I was bumming around the Internet today as I often do. I stopped by the usual suspects, nothing very much new in those places. I happened to wander into binnallofamerica.com. It’s a small but growing voice in the UFO biz, a relatively balanced one as voices go. I have it on the “skeptics” shelf but tha’s not really fair. Binnal himself seems a bit skeptical but sits on the fence a whole lot. Not that I hold that against him. Binnall is a good place to catch up with what’s actually happening on Coast to Coast. Truthfully I have very few opportunities to listen any more.
But I ran across The Wrath of Joe, The rantings and ravings of the world’s newest superstar theologian, Joe Vee.
I haven’t read too much of Mr. Vee’s stuff yet, there’s How Americans Succeed in Ruining EVERYTHING!!!, Jeff Rense : My Loathing Wakes for Thee and finally, a little essay entitled, Far and Away, the Biggest Problem for Ufology is its Supporters.
‘“In the wake of the ABC Ufo special, a lot of Ufologists, Ufo buffs, and people just plainly interested in all things strange and absurd are wondering, and rather anxiously so, just what the future holds for Ufology. Like waking up naked next to a stranger after a harsh night of drinking, the morning after was a full blown blitz to figure out what happened, how it happened, and what to do. The world’s most renowned Ufologist, Stanton Friedman, was meticulous disparaged, his reputation literally assassinated. For a moment, we were all, for better or worse, with volition or not, standing atop the carcass of Friedman.’
The Odd Emperor thinks he’s in love!
More seriously, this guy got his finger on something.
Give a ufo fanatic a phone and a phone line and all standards of rationality, common sense and decency are tossed out the window. Says Vee. Not to mention a computer with a fast Internet pipe. The term UFO fanatic is about as spot on as any I could come up with. It aptly describes a small but growing trend in the field’€mostly in the fringes. These are not people you would normally see speaking at a UFO convention or interviewed on Coast to Coast. I say not usually but there have been exceptions.
Vee goes on to say.
The Ufo fanatics uphold whatever theory they subscribe to with fervor, displayed in a manner akin to religious zealotry. This is not merely a matter of possible visitation or some otherwise unknown phenomenon, for the Ufo fanatic, profound religious/spiritual, however said or unsaid they might be, are at play, as such, the Ufo fanatic engages in a polemic notable of any religious fundamentalist. Indeed, Ufology devolves from a para-science, to a religion on the fringe. The memorized and recited litanies and mantras of evidence, cover-up and conspiracy, the rabidity with which they defend the Ufo presence among us and viciously deride any skepticism of alien existence, and the fanatical adhesion they’ve placed into whatever spiritual dimension they subscribe to, most often a garbled new-ageism in which the aliens are our avatars, such rabidity so as to concoct a universal religious conspiracy against the aliens (the Vatican being a leading culprit)-and of course, expressed in a disjointed and rambling mode-bears the hallmarks of a religious belief, albeit one on the very fringes of sanity, hence the comparison to fundamentalism.
This has got to be my main beef against some of these so-called researchers (really UFO fanatics) out there. It’s not their complete and utterly ridicules double standards. It’s not that they defend their beliefs with a fervor that’s spectacular while all the time claming that they have a balanced, open minded agenda. It’s not the open personal attacks, (which do nothing for their agenda but tends to further my own, One day they’ll figure that out.)
Open minded? Most of the vocal UFO proponents out there are about as open minded as Pat Robertson after his third double latt’a at Starbucks. Some of the more extreme ones could give lessons to the Taliban. The term Religious fanatic so often comes to mind when I deal with these people that I’m starting to think Susan Clancy might be onto something when she says that the UFO business is the leading edge of a new religion. It sure seems that way sometimes.
