Peter Answers

This is an editted transcript from Yahoo’s Christian Chat:12, early morning 22 APR 2007. I have removed the messages of those not involved. The original transcript is available here in rich text (RTF). For those that visit Christian Chat:12, greatvauleshopper calls himself “Apostle Anthony.” He is apparently responsible for The Sword Bearing Prayer Warriors.

greatvalueshopper: How is everyone.
greatvalueshopper: Room seems really empty unlike the usual. Did yahoo do something?
greatvalueshopper: Hello, how are you?
greatvalueshopper: I did the other night.
greatvalueshopper: I could really use some prayer, my family just prayed with me as well.
greatvalueshopper: I am a christian, I teach others about Christ, but I don’t know what to say except I got stupid.
greatvalueshopper: A friend of mine while we were at my sisters house was asking some website a bunch of questions, it was answering him and another relative.
greatvalueshopper: They had me ask it some questions, it told me my spirit was not compatible, that I was a unbeliever in it.
greatvalueshopper: And that it would leave its soul in my house this night.
greatvalueshopper: It had to have been witchcraft.
greatvalueshopper: It was a website answering instantly.
greatvalueshopper: It knew my last name.
greatvalueshopper: It knew who was all around me.
greatvalueshopper: It knew what movies I had at my house
greatvalueshopper: Ive been praying and breaking curses, it just freaked me out.
atheist_jsbrown: LOL
greatvalueshopper: What do you mean?
atheist_jsbrown: I want the web address.
greatvalueshopper: Noone said anything about me. It just said that I was not able to be answered about, my soul was not part of it.
greatvalueshopper: Because I am christian it couldnt answer me, but it would answer them about me.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, May I have the link to the web site?
greatvalueshopper: It starting making threats towards me “I will have my soul under his bed tonight”
greatvalueshopper: Just please keep me in prayer, I’ve never encountered a demon or spirit this…profound I guess.
greatvalueshopper: yes, just pray danz.
greatvalueshopper: …
atheist_jsbrown: danzig159, Apostle may have me on ignore. Will you please ask him, for me, the web address to the site he is speaking of? Thanks.

(danzig159 was on voice chat)

