Subject: Face On Mars

 > It depends on the message. I believe Dr. Mack is totally
 > misleading in every way because what he is producing has
 > nothing to do with him being a psychiatrist. It has
 > everything to do with his spiritual belief. I can well
 > understand why he is embarrassment to his profession.

First of all let me state that I am only about half way through the 
book, so that caveat may come into play here.  Perhaps I will change 
my position radicaally when I have completed it.
Second, (and this is an interesting position for a born agin 
Agnostic to take) his religious beliefs should not neccesarily be 
held aagainst him, and I do not believe that it is unfair that he 
touts his psychiatric expertise in the books discussions.  Perhaps 
he would have been more widely received had he torn apart the 
possibility of extraterrestrial cause and effect and then been 
dragged unwillingly to the conclussion that SOMETHING must be there. 
 I agree that the book was NOT about the total conversion of a 
disbeliever, neither was it advocacy based on nothing but faith. 
What it is so far is a rendition of a trained psychiatric observer 
of a number of patients,  a somewhat muted consideration of 
alternatives, and more than anything else, a detailing of some 
rather significant commonalities which are remarkable regardless of 
their cause.  (Again I reserve the right to revise and extend my 
commnets upon finishing the book.)  My point on this thread, 
however, was not 
regarding Mark, but rather the apparent dual standard here, where 
someone who is biased towards an extraterrestrial explanation, by 
whatever cause is held to a higher standard than those biased 
againts an extraterrestrial cause, by whatever standard.  (I.E. Carl 
Sagan's tirades).  As it is widely accepted that general disproving 
a negative is tougher than proving a positive, both of these types 
should still be held to the same standard.  If it ain't proven, it 
ain't proven but that don't mean it ain't.  (Pardon my 
colloquialisms.)
--  
David Holm - via ParaNet node 1:104/422
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