Thursday, November 5, 2009 | Reason : Commentary | print version

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Prayer Cult Nation: Faith Healing Scams & Healthcare Reform

by Sikivu Hutchinson - blackfemlens

http://blackfemlens.blogspot.com/2009/11/prayer-cult-nation-faith-healing-scams.html

Recently on a popular Black Entertainment Network talk show R&B singer Monica pitched her new reality show and extolled the virtues of prayer. Suited up in hip high boots like an emissary from God’s army, she credited God with guiding her through life and imbuing her with purpose. His word was her marching order, she proclaimed, as the rapt studio audience nodded in approval, giving credence to surveys that indicate African Americans are more religious, more likely to subscribe to Creationism and more apt to break out the Bible for guidance and counsel than any other group in the U.S.

Yet not since the Great Awakening of the 18th Century has “God” spoken through so many American public figures so unequivocally. The medievalist Sarah Palin has risen to cult status touting her personal speed dial to the Lord. The Old Testament God has become the kamikaze co-pilot of the Republican Party. And President Barack Obama frequently invokes both God as an adjudicating figure and prayer as an antidote to tragedy.

Prayer has become the national bromide for generalized suffering. If it can’t be sanitized, domesticated and defanged by prayer then it isn’t worth experiencing. Now, in the midst of the healthcare reform morass, prayer healing “therapy” may become a legitimate form of government subsidized medical treatment. According to the Los Angeles Times, a “little known” provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would authorize coverage for Christian Science prayer as a medical expense. The provision is sponsored by the ultra-conservative Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and the liberal Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. This strange bedfellow pairing is part ideology and part political expedience. Hatch is a notorious Mormon ideologue and Kerry’s state is the Christian Science Church’s base. Despite several high profile cases in which religious fanatic parents have been convicted for using prayer healing to “treat” their terminally ill children rather than seek medical treatment, the Senate healthcare provision would sanction this practice.
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Posted: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #429679 by Max of Earlobes on November 5, 2009 at 3:19 pm

Most people are ignorant, uneducated, superstitious and irrational. "Christian Science" is a contradiction in terms.

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2. Comment #429680 by alessamendes on November 5, 2009 at 3:20 pm

And President Barack Obama frequently invokes both God as an adjudicating figure and prayer as an antidote to tragedy.

I really didn't think Obama was religious, despite his claim to be Christian. I thought he supported reason and science, but I may be wrong.

Other Comments by alessamendes

3. Comment #429681 by steveroot on November 5, 2009 at 3:23 pm

Every time I hear something about "christian" science, I throw up a little bit. My wife and I had a dear friend who committed suicide by ignoring a squamous cell carcinoma on her eyelid; she took eight years to die. Apart from being otherwise very intelligent and accomplished, she was a follower of this unspeakable cult. She spent her last moments on earth, no doubt, wondering why she did not deserve to be "healed".
Now excuse me while I go brush my teeth.
Steve

Other Comments by steveroot

4. Comment #429684 by yanquetino on November 5, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Oh. My. Gaaaawd. Well, what d'ya expect from Orrin Hatch? He wears magic underwear to shield him from harm, carries a tiny vial of "consecrated" oil on his keychain to heal the sick, and regularly participates in a "sacred" ceremony purloined from the Masons in which he swears to have his throat cut, heart opened, and bowels spilled before he'll ever reveal any of its secrets. I kid you not.

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5. Comment #429690 by TIKI AL on November 5, 2009 at 4:01 pm

This is an outrage. There is no provision for voo doo doll reimbursement.

The LA Times article tells us a bit more:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-health-religion3-2009nov03,0,2239900.story

Other Comments by TIKI AL

6. Comment #429692 by sto on November 5, 2009 at 4:12 pm

FFRF has an update and a request to contact your Senators:

ffrf.org/news/2009/faithhealingupdate.php

Other Comments by sto

7. Comment #429693 by rod-the-farmer on November 5, 2009 at 4:17 pm

Fine. Let the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) run their usual battery of tests on the effectiveness of prayer as an alternative to "regular" medicine. Let's start off with the easy one, amputees. Prayer versus prothestics.

Oh, wait, didn't someone test for prayer some time ago, and it was worse than nothing (meaning no action at all) ?

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8. Comment #429710 by Stafford Gordon on November 5, 2009 at 4:58 pm

Excellent writing; as sharp as a tack.

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9. Comment #429715 by Mr Blue Sky on November 5, 2009 at 5:04 pm

We used to say "you couldn't make it up) but obviously you can!!

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10. Comment #429724 by squinky on November 5, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Really good writing! I enjoyed Hutchinson's eloquence.

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11. Comment #429772 by Scep on November 5, 2009 at 8:03 pm

alessamendes, have a look here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWHdQBMgb4

Obama sound more like an agnostic, doesn’t he?

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12. Comment #429775 by samratpathania on November 5, 2009 at 8:06 pm

I really didn't think Obama was religious, despite his claim to be Christian. I thought he supported reason and science, but I may be wrong.

I am going to bury my head in sand.
I am going to bury my head in sand.
I am going to bury my head in sand.

What is worse, Obama being religious and thereby condoning religious agendas in legislation or Obama being non-religous and yet condoning religious agendas in legislation?

