While I’m taking some time to rag on TV news for its ludicrously credulous reporting of various “alternative” medicine claims, take a gander at this puff piece on a faith healer.
Where’s James Randi when you need him? True, the story mentioned that not one of this faith healer’s “healings” could be independently verified with objective information and data, but the rest of the tone of the story is quite credulous.
My answer to ABC News (remember: Steve Wilson works for an ABC affiliate) is this video:
The video speaks for itself. Bentley just kicked a guy with stage IV colon cancer in the gut. Even though the cancer patient doesn’t look bad for someone with metastatic cancer, thanks to modern oncologic medicine (not faith healing or woo!) many patients with stage IV colon cancer can have extended periods of time where they feel pretty good and have a good quality of life, this is cruel and not a good idea. (Indeed, my best friend’s dad is proof of this.) Even so, depending on the location and extent of his metastatic cancer, kicking a guy that hard (and the guy did look as though he was in considerable pain afterward) risks making his tumors bleed or other injury. If you want true idiocy, however, check out Bentley’s response to the video above:
Notice how he doesn’t say whether his victim was actually “healed” or not, whether the cancer really “came out of his body in the name of Jesus” or not.
When faith healers attack, the faithful suffer. Bentley makes the guy who thinks he’s the Second Coming of Jesus seem harmless by comparison.
