#2151: Mark Regnerus

Mark Regnerus is a is a sociology professor at UT Austin. Regnerus is most famous for a 2012 population-based study published in Social Science Research (details here; review here) from which he drew, based on fundamentally flawed conceptual and methodological grounds (some details here and here) that “that the household instability that the NFSS reveals is just too common among same-sex couples to take the social gamble of spending significant political and economic capital to esteem and support this new (but tiny) family form,” a conclusion demonstrably not supported even by his own flawed data if analyzed carefully rather than with a true motivated reasoner’s selective sloppiness – and remember: the study didn’t even remotely study children growing up in same-sex households; essentially, Regnerus compared well-functioning straight households with broken families where at least one of the parents had at one point had a homosexual affair. 

Of course: even serious scientists can published flawed studies and draw unwarranted conclusions (though reviews of the referee process of the journal show that the Regnerus study took it one step further, to put it diplomatically, leading to the expected outcome). What makes Regnerus a loon, however, is how he doubled down on his conclusions once they were conclusively shown to be unwarranted (e.g. this). (Not that he doesn’t have a prior history of religiously motivated anti-gay lunacy). You may, for instance, try to follow him down the rabbit-hole in this interview, where he for instance claims that women are far more vulnerable today than they were 50 years ago because of access to contraception and because they no longer can break with unfaithful husbands (yes, it’s fascinatingly bizarre to watch). And here is Regnerus claiming that sex has become “the opium of the masses,” that “we are lacking transcendence and sex is a transcendent act,” because … science? Oh, no: “Sex doesn’t explain the world, religion does,” said Regnerus, providing us all with a rather nice opportunity for head-scratching.  

The study in question was funded by the conservative Witherspoon Institute. Now, research needs funding, of course, and Regnerus stated, seemingly reasonably enough, that the Witherspoon Institute played no role in the design of the study, and dismissed accusations of improper influence. However, the release of emails between Regnerus and Witherspoon Institute employee Brad Wilcox strongly suggested otherwise. In one of them, Wilcox for instance approved several items relating to the study on behalf of the Witherspoon Institute. Wilcox, who funded and planned Regnerus’s study, was, by the way, also on the editorial board of Social Science Research, where the study was published, which is surely a coincidence.

Regnerus and his study were, in fairness, defended by some sociologists, too, but looking at the list of defenders will give you some eerie reminders of certain Discovery Institute antics.

Regnerus also contributed to an amicus brief in opposition to same-sex marriage and appeared as an expert witness in a 2014 federal court hearing regarding Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage. His testimony was however rejected by the judge since Regnerus’s arguments derived from methodologically flawed data that were “not worthy of serious consideration”. Of course, the fact that his research was fundamentally flawed and the results refuted by later studies doesn’t mean that Regnerus’s misinformation attempt goes away; rather, he has become something of a hero, as well as active participant and speaker, in wingnut circles, and his study (or “study”) has gotten to live a rich life also among wingnut anti-gay groups abroad. Here is Regnerus’s strikingly feeble attempt at ciriticizing better studies coming to different conclusions than his own.

During a speech at Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2014 titled “What Sexual Behavior Patterns Reveal about the Mating Market and Catholic Thought”, Regnerus claimed that “normalization of gay men’s sexual behavior” in society will also lead heterosexual men astray and demand anal sex from women, thus causing a surge in the “practice of heterosexual anal sex.” He also called gay adoption as “mean” as abortion.

There is a fine Mark Regnerus resource here.

Diagnosis: It is pretty clear, and Regnerus has more or less admitted as much, that Mark Regnerus is not primarily a scientist: he is an ideological activist and fundamentalist with a degree, who will not let data, facts or evidence stand between him and any predetermined conclusion, one for whom the role of evidence is to support whatever he already believes.

#2150: Jeanna Reed

Hardly a mover or shaker in the antivaccine autism quackery movement, Jeanna Reed primarily came to our attention through her role in the tragic tale (murder) of Alex Spourdalakis. Reed is affiliated with – or runs, we are not sure – Autism is Medical, an autism biomed quackery group with a website full of familiar antivaccine and autism biomed nonsense, include sections on mitochondrial disorders and banners asking if autism is vaccine injury. It demonstrably is not.

And the Spourdalakis connection? It is admittedly not entirely clear, but it seems very likely that Alex Spourdalakis’s mother was subjecting him to autism biomed quackery on the advice of Reed, causing horrible suffering. Reed is apparently convinced that autism is caused by underlying physical conditions (bowel disease, mitochondrial dysfunction and/or “autistic enterocolitis”, a non-existent condition introduced by Andrew Wakefield and Arthur Krigsman), which is false, and it seems like she may have fooled Alex’s mother into thinking that following various quack treatments would remedy her son’s condition. Of course they wouldn’t. Reed is, in that case, to a large extent, to blame for the subsequent murder of Alex Spourdalakis. The antivaccine movement admittedly spun the story somewhat differently.

