According to the Yavapai court documents site, Michelle Goulet has at last been named as a witness that the prosecution will be calling. There was some speculation as to why she hadn't appeared in any witness documents to date.

[apps.supremecourt.az.gov]

The same document states that 'prior felony convictions' of JAR will be disclosed.

After getting notification from that new documents had been posted on the Yavapai web, I went and read them. I'd read the portion stating that "prior felony convictions" will be disclosed. I remember sort of glossing that over the first time I read that statement a few weeks back on an other document.

I recently learned anyone can search public records online via the State of California Superior Court system. So I went to the San Diego and Orange County sites to do a search on JAR. Wow is there a lot of nasty stuff there, not just recent. So I went to as many State judicial sites offering free web searches and found even more stuff. It made me feel so sad and so stupid.

Oprah had to know JAR's background, heck a LOT of people had to know. Geeze, NBC, CBS, ABC, Larry King, etc., EVERYONE on the let's-praise-JAR's-name bandwagon, were either the biggest group of morons on the planet (forgot to do a background check - OOOps, my bad) or they didn't give a damn (scary bad)! No matter what the reason they were all over each other trying to get air time with this criminal nut case.

I survived a lot of bad things in my life. I still struggle with the physical and emotional remnants (scars?) caused by these events. I want to live a good life, to feel whole, safe, healthy. It's taken a lot of hard work to keep believing in the intristic good of people and to keep hope for something almost imposible to define ... a life beyond my past and the pain (both physical and emotional) that it often holds.

When I met James Arthur Ray I was so hungry for something better (I'd been so sick), I was almost willing to try anything. Had JAR treated me kindly in 2007, and NOT savaged me with his words, I would have followed him to the ends of the earth. I can't imagine how I'd have handled the homeless exersize with a walker and no cell phone, meds, or medical ID. With my health problems I wouldn't have lasted long in the desert, let alone sweat lodge.


My really dumb questions ....

Why do people like JAR target people like myself? And why, after I've worked so hard to grow beyond my past, was I so easily taken in?

How does a naive trusting, slightly broken person (like me) ... looking for answers (spiritually, psychologically, etc.) keep from being taken in by people like JAR? How do I know which people are real, and which aren't? I know this must sound stupid, but does this mean I'll be doing background checks on churches, councilors and teachers?

Jeannika

To Jeannika:

I'm probably not the best person to answer this question, but I will give you my opinion.

Since you have some medical problems, I suggest that you go read some articles on the website Quackwatch. That site is run by a retired psychiatrist who is a watch-dog for the medical industry. He exposes fake/useless medical treatments, nutritional supplements, and so forth.

Then, get your hands on everything you can read about critical thinking. You can check amazon.com and buy some books used, or see if your library has them.

I don't think that James Ray targets people like you specifically. He casts out a wide net, and those of us who are trusting, who WANT to believe, are taken in.

I myself was never taken in by James Ray, I actually had never heard of him, but I have been taken in by other things, because I believed in Magical Thinking rather than Critical Thinking.

Your best defense against James Ray and those like him is KNOWLEDGE.

You ask, how do you know which people are real and which aren't? That's a great question for which I don't have an answer. However, I used to give people the benefit of the doubt. Now, I am skeptical, and watch closely to see if a person's actions match their words. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with them.

There is an excellent book about critical thinking, that anyone can get for free from the library, or buy used for $3. That is a terrific place to start. With careful disciplined critical thinking, its actually not that hard to sort the wheat from the chaff, and accurate knowledge from snake-oil.

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan.
[en.wikipedia.org]


Why do con-artists target easy targets?
The question answers itself, its because its an easier way to make fast money.
When a con-artist salesman like James Arthur Ray comes across someone who is skeptical and is a trained critical thinker, he literally just ignores them, and moves onto the next person, looking for easy targets.
There is much evidence of how that is EXACTLY what James Ray did in live events. If someone asks too many questions, he would just insult them and move onto the next target.
If someone spoke up at his seminars, James Ray would have them thrown out.


Can anyone post links to some of the San Diego and Orange County public record information about James Ray, from those other sources? That has not been reported on yet...

Hippo, I thought that a brilliant answer. No easy solutions, just to be more sceptical and be aware that such con men are always on the lookout for people in a vulnerable stage of life, and in tough times we are all somewhat vulnerable to this magical, wishful thinking.

Jeannika, I would take issue only with your description of yourself as 'slightly broken.' You are a lot less broken than types such as Death Ray and do yourself a disservice by accepting such a self-description.
Real growth as a person has nothing to do with BS like Harmonic Wealth or any other variation of perfection peddled by the snake-oil salesmen, real personal growth comes from the hard lessons of life and how we respond to them.

