Dee Finney's blog - November 20, 2011 - page 67

NOTE FROM DEE: Time has passed and I've had time to dwell on the situation of the radio show I heard. I listened to the show again several times and its obvious the man who runs the stating is aware of what is going on during the show and the money the man is raking in from his unscrupulous practices. I keep wondering about the people who are paying him big bucks to count t o10. Are they that naive? Are they so fearful of their own lives that they would pay anything to change it even if its fake? I'm still wondering ' What is MY responsibility? The station owner is aware. what else could I do? Get up petition? Complain to the station owner? I still haven't decided. Is it really MY business to do anything?

I'll let my readers decide but I don't want to be a butinski as they say if I'm the one who is wrong and their beliefs are better than mine.

I HAVE INCLUDED SOME ARTICLES BELOW WHICH I HAVE NO OJBECTION TO TRYING IF ITS MENTALLY OR PSYCHICALLYT HELPFUL.

Evidently, the dream was telling me about the poor and hungry children. We have lots of organizations for that, which I will list below:

"It's kids, not parents who are responsible for their own mistakes. Parents are responsible to teach their children responsibility. This might seem like a mixed message, but it is not. It is the parents responsibility to instigate responsible senses in the children. That is their job. It is then up to the children to be responsible for themselves as they are growing up. There is no excuse for not doing what they are supposed to do. They know what they are supposed to do as they are taught.

In this day and age, there is a demarcation between who is responsible for what and at what age and this is not so. As soon as you are taught, you are responsible for yourself. That is part of the lesson. You cannot expect your parent to be responsible for something you do.

It may seem that the parents aggravate the situation because they demand so much of their children. But that is only because they feel so much pressure and demand upon themselves. And the children will have to learn to deal with this, In this age, the responsibility and demands upon themselves and the earth are getting greater and greater.

Because of the number of people they must be responsible more and more. This is only the right thing to do. Because of the love of all parents and the love of all children, and the love of the world, this must be done, or the eventuality is that there will be no loving place to live; there will be no place to live at all.

In this age, it is even more important to deal with right now, because the earth has deteriorated so much over the years. It will take the whole of the population to work to restore it to it's natural state.

The whales, the dolphins, the fish, all the wild animals, all the species of bugs, birds, and animals that are being wasted and becoming more and more extinct or close to extinct; this is something we need to monitor and try to work on that so that these species will go on as they were once. Each species of bird and fish and animal was created for a specific purpose and each one has their place in the hierarchy of and what you would call the food chain. Each one is dependent on both the one below it and above it. In this way, that is the only way that the earth can be in a balanced manner and continue that way.

If one of the species in that chain becomes extinct, the one below it would explode to such an extent that it could not be contained. This could cause great devastation on the earth that has to be dealt with in some manner as a problem than if this would not have happened in the first place.

That is part of the responsibility told of in the story of Adam and Eve where they were told to manage the earth. That is still part of the responsibility from the time of Adam and Eve. That is our job here. Even though we know that the story of Adam and Eve is just a story, still, what they were told then is still true today. We must take care of the animals, take care of our children, and take care of the earth. We must make the entire earth 'The Garden of Eden."

The ecology of the earth is a very big job. We must do our work diligently, because if we do not, there will be no earth for us to live in. We cannot live in a world of garbage. We must be able to recycle, we must be able to re-use things, we must find new uses for things that seemingly are wasted. We cannot take things from the earth and then throw it into holes and expect it too just "yucky" it's way down into "something" again because there is no time cycling available for this any longer.

The things that are in the earth now, must be put into wise use and not just chopped up and tossed around and then thrown back into a hole. That is not the way to do it.

The purpose for this message is to let you know that this is a very, very, big responsibility and we must work on this now. We cannot put this off to tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year. No matter what other big things are going on, this is something we must do now.

We must all work together on this. This is not a one person job, or a two person job, or a five person job, or a 10 person job. We all must do it.

This is something we must start on today. We cannot put it off. Even a month from now might be too late to stop the process of destruction of something being destroyed now. There is no time to waste. None.

The House passed a bill yesterday which includes disturbing language indicating young people will be forced to undertake mandatory national service programs as fears about President Barack Obama’s promised “civilian national security force” intensify.

Under section 6104 of the bill, entitled “Duties,” in subsection B6, the legislation states that a commission will be set up to investigate, “Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.”