Oh how I wish you were what I think you are..

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13. Comment #429777 by noelbroadhead on November 5, 2009 at 8:07 pm

No, no, no, no... Then again, up until recently, health funds in Australia paid an ancillary benefit for homeopathy.

Wait a minute. Just checked, and they still do: http://www.mbf.com.au/HealthInsurance/Healthinsuranceoptions/All-in-onepackage/Choices.html#extras_benefits

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14. Comment #429787 by samratpathania on November 5, 2009 at 8:24 pm

FFRF has an update and a request to contact your Senators:

ffrf.org/news/2009/faithhealingupdate.php

Thanks a lot for that link

Other Comments by samratpathania

15. Comment #429798 by Sally Luxmoore on November 5, 2009 at 8:43 pm

In the only democratic nation in the postindustrial world that doesn’t have equitable government healthcare the watchwords will be “let them have prayer.”

Come on America. You can do better than this...

Maybe there's a financial opportunity here for the church of FSM. If prayer services can be given over the phone or by email, surely there could be a niche for emailed pictures of pasta delights, or certified 'holy' pasta deliveries to cure the sick.

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16. Comment #429823 by clunkclickeverytrip on November 5, 2009 at 9:39 pm

"Kamikaze co-pilot" - that's hilarious.

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17. Comment #429830 by RightWingAtheist on November 5, 2009 at 10:04 pm

Not only will we be paying for prayer healing, but it will be hard to convict the parents of dead diabetic children for relying on a service paid for by the government.

For better or worse, I am still waiting for Obama to switch from campaign mode to executive mode. Come on B-man, the election is over. Stop kissing religious ass and lay down the friggin hammer on the homophobes in the military. Of course, he also had some platforms I am not so thrilled with, so maybe it's a wash.

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18. Comment #429836 by Border Collie on November 5, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Tiki ... Thanks for that link. It sheds even more light on the darkness.

On the other hand, being that my business has gone to Hell in a handbasket, maybe I'll sign up to be a two-week-trained medical prayer healer and get back in the green. I've always wanted an easy product to sell over the Internet ... and no wrapping and shipping! Credit cards only. All sales final. Hallelujah!!!

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19. Comment #429862 by aquilacane on November 5, 2009 at 11:10 pm

pasta and beer heal the starving and thirsty; now we can write-off breakfast, lunch, dinner and a night at the pub (so long as you mutter "All Hail Ramen", first).

Other Comments by aquilacane

20. Comment #429883 by Notstrident on November 6, 2009 at 12:29 am

It is more in my gut feeling than in any specifics, but I keep having the impression that despite Obama's picking and choosing the parts of the bible he doesn't like (it's very easy to disavow slavery, stoning one's child, etc.), and despite his throwing a bone every so often to "non-believers," he is more on the side of the pray-ers than to real free thinkers. I'm waiting for him to come out one of these days as at least a deist, if not an out-and-out theist. I hope I'm wrong.

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21. Comment #429892 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 6, 2009 at 1:37 am

Whenever I hear "Christian Scientist," I picture Jebus wearing a lab coat and holding a beaker.

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22. Comment #429902 by Tomdownunder on November 6, 2009 at 2:59 am

How are these things still accepted by the masses£
This is crazy

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23. Comment #429903 by SaintStephen on November 6, 2009 at 3:21 am

John Kerry and Orrin Hatch. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle DUMB.

Other Comments by SaintStephen

24. Comment #429961 by Reckless Monkey on November 6, 2009 at 12:09 pm

From noelbroadhead

"No, no, no, no... Then again, up until recently, health funds in Australia paid an ancillary benefit for homeopathy."

Yep, subsidised by other health benefit fund payers. Have you seen the ad? Ambulance pulls up next to a guy who's collapsed. Out pops a Monk, and hippy with scented oils and incense. Guy gets up felling better. Irony lost on all.

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25. Comment #430082 by GBile on November 6, 2009 at 9:52 pm

It would be rude to conclude that this way the deluded will die out quickly.

Yes, that would be rude.

??

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26. Comment #430112 by Border Collie on November 7, 2009 at 1:02 am

Rod, somebody must've prayed for those lizards that grew their tails back after losing such to predators or evil pre-pubescent boys. Hey, if it works for lizards ... And, it works because lizards have been around for zillions of years, much more time for prayer (by somebody) to work. No, wait, the world is only six thousand years old. Must be something else at work here. Nevermind.

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27. Comment #430155 by noahidios on November 7, 2009 at 1:39 pm

It would be rude to conclude that this way the deluded will die out quickly.

Yes, that would be rude.

??

you don't say... i suppose that if this ridiculous piece of legislation does pass that would be a small consolation. so long as you have to be over the legal age to receive treatment.

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28. Comment #430307 by Colwyn Abernathy on November 8, 2009 at 3:24 pm

Now, in the midst of the healthcare reform morass, prayer healing “therapy” may become a legitimate form of government subsidized medical treatment.

No fucking wai...Didn't they do studies on intercessory prayer and found that...SURPRISE! It didn't work? Hell, even an 11 year old can show that Therapeutic Touch is bogus with a simple test. Oh right...it's faith...claiming to affect reality...my mistake...

Morons...

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