26 July 2011, 9:45 am
Back in April I really rather enjoyed the TV special ‘Miracles for Sale’ by Derren Brown [1], an exposure of the charlatans practising xtian faith healing in the USA, centred around teaching a regular British John Q. Citizen volunteer how to be a xtian faith healer from scratch, such that the American public would accept him as an authentic miracle worker. Then from a couple of Americans I read that... “The absence of universal health care encourages the utilization of faith-based medical charities. The latter, as well intentioned as they are, cannot provide the comprehensive health services that best suppress mortality at all ages.” ~ from ‘Why The Gods Are Not Winning’, by Gregory Paul & Phil Zuckerman, in Edge 209, 2007 [2] Gregory and Phil’s whole article makes for a very enlightening read indeed. The average European regards faith healing as a Medieval anachronism, but that’s most likely because we have nearly all had free access for decades to modern, evidence-based, universal health care via socialised medicine, predicated upon up-to-date medical science. Is the failure of the US state to provide the same for US citizens the reason behind the flourishing of faith healing in the USA? [1] ‘Miracles for Sale’, by Derren Brown, 2011 » video playlist, 1:13:00 – http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B540A1D4B0C671A1 • Derren Brown: a British illusionist, mentalist, painter, writer and sceptic » about – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown [2] ‘Why The Gods Are Not Winning’, by Gregory Paul & Phil Zuckerman, in Edge 209, 2007 » article – http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge209.html#gp • Gregory Paul: an American researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology, sociology and theology » about – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_S._Paul • Phil Zuckerman: an American professor of sociology, at Pitzer College, Claremont, CA » about – http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/ Thanks for your answers so far (and especially to Doubting Like Thomas for the vid link). But here’s Gregory and Phil’s thesis in a nutshell: the socio-economic stress suffered by US citizens as a result of US state policies (including universal health care provision failure, and poor education) provides the underlying material basis for the USA’s anomalously high level of religiosity, one facet of which is trusting charlatans in the faith healing industry. Is that true?... Read More »
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