they had a piece on 60 minutes about this guy. boy is that a scam and dangerous but many still believed.
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YOUR Religion
- Thread starter estrader
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they had a piece on 60 minutes about this guy. boy is that a scam and dangerous but many still believed.
Quote from JohnnyK:
im curious. in what way was it a scam?
i dont remember all the details but his whole speal was to touch you and stick a long rod up your nose and touch some nerve or something and he was supposed to be able to heal cancer that way. aside from the fact that sticking a 10 inch rod up your nose is dangerous does it make medical sense that you could cure cancer that way?
maybe you could search the 60 min. archives for the story
http://www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html
edit. look like it was on prime time live not 60 min.
http://www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html
I am not saying that John of God should not have been investigated and used as a subject for the Primetime Live show, because this is a major matter of public curiosity â and it's news. This bizarre circus needs to be looked at and reduced to facts, with the fantasy aspects properly identified. What I am saying is that the project should have been done better so that lives might be saved and the public could be more properly informed. Now, I'm not a scientist; I'm a specialist. What I know about these matters is all available to ABC-TV from many different sources, and at first I was encouraged when they called me in as a consultant on this subject. Then it seems that they saw their story becoming an exposé rather than a glamorous endorsement of religious miracles, and they back-peddled fast.
I dare to say that if ABC-TV's John Stossel had been involved in the production of this program, the results would certainly have been far different. John would have researched the subject, might have called on me or another experienced observer for consultation in advance of the obtaining of the raw material, and would have used more reason and common sense.
It must be easier just not to care, but I can't manage that. I must care when I know that John of God will claim more victims, and that I couldn't stop it. Though I earnestly wish it could be different, based on what we know to be the hard facts, David Ames will not recover from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Lisa Melman will most probably die of breast cancer because she's decided to forego legitimate surgical help. Mathew Ireland's brain tumor will still be there and will probably kill him, too. But João Teixeira will continue to flourish and be worshiped as a god.
Folks, I was in Mexico City on the plaza outside the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe when a young peasant father crawled by me along the rough pavement with an obviously dead infant in his arms, swaddled in a tiny white serape. There were twin tracks of blood behind him from his bleeding knees. He was seeking a miracle. Through the adjacent barred window in the basilica I could hear the coin-sorting machines packaging the money that was pouring into the offering boxes inside. I turned away and wept.
In a St. Louis auditorium I stood in the lobby as paramedics treated a heavy elderly woman who lay in a fetal position on the carpet, white-faced and moaning in agony. Moments before she'd been seized in ecstasy in front of faith healer "Reverend" W. V. Grant, leaping up and down in an adrenalin rush that made her temporarily oblivious to the bone spurs on her arthritic spine that were cutting into her muscle tissues and bringing about internal bleeding. The attendants got her onto two stretchers and into an ambulance. I wept.
Outside an arena in Anaheim, California, my camera crew approached a tiny, thin, Asian boy with twisted legs on worn crutches to ask him if he'd been healed by Peter Popoff, the miracle-worker who he'd told us two hours earlier was "gonna ask Jesus to fix my legs." When he turned toward us, we saw his tear-streaked face and anguished eyes. The cameraman lowered his camera. "I can't do this," he said, and we both turned away and wept.
I've had my share of tears and sleepless nights, wondering what I might do to keep people from chasing this chimera. I had another chance in New York City on January 25th, 2005, and I tried.
I'd like to suggest to the government of Brazil that they shut down this charlatan and stop the victimizing of innocent-but-naïve people from all over the world. The international community can only look in astonishment upon any nation that allows such flummery in the 21st century. I'm well aware that Brazil is far from being the only country plagued by such a burden; here in the USA we have our Benny Hinn, W. V. Grant, Peter Popoff, and many others who perform the same fakery on our citizens. The U.K. is full of similar scams, and all over Europe we find the operators at work.
I am not saying that John of God should not have been investigated and used as a subject for the Primetime Live show, because this is a major matter of public curiosity â and it's news. This bizarre circus needs to be looked at and reduced to facts, with the fantasy aspects properly identified. What I am saying is that the project should have been done better so that lives might be saved and the public could be more properly informed. Now, I'm not a scientist; I'm a specialist. What I know about these matters is all available to ABC-TV from many different sources, and at first I was encouraged when they called me in as a consultant on this subject. Then it seems that they saw their story becoming an exposé rather than a glamorous endorsement of religious miracles, and they back-peddled fast.
I dare to say that if ABC-TV's John Stossel had been involved in the production of this program, the results would certainly have been far different. John would have researched the subject, might have called on me or another experienced observer for consultation in advance of the obtaining of the raw material, and would have used more reason and common sense.