Section 120 of the bill also discusses the “Youth Engagement Zone Program” and states that “service learning” will be “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.”

“The legislation, slated to cost $6 billion over five years, would create 175,000 “new service opportunities” under AmeriCorps, bringing the number of participants in the national volunteer program to 250,000. It would also create additional “corps” to expand the reach of volunteerism into new sectors, including a Clean Energy Corps, Education Corps, Healthy Futures Corps and Veterans Service Corps, and it expands the National Civilian Community Corps to focus on additional areas like disaster relief and energy conservation,” reports Fox News.

The Senate is also considering a similar piece of legislation known as the “Serve America Act,” which also includes language about “Youth Engagement Zones”.

Let's have a good look at what personal responsibility includes and ask yourself if anyone really should believe that accountability is really that evil a concept.

What is accepting personal responsibility?

Accepting personal responsibility includes:

* Acknowledging that you are solely responsible for the choices in your life.

* Accepting that you are responsible for what you choose to feel or think.

* Accepting that you choose the direction for your life.

* Accepting that you cannot blame others for the choices you have made.

* Tearing down the mask of defense or rationale for why others are responsible for who you are, what has happened to you and what you are bound to become.

* The rational belief that you are responsible for determining who your are, and how your choices affect your life.

* Pointing the finger of responsibility back to yourself and away from others when you are discussing the consequences of your actions.

*Realizing that you determine your feelings about any events or actions addressed to you, no matter how negative they seem.

* Recognizing that you are your best cheerleader; it is not reasonable or healthy for you to depend on others to make you feel good about yourself.

* Recognizing that as you enter adulthood and maturity, you determine how your self-esteem will develop.

* Not feeling sorry for the "bum deal" you have been handed but taking hold of your life and giving it direct
ion and reason.

* Letting go of your sense of over responsibility for others.

* Protecting and nurturing your health and emotional well being.

* Taking preventive health oriented steps of structuring your life with time management, stress management, confronting fears and burnout prevention.

* Taking an honest inventory of your strengths, abilities, talents, virtues and positive points.

* Developing positive, self-affirming, self-talk scripts to enhance your personal development and growth.

* Letting go of blame and anger toward those in your past who did the best they could, given the limitations of their knowledge, background and awareness.

* Working out anger, hostility, pessimism and depression over past hurts, pains, abuse, mistreatment and misdirection.

NOTE FROM DEE: THATT IS SAYING WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT OTHERS DO?

But THOSE WHO DESIRE to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and INTO MANY FOOLISH AND HARMFUL LUSTS which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root [a foundation and source] of all kinds of evil, for which SOME HAVE STRAYED FROM THE FAITH in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Jesus NEVER neither commanded nor taught His disciples to take up “LOVE GIFTS” to support His ministry. Jesus said, “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.” Matthew 10:9-10

Do you remember not once, but twice, Jesus over-turned the tables of money-changers and those who had made the temple a place of business, lies and cheating? God’s house has YET AGAIN been turned into a “den of thieves and robbers!” There is today an OVER-abundance of DEAD-BEAT ministries on the supposed “Christian” broadcast networks. It should make any true Christian repulsed and upset. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been contaminated with teachings of “financial seeds” and “divine faith-healing.” God has been turned by CARNAL, WORLDLY man into no more than an, “I want, I need, I gotta have,” P~GGY-BANK!

There is a GREAT evil in the religious world today, and it is very clever and cunning. The wickedness is that of preaching a TROJAN HORSE Gospel. That horse wasn’t what it appeared. What APPEARED to be a gift was actually deceit, a scam, A LIE! Likewise too, are these ministries of heresy! While appearing to preach the Gospel, the “Good News” of Jesus Christ, these deceivers compromise and dilute the truth in fact practicing apostasy.

It should take more than a few “hallelujah’s,” “amen’s,” and the split-tongue of a serpent to mislead and beguile a truly dedicated Christian who are familiar with God’s Bible, would we hope? Yet, look at how many professing Christians are being lead astray. Like a young lamb to the slaughter! I was taught that sheep know the voice of their Sheppard. Why in this day and time, do sheep tend to follow ANY pleasing voice? Especially when those voices and through their OWN actions promote and endorse greed, self-indulgency and self-centeredness.

