NationStates Jolt Archive

I just watched a documentary on those charismatic Christian preachers who supposedly can cast miracles and heal the sick and wounded. Here are my findings:

I am aghast really. I look out and I see thousands, and I do mean thousands of people with their hands high, chanting and waving the name of Jesus. Then I see the preacher, healing people in wheelchairs and asking them to walk again. One woman struggled for half an hour to get up, before just slumping back down in her wheelchair. Another, a girl with cystic fibrosis is led to stage and tells the audience through tears that she has been healed by this preacher, even though the symptoms of her ailment are still very prevalent on stage. Her mother now refuses to let her see a doctor any longer, believing that she has been healed. The few men, women, and children that have be examined by MDs after the "healing" were proven not to have been healed in any way, shape, or form.

What's truly pathetic however, is that these thousands pay to have these miracles performed on them. And the preacher flat out says that if they wish to be healed, then they must write out their account numbers. These people are truly pathetic, some have come every day for years to have themselves or a loved one healed. These people are truly pathetic creatures...no longer human, but sheep.

The preacher? I am uncertain what to think of him. I do not know if he actually believes his bullshit...or if he is just another demogogue. Nevertheless I have a low opinion of him and his "methods".

What do you think?

I remember watching this and often they showed the people who were being "healed" would faint afterwards, the show about this was going from a skeptical view I believe, and were saying how this was explained that the people were so emotionally and mentally ready to be healed that they were shocked because they thought it was happening.

I think its a load of crap and should be banned. This preacher knows nothing of the illness.

Hooray for selective thinking!

Jesus said there would be false prophets to look out for. This guy sounds like one of them. It's disgusting to charge people to be "healed". What has my religion come to?

I think it's really sad that you think "These people are truly pathetic creatures...no longer human, but sheep."

What these people actually are - IMHO - is so desperate that they're willing to keep trying every possibility anyone suggests. And who knows but - God Forbid - you may one day be unfortunate enough yourself to understand just what that's all about.

It's fine to make judgements on things/actions that are deliberately evil (for me that preacher falls into this category - no genuine "man of God" would ask for money for healing!!) but otherwise, I've learned in life that it's pretty unsafe to make judgements until you've walked a mile or two in the other guy's shoes.

If you don't already know it, have a listen to Dire Straits' "Ticket To Heaven" - you'll like it.

I've heard of "healers" who ask the sick people to sit in wheelchairs at the front of the audience even when they have no problem walking so that it looks more impressive when the sick person stands up.

I've also seen a documentary where a family who had a son stricken with terminal cancer donated many thousands of dollars to a preacher named Benny Hin in hopes Benny would heal him. The boy died, and the family is poor. They gave away more money than they could afford to. Still they beleive in that charlatan.

Those parasites should be forced to show results in double blind experiments with large sample groups or be prosecuted for performing medicine without a license.

Ever see the Steve Martin movie, Leap of Faith?

Excellent movie.

Many people let themselves be taken advantage of. It sucks - and while I may be sympathetic, I do nonetheless feel that we should all be free to be taken advantage of in this world. We're all potential suckers, people.

Realizing you've been had should go a long ways towards not making the same mistake twice. If you keep going back for more, if you make a point of not learning your lesson, my sympathy diminishes quickly, then stops altogether. I assume I'm not alone in thinking this way.

Happily for me, I have too close a relationship with my God to allow anyone - priest, rabbi, imam, guru or 'faith healer' to insinuate themselves between God and myself. As to matters of health, that's plainly best left to trained MDs.

Go figure.

Sad really, but I don't like televangilists of any kind anyway. Just so fake. I have seen real healing occur but it's not as if I've seen it on a regular basis. God isn't a puppet to be controlled.

What's truly pathetic however, is that these thousands pay to have these miracles performed on them. And the preacher flat out says that if they wish to be healed, then they must write out their account numbers.
Well, a fool and his money...

What these people actually are - IMHO - is so desperate that they're willing to keep trying every possibility anyone suggests. And who knows but - God Forbid - you may one day be unfortunate enough yourself to understand just what that's all about.

It's fine to make judgements on things/actions that are deliberately evil (for me that preacher falls into this category - no genuine "man of God" would ask for money for healing!!) but otherwise, I've learned in life that it's pretty unsafe to make judgements until you've walked a mile or two in the other guy's shoes.

You are right, perhaps I should not judge. But...

I had a rather...unpleasant experience two years ago. A rupture in my small intestines caused me to bleed out. My crit count dropped from 41 to 13, which was damn-near dead. I won't discribe how that felt.

They needed to pump 7 pints of O-Positive in order to get it back to normal the bleed was so bad.

I was bed ridden for two weeks, with I.V.s sticking out of me in 5 places. Unable to eat, I was on a banana-bag for my needed vitamins and minerals...and this other thing which was more or less liquid fat.

I'm healthy now...but that was a trauma I don't want to deal with again.

James Randi owned these people 3 decades ago. They don't work.

They just don't.

James Randi owned these people 3 decades ago. They don't work.

They just don't.
Randi's called alot of con artist's bluffs in the past. He really deserves to be more well known. Maybe that would keep people from falling prey to worthless psychics, healers and astrologers.

He's too "politcally incorrect" to become popular. He has a tendency to piss people off by ripping their cherished beliefs away.

Randi still comes out with books occasionally, and regularly writes for "Skeptic" magazine.

Randi still comes out with books occasionally, and regularly writes for "Skeptic" magazine.
Ooh, I just bought an issue of "Skeptic". I haven't actually gotten around to reading it yet though.

While there are a lot of fakers out there, there are also some genuine miracles. There is this woman at my church that I have known for over 10 years, although rather intermitantly. When I met her, she had diabetes. About 4 years ago, it was getting so bad that her eyes were starting to go and she had trouble walking. Shortly after that, some people prayed over her. When I saw her again about a year and a half later, she no longer had diabetes, and there is no medical explaination of why it is gone.