One of those lessons is the process of learning to trust your own judgement rather than the judgement of some self-proclaimed guru and that is often emotionally painful as it can only be done by education and then a period of trial and error in the real world.
Rather than a self-description of 'slightly broken' I would suggest that you are always whole and capable, that you are learning some tough and unchanging facts about human nature that require a shift in thinking, and that these lessons will stand you in good stead for the future.
It may not feel like it at the moment but that will pass and eventually you will look on this episode, where some illusions were shattered, as beneficial.
You spotted this conman very early in your association with him and backed straight off, thats all any of us can do. Your instincts are good and you follow them, it seems more than capable to me, nothing broken about that response.

This is to Stoic:

Thank you for the nice compliment.

I actually identified with Jeannika's use of the term "slightly broken." She mentioned that she has some medical problems, as do I, which can leave a person feeling as if they're coming up short in many areas of their life.

Also, repeated betrayals by friends and family can cause post-traumatic stress. I have issues with this too.

I'm getting better at critical thinking, while still reeling from some abuse episodes that I may never completely get over.

So I think it's possible to be capable and slightly broken at the same time.

This is to Jeannika:

I want to add something. I know that The Anticult is spot-on with advice, so I went and looked up the Carl Sagan book on amazon.com.

It looks amazing, but would probably be too hard for me to read, due to some minor brain damage.

If you have the same problem, I will suggest an easier book. It's called "The Power of Persuasion" by Robert Levine. This book explains in a simple and sometimes humorous fashion how we get tricked by advertising and the manipulations of others.

With all apologies to the late Carl Sagan, I am not much interested in geology, outer space, etc., but I am more interested in the day-to-day interactions of people and what makes them tick.

Here is the short version of Sagan's book, the Baloney Detection Kit:

[www.xenu.net]

Hippo, I homed in on that 'slightly broken' description because snake-oil salesmen use that notion as a lever to present their own 'cures.' Its the thing they are looking for in the people over whom they try to cast their nets.

Without something broken or missing, or a self-perception that something is broken or missing, the conmen have nothing to offer and no way in to the marks mind.
Often the first step of the con is to plant the idea that the mark is missing some quality or is broken in some way. Listen to Death Ray's spiel and you can hear him suggesting just that before he comes up with the solution that 'balance is bogus' or 'harmonic wealth can be yours' or that his events will make you a superstar success.

We all get a bit battered by life, thats how it is--it doesn't make us broken, it makes us normal. Resisting the persuasion of such conmen means not buying into such notions as that any of us are 'broken'--we are all learning as we go along, works in progress, we are allowed to make mistakes without being 'broken'.

Just a footnote on the Carl Sagan book, The Demon Haunted World. [www.xenu.net]

That book is not about space or astronomy, its about how to tell accurate knowledge, from delusion, nonsense, lies, and deception.
Its about critical thinking.
And he goes through almost everything, from "Quantum Physics", "miracle healings", and frankly many of the exact kinds of bunk James Ray peddles.
He gives a Baloney Detection Kit [www.xenu.net] as mentioned many times.

And its written in a way that anyone can understand, it was written for the general public.
The basic idea is to approach any type of person like James Ray who is "selling" something, and approach him like you would a used car dealer. Does anyone believe what a used car dealer is telling you about that car, or do you bring a mechanic to check out the facts before you buy?

Again, it can be read for free from a public library, there is even a version on audiobook at some libraries.

This Carl Sagan book is not about outer space, its about the inner space of the human mind, and how fallible and prone to error the human mind is, and how to try and deal with that.
Its the perfect antidote to Gurus like James Ray.
Many cult sites reference the book, its ideal for those in any type of New Agey culty group. Its not an overstatement to say that book can help a person get themselves out of many areas of New Agey mental quicksand.

Just taking one or two ideas from that book, which has dozens of ideas, would completely deconstruct James Arthur Ray and his cronies in minutes.
___________QUOTE____________
[www.xenu.net]
The following are suggested as tools for testing arguments and detecting fallacious or fraudulent arguments:

Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the facts
Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view.
....
In other words, is it testable? Can others duplicate the experiment and get the same result?

Additional issues are

Conduct control experiments - especially "double blind" experiments where the person taking measurements is not aware of the test and control subjects.
....

Common fallacies of logic and rhetoric

Ad hominem - attacking the arguer and not the argument.
Argument from "authority".
Argument from adverse consequences (putting pressure on the decision maker by pointing out dire consequences of an "unfavourable" decision).
Appeal to ignorance (absence of evidence is not evidence of absence).
Special pleading (typically referring to god's will). ....

Straw man - caricaturing (or stereotyping) a position to make it easier to attack..
Suppressed evidence or half-truths.
Weasel words - for example, use of euphemisms for war such as "police action" to get around limitations on Presidential powers. "An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public"
__________________________________

And of course, this website has a link on the same book.

[www.culteducation.com]
"Baloney Detection Kit"
From "The Demon Haunted World: Science as a candle in the dark" Ballantine Books 1997
October 18, 2005
By Carl Sagan