These self-proclaimed fake-healers and television evangelist disguised as “God’s Anointed and Elect” have turned the gift of Jesus Christ’s salvation into NO MORE than getting their hands on your money, come on lets be honest. Someone needs to be! They should be ashamed and embarrassment of such actions, but sadly THEY ARE NOT!

Can you direct people to Jesus Christ while at the same time teaching the traditions of men and the CARNAL flesh?
Can you point people to Jesus, while at the same time STEALING from them?
Can you lead people to Jesus Christ while at the same time DECEIVING them?

John 4:24 clearly teaches that God must be worshipped in TRUTH, not by traditions nor the evil, carnal, immoral ways of men. What FAKERY! This is why Christ said in Mark 7:7…

“Howbeit IN VAIN do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Which of the twelve Apostles other than Judas would have ever thought to wear diamond rings, a diamond Rolex watch, and custom tailored suites?
“Do not let your adornment be merely outward– arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel” 1 Peter 3:3

Today’s fake-healers do not have any supernatural power. They are comparable to magicians putting on a performance. Magic is not real, it is established on illusion, delusion, and false-impression. The very same is true of fake-healers today. They perform well-rehearsed theatrical magic tricks for a fee or what they like to call “love gifts.” Because then it becomes financially a non-taxable, non-reportable ministerial issue in America (i.e. BIG Business).

“And have NO FELLOWSHIP with the UNFRUITFUL WORKS of DARKNESS, but rather REPROVE (REBUKE) them.” Eph 5:11

An examination into the excessive lifestyles led by fake-healers and television evangelists reveal their TRUE intent and purpose. For the MOST part, fake-healing and television evangelism is no more than A BUSINESS, a money making rip-off and con, one of just many heresies affecting the church today. Yet, its prophetic end time prophecy!

“My people are destroyed FOR LACK of KNOWLEDGE…” Hosea 4:6 It is due to the lack of Biblical knowledge they are as well deceived. There tends to be no desire to study God’s Word any more.

Some of these fake-healers and their staff appreciate your “love gifts” so much that they fly on the Concorde at $9,000 per seat. While staying at Presidential suites averaging $2,000 per night. Yet they come to the Philippines and use God’s Word to financially rob and take and take, from those who need shoes on the feet of their children to attend school. But by their glutinous appetites for spending, it is obvious they don’t care!

Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20 Our Lord God said He had nowhere to lay His head; yet these so-called servants of God will stay in $2000. a night suites.

Judas Iscariot DID NOT care for the poor, “but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.” John 12:6

“But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously PRACTICED SORCERY in the city and ASTONISHED the people of Samaria, claiming that he was SOMEONE GREAT, to whom they all gave heed [money], from the least to the greatest, saying, “THIS MAN IS THE GREAT POWER OF GOD.” Acts 8:9-10 SOUND FAMILIAR !?!

And they heeded and gave to him greatly why? “He had bewitched them with sorceries.” Acts 8:11

“And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:18-19

“But Peter said to him, “Your money perishes with you, BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT THAT THE GIFT OF GOD COULD BE PURCHASED WITH MONEY!” “You have neither part nor portion in this matter, FOR YOUR HEART IS NOT RIGHT in the sight of God. “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that YOU ARE POISONED BY BITTERNESS AND BOUND BY INIQUITY [sin].” Acts 8:20-23

“Many will say to Me in that day [day of judgment], ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I [Jesus] will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:22-23

For the most part fake-healers and television evangelist who seek your money are robbing God’s church. The damage they cause financially, emotionally and otherwise is huge:

- Financial loss to the victims [givers].

- Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit as they pretend to have special Spiritual gifts.

- Perverting the gospel of “faith” with false doctrines [anti-Christ].

- Teaching a wicked generation to look for signs.

- Confusing an already confused world. [God IS NOT the author of confusion, so who is?]

- Offering false hope to the sick, elderly and afflicted.

It is nearly impossible to estimate just how much money is extracted yearly from the peoples of the Philippines and others around the world by these VILE self-proclaimed faith-healers and television evangelist, as they are not required within the U.S. to report their earnings as ministries are under tax-exempt status and are not required to report annual incomes for the church or ministry. And the sad truth of the matter is FAKE-HEALERS, television-evangelist and the churches and ministries who support and sponsor them will always be with us. As well as the percentage of people that no matter how much they are shown these fake-healers are FRAUDS, they will still believe a devils lie, no matter how absurd, and will continue to dump cash into the bank accounts of these mostly U.S. based con-artists. While driving the streets in their convertible BMW’s, who don’t give a moments thought about the child that may go to bed hungry in the Philippines, or could go to school if only they had a uniform and pair of shoes.