Diagnosis: A ghastly excuse for a human being. Oh, we are convinced that she thinks she is helping, but she isn’t, and has long since crossed the line where stupidity becomes indistinguishable from malice.  

#2149: James Redfield

James Redfield is the author of the novel The Celestine Prophecy, which has come to be viewed as something of a spiritual guide for the New Age by a substantial group of very silly people (“This book is very simply about how we get and use energy. When we get enough energy, in the right ways, we can ‘raise our vibration.’ With a higher vibration we are better able to tap into our psychic and intuitive skills, and thus are better able to discover and live our true purpose in life,” says one reader who, we suspect, wouldn’t be able to define “energy” (or “vibration”) if her or his life depended on it. Redfield himself treats his novel very much that way, too, in addition to using it as the basis for a very material industry that includes newsletters (The Celestine Journal: Exploring Spiritual Transformation), sequels (The Tenth Insight, which “will take you through portals into other dimensions,” The Secret of Shambhala; In Search of the Eleventh Insightand The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision), audio tapes and CDs. The book is discussed in detail here. There are hints of L. Ron Hubbard. This is a cult.

Most of the teachings gleaned from his writings consist of vague gesturing about (never-defined) energies and vibrations, and, in particular, on how to increase your energy level in order to vibrate harder, because that is apparently good for you. However, for some reasons these energies and vibrations mean that for “half a century now, a new consciousness has been entering the human world, a new awareness that can only be called transcendent, spiritual. If you find yourself reading this book, then perhaps you already sense what is happening, already feel it inside.” Like most millenialist prophecies, we are always already on the verge, it seems. And how should you prepare for this consciousness? You should, according to Redfield, avoid the negative (you can tell good from bad people by their eyes), quell your doubts, follow your intuitions, adopt a teleological worldview, tap into collective consciousness and evolve. Apparently it is no coincidence that coincidences are happening more and more frequently at present, as Redfield sees it, though there are of course really none. Good lord.

In fairness, there are some more concrete events described in the novel, too (concerning mysterious insight into vibrations set down by Mayans in the 6^thcentury in Aramaic(!)), but those are fictional, and Redfield’s followers should take them seriously but not literally (perhaps you should vibrate at the frequency of their post-truth truthiness?). The novel also reminds you about the restlessness of contemporary life and focus on material goods – a deeply profound revelation, isn’t it? – and advices readers to care about auras instead. 

In any case, the book is supposed to convey nine “deep” insights, primarily about subtle energies (previously undetected by science, but which forms the basis of all things – how does he know about them? The insights of the Arameic-speaking Mayans that he invented, of course; silly you) that you can freely tap into by mystical experiences (unless blocked by childhood traumas, which can make you a psychic vampire) and which, if everybody does, will allow us to vibrate ourselves off the planet, which is apparently good. The sequels promise three more “insights”. Redfield has also written God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution, with Sylvia Timbers and Michael Murphy.

The effectiveness of his message rests not on the contents but on its championship of solipsism and self-centered, self-serving egotheistic subjectivism (with a dash of victim blaming): truth is whatever you make it, follow yourself, evolve your spirituality, don’t care about reality. Subjective validation and communal reinforcement are everything you need. “Post-truth” is the currently popular word for it, we think.

Diagnosis: Redfield seems, at least superficially, to be a true believer, so we will assume he is. It doesn’t make him significantly less disgusting. And to his fans (and fans of similar tripe):youare the reason for fake news, post-truth nonsense, conspiracy theories and inauthentic living (yes: go read some Sartre instead, though we suspect you are too dimwitted to get anything out of it).

Hat-tip: skepdic.

#2148: Ruth Reddens & Earl Fernandes

More anti-abortion activists. Ruth Reddens and Earl Fernandes are some of the local activists of Dayton, Ohio, involved for instance in the 2012 40 Days for Life prayer vigil in front of the Kettering abortion clinic (Reddens was the organizer). Now, anti-abortion activists have held prayer vigils outside the clinic for decades, but Reddens and Fernandes took it one step further, arranging an “exorcism of locality” with exorcism prayers, which are designed to drive evil out of a place, rather than out of a person. “Hopefully, the spiritual battle will be won,” said Reddens. It doesn’t work that way. She did, however, obtain permission to perform the exorcism from Rev. Steve J. Angi, chancellor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Participants to the event would be reading Pope Leo XIII’s Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (“[s]eize the dragon, the ancient serpent, which is the devil and Satan, bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit, that he may no longer seduce the nations”), a prayer, said Rev. Fernandes, dean of the Athenaeum of Ohio seminary in Cincinnati, that “is said over a place that’s infested with the evil spirit, to remove any evil that might happen to be there.”

Diagnosis: There are legitimate discussions to be had over moral and political issus related to abortion, but your opponents do not have the views they do because of demon possession. Some people ought really not to watch old horror movies.

