M. Lamar Keene

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M. Lamar Keene was born about 1938 and is reported as deceased. He was a spirit medium in Florida and was known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists".

In his book The Psychic Mafia (1976), Keene admitted that all of his psychic activities were done by fraudulent means. He revealed how he got rich by tricking thousands of people in séances (Randi 1995:135). He described how the victims fell for the most transparent ruses. He coined the term True-believer syndrome in the book (Keene 1997:151).

Keene's book caused a storm in spiritualist circles. He left the psychic business after his book was published, and went into the business of importing antiques. There were threats on his life. One night while leaving his store, a car drove up and a shot was fired from a rifle (Keene 1997:156-57). Afterward he changed his name, moved to another state, and dropped out of sight (Randi 1982:246).

In M. Lamar Keene's book, The Psychic Mafia, he explicitly professed a belief in God, life after death, psychic phenomena and ESP, even after making his case against true believers and renouncing his trade as a phony medium.[1]

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  • The true-believer syndrome merits study by science. What is it that compels a person, past all reason, to believe the unbelievable. How can an otherwise sane individual become so enamored of a fantasy, an imposture, that even after it's exposed in the bright light of day he still clings to it — indeed, clings to it all the harder?... No amount of logic can shatter a faith consciously based on a lie. — M. Lamar Keene

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  1. ^ M. Lamar Keene and Allen Spraggett (1997). The Psychic Mafia, page 162, 163: "I believe in God. I believe that God is the sustaining power of the universe and that everything expresses this power. Even evil, I believe, is potential good—a learning experience... Life after death? I believe in it. I believe that human beings maintain their individuality after death. I believe that we go on to higher and better expressions of ourselves than those which we are now expressing. I believe that evolution, growth, is the whole thing: mankind evolves, it doesn't regress. I believe that, in spite of all I've seen and experienced... Extrasensory perception and psychic phenomena? I believe that the individual can have his or her own private psychic experience—that there is such a thing as ESP. But when it comes to paying a medium to do it for you—beware!... Find your own uncertainties of life. With God's help you can do it."

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