Faith healing: a province still ruled by dangerous idiots

[the_archfiend]

Everybody knows that faith healers are - pretty much without exception - dangerous con artists. James Randi has exposed them as such for years (witness how he ate Peter Popoff's lunch in particular), and there are many more examples of these idiots convincing people that they have a special connection to God that the faithful can also tap into for the low, low price of a $100 contribution to their Ministry (or whatever horseshit each one is selling these days). It's bad enough when they scam people out of their hard-earned money. It's something else entirely when they give them advice that's liable to get them killed. Witness the following:

Dangerous cases of faith leaders who tell people with HIV to stop taking their life-saving drugs have been identified by African-led community groups in a number of locations across England.

Seven groups said there were instances of people being told by faith leaders they had been "healed" through prayer - and then pressured to stop taking antiretroviral medication, according to the charity African Health Policy Network (AHPN).

Cases were reported to have taken place in Finsbury Park, Tottenham, and Woolwich, in London, as well as in Manchester, Leeds and at a number of churches across the North West.

Think that's bad? As usual, it gets worse:

Last year AHPN said it believed the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), which has UK headquarters in Southwark, south London, may be one of those involved in such practices.

The church is headed by Pastor T B Joshua, who the Forbes richlist named as Nigeria's third richest clergyman.

SCOAN's website, which was set up in Lagos, Nigeria, now shows videos of people the church claims have been "cured" of HIV through prayer.

One video shows a woman Agnes Agnote visiting the church in Nigeria saying: "I am HIV positive. I went to the hospital and they confirmed it was HIV/Aids."

The video then shows Pastor Joshua blessing her, saying "everyone is healed".

It goes on to show Ms Agnote apparently showing a more recent medical report, with a narrator saying, "it clearly states that Agnes tested negative to HIV Aids".

Videos on the website also depict people being cured of "cancers" and "disabilities".

The church's British website now gives accounts of people reporting to be healed from conditions including arthritis and a lung blood clot after being a sprayed with "anointing water" by SCOAN in the UK.

It promotes a monthly "anointing water prayer line" in London "for any health issues" and advertises an "anointing sticker" tour of the UK and Ireland, which begins on Monday.

As usual with this glorified "evangelical" hoodoo bullshit, the goalposts can always be moved to the liking of the "healer's" particular beliefs (or what other people might refer to as "excuses for possible failure") :

Last year, when asked by the BBC if it claimed its pastors could cure HIV, SCOAN responded: "We are not the healer. God is the healer. Never a sickness God cannot heal. Never a disease God cannot cure."

But it added: "We don't ask people to stop taking medication. Doctors treat - God heals."

Apparently not through you guys, though. From another article on the phenomenon from last year:

At least three people in London with HIV have died after they stopped taking life saving drugs on the advice of their Evangelical Christian pastors.

The women died after attending churches in London where they were encouraged to stop taking the antiretroviral drugs in the belief that God would heal them, their friends and a leading HIV doctor said.

Responding to the BBC London investigation, Lord Fowler, the former health minister responsible for the famous Aids awareness campaign of the 1980s, condemned the practice.

"It's just wrong, bad advice that should be confronted," said the Tory peer, who chaired last month's House of Lords committee into HIV.

Jane Iwu, 48, from Newham, east London, described one case, saying: "I know of a friend who had been to a pastor. She told her to stop taking her medication - that God is a healer and has healed her."

"This lady believed it. She stopped taking her medication. She passed away," said Ms Iwu, who has HIV herself.