“For a bishop [ministry overseer] must be blameless, as a steward [guardian] of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, NOT GREEDY FOR MONEY” Titus 1:7

I would not want to be a fake-healer nor a deceiving, misleading television evangelist on judgment day. Nor would I want to be a church pastor who brings in and has his congregation financially support the blasphemous lies of these deceivers. They may, and occasionally do fool man, but they CAN NOT and WILL NOT fool God!

Are fake-healers and TV-evangelist God’s anointed?

Does the Holy Spirit supernaturally heal the sick during some of these theatrical magic shows?

Did Adam fly like a bird as one said?

Has any man ever seen or smelled God as one has claimed to do?

There is NO middle ground here. You must either accept as truth the claims and actions of these fake-healers and TV-evangelist, OR, you must reject and discard them all.

Either these men and women have the power to heal people over the TV, with a knock on the forehead, or by blowing on victims, or they are CON-ARTISTS robbing God and His people and sinning against the Holy Spirit. What you believe is ultimately YOUR decision.

Don’t take my word for it, you decide for yourself. God’s Word tells us MANY times about being deceived, I would assume one would have to study to find out?

May God bless you with wisdom and knowledge, Amen

This post was imported from our previous United Kingdom Forum. The author is “Acrossthewaves”

Posted in x UNITED KINGDOM

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville KY 40292

"Slaying in the spirit" - person being healed is struck on forehead and falls backwards into arms of "catchers."

Wheelchair tricks - person told to get out of wheelchair and walk or run, or push preacher in chair. Often these are people who do not need to be in wheelchairs; they were seated in wheelchairs provided by the ministry prior to the service.

Healing the "blind" - healer may ask the person to count fingers held before him. But many legally blind people can see well enough to do this.

"Shotgun" method: healer announces that someone in the audience is being healed of a certain ailment. Pat Robertson does this with television audience ("Word of Knowledge").

"Calling out", "gift of knowledge" - healers calls out a member of audience, identifying name, disease, doctor, etc., supposedly without having talked to the person previously. Gives impression that the information comes from God. However, information is received from pre-service interviews, survey cards, etc. Is remembered by preacher using mnemonic devices, or conveyed through hand signals and other means. Preacher may also employ cold reading, in which a perceptive observer, aided by clever guesses and leading questions, can appear to know a great deal about a person he or she has just met.

Fantastic claims without supporting evidence (Oral Roberts has even claimed to raise the dead)

Numerous attempts to document healing with before and after medical records have failed to provide convincing evidence. Many healers do not respond to requests for information that would allow documentation.

Healers do not do follow-up studies and report results to audiences. Many cases of "healed" individuals who still had their ailments, some even dying soon after.

Ailments that are "healed" are internal conditions; the healing cannot be verified by the audience. We do not see missing limbs restored. "Impossible" cases may be segregated away from potential subjects prior to the service.

A long period of preaching and singing precedes the healing part of the service, building up audience expectations, excitement, and emotion; audience members become less likely to critically evaluate the evidence. The “healed” person may be less likely to feel pain.

Some report subjective feelings of being healed, even though medical data shows they were not. May not seek medical confirmation of "healing."

Some "healing" appears to be fraudulent (e.g., patients and doctors could not be located despite detailed information provided to audience).

Failure to be cured can be attributed to insufficient faith. Subject then left with guilt.

Performances have elements of a morality play, in which audience members play roles expected of them and agree to go along with the dramatic action.

Cases of the same person being "healed" of the same "short leg" more than once, with the leg allegedly being lengthened 2-3" each time

People throw away needed medications (e.g., insulin, blood pressure medication, nitroglycerin) during services. At least one death of diabetic after discarding insulin.

Canes and walkers broken and thrown on stage; subjects later find that they need them.

Exaggerations of the nature and extent of the ailments, or misidentification to the audience of the true ailment

In tests by skeptics of "calling out," fake names and illnesses given beforehand were repeated by the healers.

Pat Robertson's successful "Word of Knowledge" pronouncements likely due to statistical likelihood that someone in the audience will spontaneously recover from the indicated ailment. No attempt to verify the proportion of successful and unsuccessful identifications of "healing."

