Dangers Of 'Faith' Healing?

enlightenment

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I propose that the practice of so called 'faith healing' is, among other things, potentially very dangerous.

I recall a story a time ago, about a well known US televangelist.

Now, you can dismiss these guys if you like, but the truth is that there is clearly a demand for them, at least in the US, and no shortage of those prepared to pay to attend live sermons, or donate via their credit card.

In the case of this chap, he would invite people up onto stage, or sometimes go down among them. He would appear to amaze them by identifying their name, when in reality the info was being given to him through an earpiece.:rolleyes:

Most cynically and dangerous of all was his so called faith healing, in some cases telling people that they should throw away medications that health professionals had given them to control serious conditions.

Hey, if someone persuaded your dear old nan that she no longer needed to take her insulin for diabetes, and she grew so ill she died, would you be calling that manslaughter, because I think I would.

It is one thing to permit these men air time to exploit the desperate, but quite another to give them the freedom to make people believe that god is acting through them, and that they can cure some terrible affliction that they have. It is utterly irresponsible to suggest or instruct someone to dispense with normal medical practice, and there are surely grouds in which to make that unlawful, surely?

There is no human being known to me that can cure cancers, blindness, or return the limbs to amputees by any supernatural means.

Any that have claimed to be able to do these things have always shown to be fakes, only in it to expoit what they can in terms of $.

It's religion meets captialism US style, as I doubt that such people would gather as much support here, just a different outlook and cultue, imo.

And even when one is exposed as a liar and a fake, it doesn't seem to resonate with the people who still merrily send off their money to other televanagelists and faith healers.

There is no scientific explaination that I know of, short of a pseudo scientific one, which could attest to the fact that you can lay your hands on someone, and cure them of an ill, such as a tumour.

It is entirely misleading, and potentially dangerous to inform people that this can be done, imo.

Imagine I were to put out information into the public domain that said that drinking large amounts of white spirit could cure HIV. If that belief existed enough, then am I not at least in part responsible if someone decides to test the claim, and do that?

Well, it is the same with peddling an unscientific, unrpoven 'cure' onto people, and I think there should be stricter controls over these things, to be honest, to save the gullible from themselves.
 
Seen any double blind studies on cancer surgery, radiation, or chemo lately? Any comparisons to other treatments?

Or just the gov't and science world saying, tryptophan dangerous illegal...well no... stevia, off the market....well no...or must have mastectomy, I mean lumpectomy, I mean gotta remove the lymph nodes, I mean you don't....

Most powerful thing to date that affects all medical studies?? Belief.

Haven't seen a study yet where the placebo had zero results.
 
yes God still heals today, miracles still happen today.

Praise God
 
Does he?

Show me an example of him bringing a dead person back to life?

Show me an example of him restoring the limbs of an amputee?

Cheers

not seen any of those myself, although I believe that all those things happen today.

Praise God.
 
whether you believe it or not is of no consequence to me, if you had never witnessed anything supernatural then naturally you would be sceptical.

But the point is you were the one who admitted that you had not seen aforementioned 'miracles', yet believed them to be going on today.

I merely asked you if you believed that based on either

A) Actual cases, in which you could show accounts

B) Just something you imagine to be the case.

I see that it's B.

Cool.
 
Very good, brilliant debating style, well done.

Now, anyone else have any evidence that 'faith healing' works?

How about Voodoo?
 
Very good, brilliant debating style, well done.

Now, anyone else have any evidence that 'faith healing' works?

How about Voodoo?
If faith healing does not work.... how does a placebo work?

Do you have any idea how pissed of the pharmaceutical companies get in their triple blind studies when the placebo does better than their multi million dollar latest R&D saviour?? (not saviour to mankind, saviour to their brand and stockholders)

So but lets say the placebo works only 20% of the time, and the product works 80% of the time, but with side effects 80% of the time, which require other meds, and some of those meds have side effects which require other meds?

Don't think that doesn't happen, find anyone with over 8 meds on thier counter and a couple are often for side effects...get someone taking 15 meds and odds are they will have half of them for side effects and some of them for side effects of the side effects.

The good thing about placebo's, faith healing, belief and positive thought....

healing is the side effect.
 
I'm sure I recall seeing stats of prescription drugs in the UK - and placebos were the biggest group.

Yep, that's right - people get proscribed medicines that are actually placebos. A way for the doctor to say they're not sure, so at least give the patient something that shouldn't be harmful.
 
Perhaps there's issues around trust and deceit. I suppose being given a placebo by a doctor and faith healing and vodun are similar in these aspects. The root is that mind and body are not two. If we receive physical damage we emote. If we are depressed we are more likely to fall prey to physical ailments. So it is hardly surprising we can be helped by such means. I think a hypnotherapist (by comparison) is being more honest in the means by which they assist people to assist themselves.

s.
 
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