Religion kills
This isn't the problem:At least six people have died in Britain after being told that they had been healed of HIV, and could stop taking their medication.
There is evidence that evangelical churches in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow are claiming to cure HIV through God.
We sent three undercover reporters into the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) , which is based in Southwark, south London.
All of them told the pastors that they were HIV positive. All were told that they could be healed.
[...]
The healing process involves the pastor shouting, over the person being healed, for the devil to come out of their body, and spraying water in their face.
One of the pastors, Rachel Holmes, told our reporter, Shatila, who is a genuine HIV sufferer, they had a 100% success rate.
"We have many people that contract HIV. All are healed."
She said if symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhoea persist, it is actually a sign of the virus leaving the body.
"We've had people come back before saying 'Oh I'm not healed. The diarrhoea I had when I had HIV, I've got it again.' I have to stop them and say 'no, please, you are free.'"
SCOAN told our reporters they would be able to discard their medication after their healing and that they would be free to start a family.
The problem is not "sometimes people do evil in the name of religion".
Of course they do. People do evil in the name of all sorts of things.
The problem is that religion is UNIQUELY SUITED to this kind of evil. No, worse than that. Religion actively LEADS TO this kind of evil.
Magic thinking begets magic thinking. The very act of encouraging belief in magical beings, leads directly to SCOAN.
Name another mechanism by which this could occur. Name something that ISN'T religion, that would convince a person with HIV that he was cured, could dump his medicine and "start a family".
Name a definition of EVIL that doesn't include this church.
Now remind me of the good religion does again.
Counseling people? You don't need God for that. There are lots of secular counselors, highly trained in grief management.
Community organizing & charity? You don't need God for that, either.
What does religion have over non-religion? Gods. (Religion - gods = Philosophy.)
What's the point of "gods"? Miracles. (What do we call a god who can't do miracles? I dunno, but there's plenty of 'em in every mental institution in the country...)
Miracles. Everybody's looking for them. Everybody needs them. Reality says one thing, but religion says something else.
Reality says "sugar rots your teeth"; religion promises Big Rock Candy Mountain.
Folks with HIV need hope, right? Well, SCOAN's giving it to them. Boy, howdy. Lots and lots of hope.
Just like religion always does. Lots and lots of hope. Sure, there's a God. There's a heaven.
"Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus".
And it's so goddamned easy. Promise the moon. Wave your problems away.
And as long as we're talking abstract, theoretical stuff -- heaven, hell, "god loves you" and other meaningless feel-good junk -- no harm, no foul, right?
But sometimes religion gets a little too full of itself, and starts trying to apply itself to REALITY. You know, evolution, astronomy, *AIDS*.
That's when people start dying...
There is evidence that evangelical churches in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow are claiming to cure HIV through God.
We sent three undercover reporters into the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) , which is based in Southwark, south London.
All of them told the pastors that they were HIV positive. All were told that they could be healed.
[...]
The healing process involves the pastor shouting, over the person being healed, for the devil to come out of their body, and spraying water in their face.
One of the pastors, Rachel Holmes, told our reporter, Shatila, who is a genuine HIV sufferer, they had a 100% success rate.
"We have many people that contract HIV. All are healed."
She said if symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhoea persist, it is actually a sign of the virus leaving the body.
"We've had people come back before saying 'Oh I'm not healed. The diarrhoea I had when I had HIV, I've got it again.' I have to stop them and say 'no, please, you are free.'"
SCOAN told our reporters they would be able to discard their medication after their healing and that they would be free to start a family.
The problem is not "sometimes people do evil in the name of religion".
Of course they do. People do evil in the name of all sorts of things.
The problem is that religion is UNIQUELY SUITED to this kind of evil. No, worse than that. Religion actively LEADS TO this kind of evil.
Magic thinking begets magic thinking. The very act of encouraging belief in magical beings, leads directly to SCOAN.
Name another mechanism by which this could occur. Name something that ISN'T religion, that would convince a person with HIV that he was cured, could dump his medicine and "start a family".
Name a definition of EVIL that doesn't include this church.
Now remind me of the good religion does again.
Counseling people? You don't need God for that. There are lots of secular counselors, highly trained in grief management.
Community organizing & charity? You don't need God for that, either.
What does religion have over non-religion? Gods. (Religion - gods = Philosophy.)
What's the point of "gods"? Miracles. (What do we call a god who can't do miracles? I dunno, but there's plenty of 'em in every mental institution in the country...)
Miracles. Everybody's looking for them. Everybody needs them. Reality says one thing, but religion says something else.
Reality says "sugar rots your teeth"; religion promises Big Rock Candy Mountain.
Folks with HIV need hope, right? Well, SCOAN's giving it to them. Boy, howdy. Lots and lots of hope.
Just like religion always does. Lots and lots of hope. Sure, there's a God. There's a heaven.
"Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus".
And it's so goddamned easy. Promise the moon. Wave your problems away.
And as long as we're talking abstract, theoretical stuff -- heaven, hell, "god loves you" and other meaningless feel-good junk -- no harm, no foul, right?
But sometimes religion gets a little too full of itself, and starts trying to apply itself to REALITY. You know, evolution, astronomy, *AIDS*.
That's when people start dying...