Well, so it is. And, if Evolving Squid were advocating breaking into willfuly ignorant people’s homes or mugging them on the street, I would condemn him/her for it. However, all (s)he is saying is that (s)he has no problem with the wilfully ignorant choosing to spend their money on something that doesn’t work. And which, by the way, is entirely legal in all of the US states (disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and I have assumed that selling this stuff [basically, various forms of woo] is legal).

However, I disagree with E-Squid. Because it is legal to rip people off in this way (i.e. sell them a service that doesn’t work), it makes it a very easy way to make money. Because it is an easy buck, it becomes an attractive line of business, which means it will continue to flourish until either (a) practitioners are required to prove efficacy, or (b) the public gets wise.

I think the food and cosmetics industries feed the public enough misinformation without whole industries being founded on nonsense too.

Imbalanced, but too bad.

Please go back and read more carefully what you quoted Squid as saying… and I point out:

“… with people who are WIlLFULLY ignorant….”

What part of that didn’t you understand? Many of the folks who are being screwed by the mortgage crisis are NOT willfully ignorant of the issues… they are caught in a squeeze not of their own making.

Also, I see nothing fair or uplifting in YOUR ad hominem against mentally ill or retarded people by equating THEM as “willfully ignorant.”

Wilfully ignorant means that the person chooses to make an ignorant choice because he or she is simply too lazy to learn. I believe people who make unfounded assumptions about atheists and mentally retarded people and people who are having mortgage problems and then use those assumptions to launch misplaced rejoinders based on a willful misreading of someone’s post would better qualify as “willfully ignorant.”

[[At the most fundamental level, I have no problem with people who are willfully ignorant being ripped off. I’m not sure that pharmacists should be doing that ripping off, but that willfully ignorant people get ripped off isn’t a problem for me.]]

Do you by any chance sell balloon mortgages? What if the person you’re laughing at has a family that depends on his or her income? Does that matter?

You’re saying “theft is okay if the victim is someone I hold in contempt.”

Is this an example of how atheists are just as moral as Christians? A point I think you’ve upheld in the past?

[[Is it really criminal to separate stupid people from their money?]]

You’re a wonderful human being, Squid. Why don’t you go down to a local MH/MR facility and con some Down’s Syndrome kids out of their petty cash allowance?