Television programs are carefully edited to remove potentially embarrassing material.

Some alleged cases of medical confirmation of healing were found to have inaccuracies and misinterpretation of medical evidence.

Governments generally uninterested in prosecution of faith healers - worried about violating freedom of religion. (Are faith healers practicing medicine illegally?)

Do the publicized "miracles" of faith healers make it more likely that parents who belong to certain sects will rely on faith healing rather than seeking medical care for their children?

Established by Mary Baker Eddy, 1879. Authorized text: Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures (1875).

"Humans and the physical universe are really perfect ideas that emanate from God and reflects his harmonious and eternal existence. Only God, his manifestations, and the synonyms that express the completeness of his nature - Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love - exist; all else, especially body, matter, death, error, and evil, are merely illusions, the nonexistence of which is proved as humans grow to reflect God." (R.B. Schoepflin (1988), in Other Healers (N. Gevitz, ed.), pp. 192-214)

Disease is considered an illusion. Treated through prayer, identification of harmful thoughts, etc.; practitioners assist in the healing.

"Practitioners take two weeks of religious instruction and then can apply for church accreditation as professional healers. They charge between $7 and $25 a day for spiritual 'treatments,' usually given without seeing the 'patient' or knowing the nature of the illness. The church gives them no limits on what diseases they may treat or any duty to refer cases to other health care providers." (R. Swan (1984) Free Inquiry, Spring, 4-9) About 1800 practitioners in U.S.

"Christian Science nurses care for their patients and assist practitioners by holding pure thoughts that make a positive contribution to the healing atmosphere...'The nurse dresses wounds and keeps the body clean, comfortable, and nourished so that it intrudes less on the patient's thought'...practitioners often 'cure,' while nurses 'care for,' patients." (Schoepflin) About 500 certified nurses in U.S.

Allowed by the church: seeking treatment for setting bones; eyeglasses; dental treatments; deliveries of babies by doctors; injections for relief of extreme pain.

Church opposes: drugs, immunizations, X-rays, fever thermometers, taking pulses; pain relief measures such as ice packs and backrubs.

"In forty-eight states the church has won religious exemptions from immunizations. In the majority of states they have recently won exemptions from metabolic testing of newborn babies. In many states they have religious exemptions from silver nitrate drops, premarital and prenatal blood tests, and from studying about disease in the public schools." (Swan)

Payments to Christian Science practitioners, nurses, and sanatoria are tax-deductible medical expenses and are covered by many health insurance companies. Sanatoria covered by Medicare.

In 1996, a federal judge ruled against Medicare (estimated $8 million/yr) and Medicaid payments to Christian Science practitioners on the grounds of separation of church and state. However, “Congress responded by replacing references to Christian Science with the new RNCHI [religious nonmedical health care institutions] designation.” (American Medical News, May 7, 2001) This was upheld by federal court decisions.

Church claims that its methods have been proven "scientific" and verified by decades of empirical evidence (and therefore it is distinct from other groups that believe in faith healing). However, "healing" are poorly documented, and evidence is unavailable for others to examine.

Christian Scientists point out that they have above average health despite not seeking conventional medical care. This may be in part because they advocate healthy lifestyles, and abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. A 1950's study found, however, higher than average death rates due to malignancy and heart disease, and a lower than average life expectancy, for Christian Scientists. A more recent study (JAMA 262, 1657-1658 (1989)) also concluded a higher death rate.

In U.S., church forbids healing prayer for someone receiving medical treatment, claiming the conflict between the therapies would harm the patient. But in some other countries that require medical care for all children, such prayer is allowed.

Code of Federal Regulations "religious immunity" provision, which was once required for states to be eligible for federal funding for child protection programs:

A parent or guardian legitimately practicing his religious beliefs who thereby does not provide specified medical treatment for a child for that reason alone shall not be considered a negligent parent or guardian; however, such an exception shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical services be provided to the child, where his health requires it.

As a result many states adopted similar provisions, in some cases referring specifically or indirectly to Christian Science. The provision was removed from the federal code in 1983; failure to provide medical care was made a reportable condition whether or not supported by religious belief. However, most states have retained their exemptions. “Today only five states, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Hawaii have no exemptions either to civil abuse and neglect charges or criminal charges.” (Asser and Swan (1998) Pediatrics 101, 625-629) Six states (Iowa, Ohio, Delaware, West Virginia, Arkansas, Oregon) provide religious exemptions for crimes ranging from manslaughter to murder for deaths of children from medical neglect.

