an easy target.
Ah, but you see, it’s the issue of money changing hands when it comes to mediumship events. Let’s conveniently ignore the large amounts of money changing hands in all religious events, whether it’s through tithing, collection boxes, tickets to evangelical events, whatever. All of that money is also changing hands voluntarily. Away from religion, how about the money changing hands when the public pay to go and see, say, a comedian whose brand of humour they then discover they don’t like? A private doctor whose competence comes into question? Tickets for a game show which may or may not be fixed? Buying a washing machine which isn’t fit for purpose. Well, the law already offers some protection to consumers in all of those instances – and, and this is a big point, the law ALSO offers protection to consumers who buy tickets to a mediumship event. They are covered under normal legal rules for when refunds may be required, and they’re also covered by the plain and simple fact that it really isn’t that hard to ask for your money back if you’re unhappy with what you’ve got for said money. Most theatres tend to oblige. It’s called customer service.
So these poor consumers who buy tickets to see a medium, go along and end up having wasted their money because the medium was, of course, fraudulent, because they all are, and the sceptics say so it must be true (breathe…) – these poor consumers are already protected should they wish to seek reimbursement. They don’t need to be told what is and isn’t good for them and what they may or may not spend their money on.
Next up, freedom of choice. People paying to go and see anything at all are parting with their money willingly and have made an informed choice so to do. Some people go to see mediums in large venues purely for entertainment. Some go hoping to spot fakery. Some go because they genuinely believe in the medium’s abilities. All of these people, with their diverse motives, are quite capable of making a choice. Who the hell do Project Barnum team think they are to be dictating what people may and may not choose to spend their money on? How absurd. They believe that people are ignorant and do not understand the way fake mediumship works (and of course, in their view, there is no other kind of mediumship), and that therefore they should not be permitted to spend money on it. Hmmm. I believe most people don’t understand how big business and politics works, and I’d prefer they didn’t spend their money on lining the pockets of dubious media barons, but I’m not about to launch a campaign to stop them doing it. Freedom of choice and all that. Even for the ignorant.
Yes, theatres make money out of mediums. That’s show business – and no, the fact that mediumship demonstrations on a large scale are often called performances does not imply that they are staged and faked. For goodness sake. Grow up. Theatres making money out of a mediumship event is no more unethical than theatres making money out of showing a violent film, perhaps, or allowing a poor pantomime to take place. Again, consumer protection is in place for those unhappy with what they receive.
The fact that mediumship demonstrations in theatres use the disclaimer “for entertainment purposes only” does not mean it’s all fake,either. It means that both the theatre and the medium are abiding by the changes to the fraudulent mediumship act, no more or less than that. And when, I would like to know, are they going to carve “for entertainment purposes only” over the doors of every religious building in the land?
Skeptics always seem to miss the point that genuine mediums and spiritualists are as angry with fakes as they are. A handful of frauds have dragged an entire belief system into disrepute; most of us would be glad to see frauds exposed, but tarring everyone in the movement with the same by turns vicious or patronising brush is not the way to do it.
It strikes me that Project Barnum has a place, of sorts; yes, it is helpful for the public to be made aware of cold reading techniques – in fact, a greater awareness of cold reading done unconsciously by a medium would help to drive up mediumship training standards, which I happen to care passionately about – and I’m certainly in favour of greater critical thinking for everyone, everywhere, on every topic. However, platform mediums, the theatres which host them and the willingly paying public are not the problem here. Far more of a problem, I would venture to suggest, is the “psychic junk mail”, the outrageously expensive psychic phone lines, the inserts into magazines promising that Madame ZaZa can solve your every worry as soon as she has your credit card details. But then, these seedier sides of the psychic world, where fraud is undoubtedly widespread, are not as sexy or glamorous as targeting the big names. And there’s no recent bandwagon to jump on. Shame, because if the Barnum Project really wanted to make a difference, instead of just making a lot of noise, they might have chosen a different line of attack and a whole different set of victims.
Hello,
I’ve only just seen this article as you didn’t let us know you had written a criticism. That’s ok though. If you’d wanted your points answering I (as the founder of Project barnum) would have happily addressed the ‘issues’ you have outlined.
Your criticisms are incorrect, we don’t assume that all psychics or mediums or ‘sensetives’ are fraudulent, and the projects aim isn’t to pressure theatres into not hosting psychic shows. That was one task we undertook where we asked theatres if they thought hosting shows where unproven claims are made that don’t stand up to skeptical scrutiny is appropriate. We’re also not interested in persecuting spiritualists, and we’re fully aware that people have the right to go to a psychic or medium if they so choose to.
All that Project Barnum is interested in is demonstrating the tricks that fake psychics (which you have acknowledged exists) so that people who do go to a psychic can be aware of whether or not those tricks are being used.
If you have any worries about Project Barnum then email me at hayley@projectbarnum.co.uk and I’ll be happy to address any questions or concerns.
- Hayley Stevens
Thank you for your comment. I’m not interested in a protracted debate about Project Barnum, which would be why I haven’t contacted you directly. Since you found this post, however, I will just reply to your partial rebuttal of my criticism. Unfortunately, although you claim that your project does not assume that all mediums are frauds, the clear tone of the site is exactly that – of course, you are careful to avoid making specific libelous claims of fraud against identifiable individuals, but the language and tone on the site clearly implies that, as far as the organisation is concerned, there is no such thing as a genuine medium. PB is entitled to that opinion, of course, and hardly alone it in either, but it’s disingenuous for you and/or the project pretend to be open-minded about it. The tone of the site is also arrogant and patronising; you appear to be starting from a default position of “we know more than these ignorant masses”, which is an “interesting” way of demonstrating the open-mindedness you claim to have.
Oh, and at the time I wrote the post, the theatre campaign was indeed the main thrust of the newly launched project. That you have widened your scope since then is interesting to hear; when I have time, I’ll be sure to take a look at your current focus – as I said in my post, I’m as angry about fake psychics as you are, and I do believe that critical thinking (of all kinds, on all subjects, including critical analysis of pseudo-skepticism….) is important; I just feel that your approach is antagonistic and misguided.