It must be easier just not to care, but I can't manage that. I must care when I know that John of God will claim more victims, and that I couldn't stop it. Though I earnestly wish it could be different, based on what we know to be the hard facts, David Ames will not recover from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Lisa Melman will most probably die of breast cancer because she's decided to forego legitimate surgical help. Mathew Ireland's brain tumor will still be there and will probably kill him, too. But João Teixeira will continue to flourish and be worshiped as a god.
Folks, I was in Mexico City on the plaza outside the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe when a young peasant father crawled by me along the rough pavement with an obviously dead infant in his arms, swaddled in a tiny white serape. There were twin tracks of blood behind him from his bleeding knees. He was seeking a miracle. Through the adjacent barred window in the basilica I could hear the coin-sorting machines packaging the money that was pouring into the offering boxes inside. I turned away and wept.
In a St. Louis auditorium I stood in the lobby as paramedics treated a heavy elderly woman who lay in a fetal position on the carpet, white-faced and moaning in agony. Moments before she'd been seized in ecstasy in front of faith healer "Reverend" W. V. Grant, leaping up and down in an adrenalin rush that made her temporarily oblivious to the bone spurs on her arthritic spine that were cutting into her muscle tissues and bringing about internal bleeding. The attendants got her onto two stretchers and into an ambulance. I wept.
Outside an arena in Anaheim, California, my camera crew approached a tiny, thin, Asian boy with twisted legs on worn crutches to ask him if he'd been healed by Peter Popoff, the miracle-worker who he'd told us two hours earlier was "gonna ask Jesus to fix my legs." When he turned toward us, we saw his tear-streaked face and anguished eyes. The cameraman lowered his camera. "I can't do this," he said, and we both turned away and wept.
I've had my share of tears and sleepless nights, wondering what I might do to keep people from chasing this chimera. I had another chance in New York City on January 25th, 2005, and I tried.
I'd like to suggest to the government of Brazil that they shut down this charlatan and stop the victimizing of innocent-but-naïve people from all over the world. The international community can only look in astonishment upon any nation that allows such flummery in the 21st century. I'm well aware that Brazil is far from being the only country plagued by such a burden; here in the USA we have our Benny Hinn, W. V. Grant, Peter Popoff, and many others who perform the same fakery on our citizens. The U.K. is full of similar scams, and all over Europe we find the operators at work.
"The sad part is that in two weeks Peter Jennings is doing a show on UFOs! What has happened to responsible reporting?"
haven't read the entire site but the guy seems to rank on the reporters as much as anyone else. then he exposes himself as someone who thinks its rediculous to report on ufos.
all i'm sayin is maybe we just need to look at reality honestly.
Quote from JohnnyK:
"The sad part is that in two weeks Peter Jennings is doing a show on UFOs! What has happened to responsible reporting?"
haven't read the entire site but the guy seems to rank on the reporters as much as anyone else. then he exposes himself as someone who thinks its rediculous to report on ufos.
all i'm sayin is maybe we just need to look at reality honestly.
good idea, as soon as a ufo is ever documented it will be reality. none have so far.
i am open to the possibility of there being a ufo. that would not be a supernatural event.
Quote from vhehn:
sho i will say this in a kind way. you have a problem. normal people just dont think this way. there are no demons out there. its all in your head.
i hope for your sake that somehow someday you can free your mind from this superstitious mindset.
Remember that attacking your opponent is the oldest, and one of the poorest, debating techniques. I expect more from you since you are usually coldly logical.
This is ridiculous. Letâs say you have 2 billion people who believe that they have experienced some sort of supernatural phenomenon. And letâs say they have 3 incidents per person. Thatâs 6 billion events total. How can you prove that all of these are invalid? You canât of course.
Donât you agree youâre making a blanket statement that you cannot even come close to proving??
Quote from ShoeshineBoy:
Remember that attacking your opponent is the oldest, and one of the poorest, debating techniques. I expect more from you since you are usually coldly logical.
This is ridiculous. Letâs say you have 2 billion people who believe that they have experienced some sort of supernatural phenomenon. And letâs say they have 3 incidents per person. Thatâs 6 billion events total. How can you prove that all of these are invalid? You canât of course.
Donât you agree youâre making a blanket statement that you cannot even come close to proving??
its hardly an attack. i feel sorry for you. remember you said this:"P.S. I don't actually advocate trying to find the supernatural in a non-Christian way because from my standpoint what you usually find is demonic."
that indicates you actually think there are really demons out there. people who think they are under demonic posession sometimes do things to harm themselves or others. i hope it doesnt go that far with you.