greatvalueshopper: yes?
atheist_jsbrown: danzig159, Thank you.
greatvalueshopper: I know him.
greatvalueshopper: Yes.
greatvalueshopper: peteranswers.com
greatvalueshopper: …
greatvalueshopper: I think im going to breakdown.
atheist_jsbrown: It’s an “interactive souls engine.”
greatvalueshopper: It said it was a tarot thing right?
greatvalueshopper: nvm, don’t tell me.
greatvalueshopper: I know, its devination. thats why im saying I got dumb, I did it while my spirit said it was wrong.
atheist_jsbrown: Okay, I just asked a question, and it replied “Someone that doesn’t believe in spirits is around, please go away.”
greatvalueshopper: Do you beleive in them Atheist? You never seem to credit anything that involves spirits, I have no doubts now.
atheist_jsbrown: Second question, it gives a contradictory answer- “The souls are getting closer, keep trusting.”
greatvalueshopper: I asked it a ton of things, wouldnt answer me, as soon as I handed it to Andrew, it answered him like they were good buddies.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, No, I don’t believe that spirits exist. I don’t believe that what you area in fear of right now exists either.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, It’s a software version of a magic eight ball. The end.
greatvalueshopper: Um, atheist.
greatvalueshopper: Why did it know my last name.
greatvalueshopper: Why did it know what movie we were about to watch.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I don’t know that it did.. I wasn’t there.
greatvalueshopper: how do you even explain that?
greatvalueshopper: So…your saying im lying?
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I know nothing about what you and your friends did with it. It’s possible that your friends tricked you.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I am saying that I don’t know anything about your experience. I never mentioned that you lied.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I just lack information.
greatvalueshopper: They didnt know alot of stuff about me, it answered questions they asked instantly.
greatvalueshopper: “who is to my left” (Tony)
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Type one of the questions you asked, and I will try it myself.
greatvalueshopper: “who is to my right” (courtney)
greatvalueshopper: Uh, try…what color shirt am I wearing, or something…
greatvalueshopper: I dont know…andrew asked that.
greatvalueshopper: It told him it was green (correct)
greatvalueshopper: then that he bought it at disney land, also correct.
greatvalueshopper: Anything atheist?
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, All I can say is that it hasn’t done anything to suggest that it’s actually supernatural. In fact, I haven’t gotten any specific answers at all.
greatvalueshopper: you havent responded in a little while.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I’ll ask about you now.
greatvalueshopper: What did it say?
greatvalueshopper: IT would NOT answer me at any point in the hour I was there.
greatvalueshopper: As soon as I handed the laptop to someone else, it answered them instantly.
greatvalueshopper: I tried two different computers.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I am only receiving vague response; no answers.
greatvalueshopper: Thats what it did to me.
greatvalueshopper: The ENTIRE time.
greatvalueshopper: Everyone else it just answered instantly, and everytime, even if asked weird questions, it was right.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I’m still trying. It seems like a software to me.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Like I said, I wasn’t there to see what you did. I have no way to verify what you say, even if you are being truthful.
greatvalueshopper: If its not giving you answers, then its doing the same thing it did to me. Try letting someone else use it.
greatvalueshopper: well, your right.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, My experience with it doesn’t match what you told me. I’ll keep trying.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, If you like, I will ask it questions for you. I can try to duplicate your experience. Just let me know.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I’ll record my questions and responses.
greatvalueshopper: No thanks atheist…
greatvalueshopper: I’m not going to do that again.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Seriously, you should try it alone. That will eliminate any trickery by your friends.
greatvalueshopper: No
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, If you actually believe that you are protected by a god, then I don’t see what you have to fear.
greatvalueshopper: I am not getting involved in it ever again.
greatvalueshopper: The Bible says not to play or even go near anything of the sort.
greatvalueshopper: It opens a door into your life.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, It’s possible that you are in fear of something imaginary. If you don’t actually put it to the test, then you will never know.
greatvalueshopper: With two others there who witnessed it?
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, We’ve covered this already.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I’m trying to be objective about it. That’s all.
greatvalueshopper: People running around in the living room, and it answered who was directly in front, or behind, or wherever.
greatvalueshopper: I know you are, but I know what happened, its witchcraft.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Now… be careful about making such conclusions.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, It’s easily possible that someone tricked you.
greatvalueshopper: While using TWO different laptops, and a desktop?
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Yes, it’s still possible.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Until you have evidence that points specifically to witchcraft while eliimating all other natural possibilities, then it’s a mistake to conclude the source.
greatvalueshopper: IT knew things noone else besides me knows. Therefore, unless a website reads minds, it was witchcraft.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, What did it know about you that no one else knew?
greatvalueshopper: Personal things.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Like? Give me an example.
greatvalueshopper: …
greatvalueshopper: Things that I don’t feel are appropriate in a chat room.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Fair enough.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, I’m still asking questions, and it’s still acting like a spoiled child.
greatvalueshopper: Nothin sinful, but personal things about me that noone should know except me.
atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Who was typing and reading the answers when all of this happened?
greatvalueshopper: Either my friend, or my relative, both of which had no way of knowing most of those answers.
greatvalueshopper: They couldnt hardly spell the questions their so unlearned.
greatvalueshopper: They spell rasist, instead of racist.
greatvalueshopper: If I tried to ask, it would tell me my soul was not compatible, or that I did not beleive in it.
atheist_jsbrown: I asked, “Are square circles logically impossible?” It replied, “The theosophical semantic of the question is not valid.”
atheist_jsbrown: Square circles qualify as theosophy?

(After a period of time…)

atheist_jsbrown: greatvalueshopper, Still nothing remarkable.

(He didn’t post another messsage, and eventually left the room)

 

After thoroughly interrogating Peter, I decided to google the name of the web site to see if other people had written anything about it. Sure enough, searching for “peteranswers.com” yields insightful results. To see how this “witchcraft” works, check out this article.

It’s clear from this example how easy it is for a human to be fooled. We all can be tricked, conned, swindled and scammed. This could have happened to me as well, though I would have handled it quite differently. But because this guy views the world through the irrational lens of his religion rather than reason, he is more vulnerable to being duped.

It’s a part of Christianity that “evil” powers exist and are out to corrupt and deceive godly people. In his mind, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume witchcraft or some other adversarial supernatural power is pursuing him. The problem is that he hasn’t arrive at his Christian position by using reason and seeking evidence. He is operating on a special, possibly magical system of validation known as faith. Since his Christian faith affects the way he thinks about the world and what is in it, he is without any way to accurately and objectively seek the truth. Because of this, he jumped to a drastic conclusion instead of following the evidence. The responsible thing to do is admit being confused and unable to explain things, and that he didn’t know how it was happening. But, no, he used his faith to assume an answer rather than being reasonable about it. He was certain it was witchcraft – certain and wrong.

This is an excellent example of how religious superstition hurts mankind. It discourages people from seeking the real answers, replacing interest in knowing and understanding with satisfaction of ignorance. Many stop short by saying “God did it,” or in this case, “evil did it.” There is such an enormous evidentiary void between being ignorant of something and declaring it happens as the result of the supernatural. There is a valuable lesson to be learned here, and I hope my great-value-shopping friend recognizes it. This event has reinforced what I learned a long time ago. Maybe you can benefit from it too.

Tags: chat, christianity, evil, funny, naive, religion, scam, skepticism, superstition, witchcraft