“In 1996 the first religious exemption allowing parents to withhold medical care was placed in federal law. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requires states in the federal grant program to include failure to provide medical care in their definitions of child neglect, but also states: ‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed as establishing a Federal requirement that a parent or legal guardian provide a child any medical service or treatment against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian.’ Thus, the federal government allows one class of children to be deprived of protections it offers to others.” Swan (1998/9) Free Inquiry, Winter, 6-7.

Asser and Swan (op cit) identified 172 cases between 1975 and 1995 of children who died of “religion-motivated medical neglect,” having conditions with high probabilities of survival with proper treatment. They suspect that many more cases have occurred, with deaths being attributed to natural causes. After their data were compiled, the cemetery of a faith-healing congregation in Oregon was found to contain 21 children who probably would have survived with proper medical care (Time, Aug. 31, 1998).

Asser and Swan also note that “outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases among groups with religious exemptions to immunization are reported frequently.”

Many prosecutions in various places have involved fundamentalist groups, but not Christian Scientists, who are given greater legal recognition.

“California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio statutes offer religious exemptions from physical examinations of school children. California, Connecticut, New Jersey, and West Virginia have a religious exemption from hearing tests for newborns. California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio have statutes excusing students with religious objections from even studying about disease in school. And California has a religious exemption from tuberculosis testing of public school teachers.” (R. Swan (2000) The Humanist, Nov/Dec, 11-16)

Freedom of religion vs. rights of children (and interests of state to protect those rights). Is freedom of religion a defense for actions that result in harm to another person?

Possible violation of First Amendment (establishment of religion): laws that give Christian Science special status not given to other religious groups

In some cases there are provisions for court orders for necessary medical treatment. However, when a sect rejects all medical treatment and diagnosis, potentially dangerous conditions may not be recognized in time.

Difficulty in proving that the disease could be treated successfully with conventional care.

Difficulty of proving that parents knew the child's life was in danger, especially with lack of diagnosis. Children may be trained not to show pain.

Pediatrics 81, 169-171 (1988) refers to "important court rulings to the effect that parents may not martyr their children based on parental beliefs and that children cannot be denied essential medical care" (citations of 1944, 1964, and 1967 cases were given). From the 1944 Supreme Court decision, dealing with the child of a Jehovah's Witness:

The right to practice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death...Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow that they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children before they have reached the age of full and legal discretion when they can make that choice for themselves.

Massachusetts 1999-2002 - deaths of two babies among sect members in 1999; father of one (and leader of the sect) convicted of first-degree murder. Mother and one other awaiting trial. Fourteen children of sect members placed in foster care.

California 2001 - baby died of untreated meningitis; parents charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2002.

Tennessee 2002 - 15-year-old died of bone cancer. Mother and spiritual leader may be charged with murder, aggravated child abuse, and neglect.

Pennsylvania 2003 - 9-year-old died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a treatable disease.

Wisconsin 2003 - 8-year-old autistic child died while being restrained during a healing service.

California 2003 - 10-year-old died of flu-like illness. Parents charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse. Members of Church of Firstborn, which has been linked to deaths in other states.

Indiana 2003 - newborn dies of infection. Parents convicted of reckless homicide, 2005. Members of Church of Firstborn. In 1999, the mother was given emergency treatment and a Caesarian during birth of another child, against her wishes.

Sleight-of-hand trick practiced by hundreds of "psychic surgeons" in Philippines, Brazil, and elsewhere. "Surgeon" pretends to make incision with bare hands, removes tumors and other materials, and recloses the wound. Blood appears. However, blood and tissues have been found to be of animal origin, not from patients.

"Medical anthropologists have described the development of psychic surgery in the Philippines as a 'transition from traditional shamanism ("extraction" from the body of leaves, seeds, worms, hair, etc.) to the appearance of Western scientific medicine ("extraction" of blood, tissue, tumors, organs).'" (American Cancer Society, "Psychic Surgery")

Patients from U.S. (thousands per year), England, Japan, Australia, and other countries travel to them to be "healed." Tours are promoted by travel agencies, some affiliated with the healers. The Federal Trade Commission brought charges against four travel agencies and their officers; the court determined that "psychic surgery is pure fakery and a fraud," and ordered the defendants to cease promoting visits to psychic surgeons.