#2147: David Reardon

David Reardon is an American electrical engineer and anti-abortion activist with a bogus degree in biomedical ethics from Pacific Western University, an unaccredited, now-defunct diploma mill. He is the founder of the Elliot Institute, an anti-abortion advocacy group, and the author of a number of articles and books on abortion and mental health. As such, Reardon is one of the most influential propagators of the myth that abortion causes psychological health issues, which he backs up with a thick layer of pseudoscience and discredited “studies” (like the infamous Priscilla Coleman et al. study). Indeed, Reardon’s main anti-abortion strategy is to try to argue that abortion is not only morally wrong, but that there are prudential reasons – women’s health and well-being – for making it illegal, a position that is hard to sustain without an unhealthy dose of pseudoscience, denialism and conspiracy mongering. The purpose of the Elliot Institute is accordingly to study “the effects of eugenics, abortion, population control, and sexual attitudes and practices on individuals and society at large,” where “study” means “working hard to make the data fit the hypothesis by any means necessary.”

Reardon’s nonsense is not exactly fringe-nonsense in the anti-abortion movement, however: post-abortion counseling ministries are a growing industry, and part of an effort by the pro-life movement to outlaw abortion by stressing its purported psychological effects. “Even if pro-abortionists got five paragraphs explaining that abortion is safe and we got only one line saying it's dangerous, the seed of doubt is planted,” Reardon wrote in his book.

Diagnosis: It’s almost as if any issue taken up by wingnuts and fundies turns into pseudoscience, denialism and conspiracy theorizing by default. Reardon has at least emerged as a major producer of pseudoscientific bullshit, and one whose impact is non-negligible.

#2146: Donny Reagan

Brother Donny Reagan is affiliated with the Happy Valley Church of Jesus in Tennessee. Like many, Reagan is worried about the status of the institution of marriage these days, but for Reagan the problems go far deeper than gay marriage. In a video recorded in 2013, Reagan railed against interracial marriage and mixed race children calling such marriages “not right” and wondering why we can’t leave segregation “alone.” Said Reagan: “Today we have so much fussing and stewing about this segregation of white and colored and everything. Why don’t they leave it alone? Let it be the way God made it;” that is, “if God wanted a man brown, black, white, whatever color he wanted him, that God’s creation. That’s the way he wanted it.” As such, “there is a move in the message, of blacks marrying whites, whites marrying blacks. And folks think that is alright, but you know, my God still has nationalities outside the city.” And just think about the offspring: “Hybreeding, hybreeding, oh how terrible. They hybreed the people. You know it’s a big molding pot. I’ve got hundreds of precious colored friends that’s borned again Christians. But on this line of segregation, hybreeding the people. What, tell me what fine cultured, fine Christian colored woman would want her baby to be a mulatto by a white man? No sir, it’s not right.”

When the video was noticed by people outside of his congregation, Reagan claimed to apologize: “If I offended you, I’m sorry and I’m asking you to forgive me,” which is not really an apology. He also explained that even though he doesn't believe in interracial relationships, he isn’t a racist since that label has negative connotations that he doesn’t want associated with him. He also toyed with the friends argument.

Diagnosis: Bigoted shift**k. His influence is presumably pretty limited, though.

#2145: Joe Read

Joe Read was a member of the Montana House of Representatives, representing House District 15, from 2011 to 2013. He is most famous for his 2011 bill maintaining that global warming is “natural”, not man-made (“human activity has not accelerated it”), and “beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana”. Some details here. It is instructive to note how Read seems to think these matters are settled, and according to himself he did not consult any climate scientists in drafting the bill, relying instead on his own experience and understanding of the issues (“science is driven by grant money” and hence “being skewed” by the “federal goverment” through the grant process, which manipulates most scientists to deliver findings that support governmental power, said Read, evidently unaware of how these processes work: “[The grant money is] all on the side for writing studies that global warming is happening[; t]here’s nothing on the side that says I wish to write a paper that global warming is not an issue”; right: since there isn’t an equal number of papers arguing each side, the grant process must be biased. He did, however, introduce a companion bill that asserts that federal greenhouse pollution limits violate the Tenth Amendment (once again apparently oblivious to how such matters are settled.) It is worth pointing out, to nobody’s surprise, that Read was not the only clown in Montana’s legislature at the time.

Nor, of course, was this Read’s only attempt at being an idiot. His tenure was in particular characterized by attempts to pass state laws that would nullify federal law, including circumventing the Affordable Care Act, nullifying federal environmental regulations, and even criminalizing the enforcement of federal firearms laws.

After receiving the boot in 2013, Read has apparently joined the Constitution Party.

Diagnosis: One would imagine his constituents being embarrassed by their mistake – Read was, after all, voted out at the first opportunity – but the cynic in us is reluctant to really believe so. (And yes: that’s technically a diagnosis of us, not Read. Read doesn’t really need one.)