# Is 'John of God' a Healer or a Charlatan? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 11, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491 "2005-02-11T00:42:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/101 "2011-08-18T02:51:12Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > John of Cthulhu? That is not dead which can eternal lie. And so this strange thread will never die. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/102 "2011-08-18T05:04:10Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > What’s a werevirgin? A girl who only is a suitable human sacrifice during the full moon. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/103 "2011-08-18T05:07:02Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I tried not to ask. I really did. > > What’s a werevirgin? People who can’t get any when there’s a full moon. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/104 "2011-08-18T12:12:02Z")
> [@Abbie\_Carmichael](#): > > **“John of God” claims his hands are guided by the spirits of more than 30 dead doctors, some of whom have been dead for centuries.** How good could those doctors possibly have been? They all died. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/105 "2011-08-18T13:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > “John of God” claims his hands are guided by the spirits of more than 30 dead doctors, **some of whom have been dead for centuries**. Trepanations and bloodletting for everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/106 "2011-08-18T13:27:46Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > How good could those doctors possibly have been? They all died. They died so we could live. A concept which founded Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/107 "2011-08-18T14:07:06Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > 1/ PWMISOTBHFO[sup]\*[/sup] says Randi’s conditions are impossible to meet > > \ > > [sub]\* Person who’s mind is so open their brain has fallen out[/sub] I had a discussion with a person with an open mind about conspiracy theories the other day. His interpretation was “believe nothing that **They** tell you, but adopt any harebrined idea that goes around”. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/108 "2011-08-19T00:07:31Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > “There . . . \*there \*virgin.” Ok, that was worth it. > [@CurtC](#): > > First, science would need to establish that the placebo effect is something more than people believing they feel better because they expect to. Then, and only then, will they spend any time figuring out _how_ this supposed thing works. I don’t think it will ever reach that point, because the idea that my emotions will turn on just the right chemicals, antibodies, etc., to fix what’s currently ailing me is just not plausible to me. I’m trying to remember where I read it - it was probably at the end of a long chain of hyperlinks. It was a review of a study that had tested the placebo effect on asthmatics, because you could ask them how they felt AND you could test respiratory function. (There was also a real treatment being tested. The placebo group was the control.) The placebo effect did not improve respiratory function. It improved the subjective experience only. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/109 "2011-08-19T01:06:09Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > How good could those doctors possibly have been? They all died. Yeah, but those doctors back in the 17th century had forgotten more than these kids today will. Partly because their brains decomposed, but also because they knew that the secret to being a good doctor is to get that bad blood out, even if it means letting half of the 4 gallons of blood in your body out. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/110 "2011-08-19T03:04:52Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I’m trying to remember where I read it - it was probably at the end of a long chain of hyperlinks. It was a review of a study that had tested the placebo effect on asthmatics, because you could ask them how they felt AND you could test respiratory function. (There was also a real treatment being tested. The placebo group was the control.) The placebo effect did not improve respiratory function. It improved the subjective experience only. [Here’s](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/07/dangerous_placebo_medicine_in_asthma.php) more than you may want to know. Bottom line: Because you think you’re better doesn’t mean that you are. Wonder if our zombie thread reviver received the long twisty tweezers up the nose treatment from John O’God. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/111 "2011-08-19T03:20:27Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > How good could those doctors possibly have been? They all died. Yeah, that’s because they weren’t being guided by the doctors that died before them. Get with the program. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/112 "2011-08-19T12:15:43Z")
I hate it when I click into a thread and read a good portion of it before I realize it’s a zombie. Shit! ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/113 "2011-08-19T13:26:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > People who can’t get any when there’s a full moon. The tranformation during the full moon must be traumatic: the screaming and the crying as her tiny little red riding hood is supernaturally stretched and reformed to contain a grotesquely hairy hymen-esque barrier. That Growls. :eek: I heard Lon Chaney turned the part down… ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/114 "2011-08-19T15:35:54Z")
See that term ‘of God’? That translates to con man. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/115 "2011-08-19T17:39:50Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > [Here’s](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/07/dangerous_placebo_medicine_in_asthma.php) more than you may want to know. > > Bottom line: Because you think you’re better doesn’t mean that you are. . . . :eek: Thanks. That looks like it. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/116 "2011-08-19T18:16:14Z")
> [@newme](#): > > that James Randi will appear on ABC tonight to debunk more psychic crap: > > [JREF on ABC’s Primetime Nightline Wed Aug 17](http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/1384-jref-on-abcs-primetime-nightline-weds-10pm-9pm-central.html) Wait. Didn’t he die in like late 2006 or something? No? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/117 "2011-08-19T19:55:41Z")
> [@Abbie\_Carmichael](#): > > **“John of God” claims his hands are guided by the spirits of more than 30 dead doctors, some of whom have been dead for centuries.** Why the _fuck_ would anyone trust the opinion of a doctor who pre-dates antibiotics? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/118 "2011-08-19T20:02:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Why the _fuck_ would anyone trust the opinion of a doctor who pre-dates antibiotics? Maybe they all died in a bus crash the month before? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/119 "2011-08-19T20:14:50Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Why the _fuck_ would anyone trust the opinion of a doctor who pre-dates antibiotics? My philosophy exactly. Screw the Hippocratic Oath, just gimme that penicillin. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491/120 "2011-08-19T20:18:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Yeah, but those doctors back in the 17th century had forgotten more than these kids today will. Partly because their brains decomposed, but also because they knew that the secret to being a good doctor is to get that bad blood out, even if it means letting half of the 4 gallons of blood in your body out. No… it’s all about the humors. Why, I myself was in poor health for years until I learned to balance my black bile levels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-john-of-god-a-healer-or-a-charlatan/289491.md?page=7)