Anyway, I’m impressed with Joe Vee’s take on this, whoever he really is. It’s a refreshing change from the usual carbohydrate laden crap out on the UFO fairway. Alas his column seems to be no more but you can still read his ravings at http://www.binnallofamerica.com/thewrathofjoe.html
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Holy garbage ! Thanks for the high praise. Joe Vee went into seclusion around the time Pope John Paul II died. I speak with him sporadically and, each time, he teases a comeback. He even called me a few weeks back when I was half asleep to tell me he was in West Virginia, of all places, for reasons he couldn’t get into on the phone. He was one of the founding fathers of BoA and his contributions are held in high regard. I’m glad to see you have found his old gems. This newfound praise may coax him out of the rabbit hole to make a few remarks at some point down the line.
For what it is worth, I’ve e-mailed him the URL of this blog entry so he can see that someone out there, other than me, enjoys his pithy vitriol. I’ll let you know if/when I hear back from him.
Also, thanks for spelling my name a variety of ways. They say variety is the spice of life and you’ve given me a cabinet full.
Also, also, we are not skeptics @ BoA, per se. I am certainly not a skeptic, but I hold my cards close to my vest when discussing various esoteric topics.
Thanks for the props on our C2C coverage, that’s what put us on the map. Check out our audio series, BoA : Audio for continuing conversations with esoterica’s finest.
Thanks again for the praise and link to the site !!
binnall
Whoops, I double posted that. My bad.
binnall
Well, thank you for the comments! Binnall sent me along a link to your blog. Presently, I am a graduate student in Theology, spending a lot of time with ancient languages, so, my availablility to write has been cramped, although I’ve been annoyed by a plethora of things lately, enough to possibly coax me back online. But, yes, learning ancient ethiopic is mildly time consuming…just mildly. If I do write something new, I’ll give you a heads up….though, because of my studies, I may focus more on angelology in the future, a few more rants about Ufos, but I’ll essentially do work more in line with my “professional” life…gotta use Latin and Greek somewhere! Again, glad you liked what I pumped out. Cheers!
Hey guys!
Binnall; I spelled your name wrong! Holy cow, sorry about that! ( I fix OK!?_)
I’m really kind of dyslexic in that department, many people have pointed it out to me which is (I guess) all part and parcel of the territory. Names are especially difficult, remember that bit in Fall of the Roman Empire where Alec Guinness’s character had a servant whisper the names of fellow rulers? That would be me.
I know you’re not a Klass style ultra-skeptic or something on that order. I do sense a bit of, dare I say reserve when conversing about some subjects. It’s a pretty good attitude! Most people seem to take an extreme on one or another side in most issues. It can be difficult to take a more moderate approach, but I think it’s valuable to look at both sides of problems especially sticky subjects like UFOs et-al.
Joe Vee;
I really like your stuff, it’s a refreshing change from the more speculative rants I’ve run across lately. You should continue the series for no other reason than its good therapy! I don’t know if that’s valid or not, seems to work for me! I hope to see more of your stuff! It’s coo mon!
No worries re: the misspelling of my name. I was just busting your chops.
Re : being a skeptic.
I find that it’s best just to keep an open mind on most esoteric subjects, because once you seem to think you know the score of the game, someone comes along with new info that throws it all off for you. I just listen and save my spouting of opinions for private one-on-one conversations, unless someone does something truly stupid, like claiming to have captured Bigfoot.
Re : Joe Vee
See, I knew you’d coax him out of the rabbit hole, albeit briefly. His response to my e-mail with the URL of this blog entry was to tease another comeback. We’ll see if it comes to fruition. I hope it does.
binnall … of america
No problem, bust away! I should know better, names are extremely important.
**
I keep an opened mind believe it or not. A few (rather vocal people) seem to think that I’m a closed minded uber-debunker-klass-bot or some such but, I don’t view myself that way.
Seems to me that these days, being open minded is synonymous with believing. But, my wife calls me the man without belief and I have to say, she’s correct. I have a difficult time understanding why I must believe in this or that. All this nonsense in the Middle East for example; triggered by a cartoon? Is it necessary to hold our beliefs in such high esteem that we hurt people because of them? Perhaps I hold my freedom to disbelieve in high esteem; this gets me in trouble from time to time.
I hope Joe comes back, I would certainly read his stuff and I bet other people would too. He’s probably too busy right now. I really hate it when twenty other things are grabbing my attention and not allowing me to write…. Hate that!