Spiritual component; healers claim to be able to facilitate divine healing. Prayer and meditation may also be part of the treatment.

Brazilian “healer” João Teixeira (known as “John of God”) claims to channel forty deceased physicians, and performs both “visible” and “invisible” operations. In the former, he uses the well-known stunts of inserting forceps in the nose and scraping the eyeball. Received publicity in 2005 from a gullible ABC “investigation.”

Site of vision by Bernadette Soubirous in 1859 (she did not, however, make any claim regarding healing). Shrine established in 1876 (there were already 14 similar healing shrines in the area).

5 million visitors a year. Large tourist industry has grown around the shrine, with 400 hotels and many souvenir stores.

Alleged 30,000 healing a year, but total of only 66 recognized as miracles by Roman Catholic Church (6000 alleged cures have been rejected). As medical knowledge has improved, recognized miracles have become less frequent. An examination of recent recognized cures showed the documentation to be inadequate. Several were of multiple sclerosis, which often has long periods of remission. One "cured" woman later died of her ailment.

Healing are associated with many other locations, particularly sites of visions of Mary by Roman Catholics. Medjugorje was a popular site for pilgrims before the outbreak of civil war in Bosnia. In recent years apparitions of Mary or Jesus have become more common in the U.S., sometimes as images which viewers see in ordinary objects. Another recent phenomenon is that of statues, icons, or pictures that allegedly produce tears or blood.

Value of prayer promoted by Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. However, as pointed out by critic Gary Posner, “Dossey builds his case largely upon anecdotes and the work of parapsychologists, and appears to accept their supernatural claims at face value.” He shows little awareness of the counter arguments raised by skeptics.

A widely cited study is Byrd (1988), S. Med. J. 81, 826-829: prayed-for patients in coronary care unit had better recovery by some measures. An attempt to replicate this study was published by Harris et al. in 1999 (Arch. Intern. Med. 159, 2273-2278), with allegedly positive effects of prayer. Critics have found many flaws in the two studies. For example, despite the supposed benefits of prayer, there were no effects on lengths of stay in the hospital or deaths. Yet another study of CCU patients (Aviles et al. (2001) Mayo Clin. Proc. 76, 1192-1198) found no benefit of intercessory prayer. Another large study of heart patients (Krucoff et al. (2005) Lancet 366, 211-217) also found no benefits.

In 1998, E. Targ published a study of intercessory prayer for AIDS patients, which supposedly showed positive effects (Sicher et al., Western J. Med. 169, 356-363). She then received $1.5 million from NCCAM for two larger trials (she died in 2002, but the trials will continue). In 2002 it was revealed that the earlier study was flawed by improper data manipulation: the primary outcome (mortality) showed no effect; the data were then unblinded and searched for a secondary outcome that would support a benefit of prayer.

A study by Cha et al. (J. Reprod. Med. 46, 781-787 (2001)) indicated that intercessory prayer increased the success rate of in vitro fertilization. A critique by Flamm (Sci. Rev. Alt. Med. 6, 47-50 (2002)) found many flaws in the study. In 2004, one of the authors, associated with promoting other paranormal claims, pleaded guilty to business fraud. The senior author admitted that he was only involved in editorial assistance after the study was completed, and withdrew his name from the article.

“Health Freedom” states (from www.healthlobby.com/statelaw.html; site is no longer operational so this information may not be current):

The following states have laws that protect patient access to alternative therapies from licensed physicians:

Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Washington

The following has law that protects patient access to alternative therapies from all licensed health care professionals:

The following states have regulations that protect patient access to alternative therapies from licensed physicians:

The following states have passed laws that protect patient access to EDTA Chelation, specifically, from licensed physicians:

The following states license homeopathic practice for physicians already licensed in any state:

An “Access to Medical Treatment Act” has been introduced repeatedly in Congress, but so far has not passed. This would reduce government regulation of unconventional methods.

1. Funding of research on alternative methods, through NCCAM and other mechanisms

2. Coverage of alternative methods in health insurance programs and in federal programs (such as VA medical centers).

A White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine was established in 2000. Skeptics complained that there was no representation of experts who are critical of CAM methods, while advocates of pseudoscientific approaches were included. The Commission submitted its report in 2002. As expected, it recommended increased research, teaching, and integration of CAM into the health care system. However, two Commission members issued a separate statement, noting that the report presumed that CAM methods are useful without recognizing that many of them are unproven, disproven, or unsafe.

With sponsorship of NCCAM, the Institute of Medicine assembled “a committee to identify major scientific and policy issues in ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ (‘CAM’) research, regulation, training, credentialing and ‘integration with conventional medicine.’” (S. Barrett, Quackwatch article) The committee issued its report in 2005. The recommendations were generally in favor of more research on, and teaching of, CAM methods (it also recommended greater protection against dubious dietary supplements). Critics have noted that the committee was dominated by CAM advocates, and included no perceived critics of CAM.

1. Some degree of support in controlled studies. Being investigated within scientific community. Principles do not conflict with scientific knowledge.

2. Some scientific support for limited applications. Original theory contradicts scientific knowledge, but observed effects can be explained in scientific terms. Even if effects are genuine, questionable whether methods are preferable to conventional medicine.

3. Principles do not conflict with scientific knowledge, but as yet not supported by research

4. Contradicts scientific understanding of anatomy, physiology, and/or biochemistry; or of basic principles of physics and chemistry. Scientific studies in support are weak or absent; in some cases scientific studies disprove.

I like and respect Anderson Cooper. I have watched him on TV for years and I have also enjoyed his book “Dispatches from the edge”.

I was a bit disappointed because it seems to me that Anderson did not truly look at the problem deeply as he usually does.

Essentially the show exposed a gypsy psychic being prosecuted for fraud. He also talked to two ladies who had been ripped off by another gypsy psychic and to a lady who was spending way too much money consulting someone.

It was nothing new. People going for a cheap reading being told they had some kind of curse and paying increasingly bigger amount of money to have the curse lifted.

I am sorry for the victims, yet I was surprised that two apparently educated ladies could fall for one of the oldest trick out there. Who hasn’t heard about it?

I missed the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the show. I saw a gypsy lady with her lawyer. She had ripped of some people. I don’t know how many or of how much. She didn’t seem truly sorry for what she had done, though she was admitting her guilt. She was risking twenty years of prison. I have to say that did not seem fair to me. Specifically because people who rape and kill get less than that. Even those who commit the most hideous crimes against children get less than that. What is the message here? Is ripping someone of his money worse than taking a life or robbing someone of his/ her innocence, dignity and control over his/her own body and mind?

Something else that bothered me a lot was a lady in the audience. She said she was addicted to readings and that she would call up to ten different readers in a day to find one who would tell her what she wanted to hear. She was the one who called all those different readers, yet we are to blame them?

One of the guest on the show was there with her husband. She was spending stunning amounts of money on guidance, but she was happy with the service, her husband not so much.

Personally I believe there are plenty of good readers out there as well as many charlatans. As in any other business the buyer would be wise to use some common sense.

2) If it is too good to be true be suspicious. In other words, if someone promise you instant wealth or health run the other way.

3) If someone tells you they can make your ex fall in love with you again, walk away.

4) If your life sucks and someone tells you they can lift your bad luck, get up and leave.

5) Moderation. Let some time pass between readings. I would suggest at least 3 to 6 months.

My personal rule of thumb is that I have to work for what I want. If I have a dream I need to do all I can to manifest it in my reality. If my life sucks, I am the one who has to do something to improve it. If I want to find love I will get out of the house and try to find it.

From time to time I get a call from someone unhappy with his/ her life and asking me if I can make it better. My answer is always the same: “I can help you see how you are participating to the problem and perhaps help you find different ways to handle the situation, but you are the only person who can do something about it.”

Guess what? Those callers usually don’t book an appointment. Why? Because they don’t want to assume any responsibility or do any of the work. They would rather pay someone to magically fix it for them or to the very least tell them they have done nothing wrong and no effort on their side is required.

When am I going to get married? What is his name? Where and when will I meet him?

I think our future is in the making. We have an idea. We have potential, but we also have free will and so do all the people around us. We are also products of habits and we tend to repeat ourselves. When we look at our past, confront it with our present, it is often easy to see where we are heading. When we don’t like the outcome we can try to understand how we are getting there and hopefully find new strategies to shift somewhat the outcome. I believe good readings can be very helpful in giving people heads up, and more objective views of their situations. They can give hope and a bit more clarity. They can also be fun, but they cannot replace your free will or good judgment.

The Tempest