I just turned a cable channel this morning to see good ol Peter Poppoff, who was debunked quite well many years ago for using an earphone that his wife fed him info he said was coming from God to “heal” people.
He was offering Miracle Spring Water.
Get some, for a donation I’m guessing, and God will give you money a house etc.
Come now.
Has anyone ever been to a healing service?
ANyone ever see someone healed by anyone?
Yeah, my kid had strep throat and an ear infection, and he want to a doctor, who gave him an antibiotic, and he was healed a few days later.
We sent a contribution to the doctor’s … um… charitable organization. We didn’t have to sing or say “hallelujah” though, and it was in a modern office business rather than a tent. Very disappointing, really.
Okay, thats not what I meant. I meant healed by a “faith” healer.
Also, Mr. Poppoff said to oput the water in the four corners of the room.
Now that is purely witchcraft, am I right?
I personally have never seen it. I also don’t believe it and would be very skeptical if I saw something presented as a “faith healing.”
[hijack] Speaking of Religious Hucksters…has anyone ever heard of Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church? If so, does anyone know if he has been debunked in the manner of this Poppoff person?
I’ve looked for information on him but found nothing that was not either from the World Harvest Church or from fervent beleivers.
BTW, I’ll start this in a new thread if that is appropriate.
[/hijack]
shoot tevya, most of the christians I know love Rod PArsley and all of em, especially that tan guy who is renowned for healing.
I forgot his name.
They wont believe any bad about these guys, saying only satanists would slam them…sigh…
vanilla --> You don’t know enough Christians. Almost none of the ones I know like any of those guys. They give the rest of us a bad name, as if we needed any help.
I don’t think those hucksters are really even Christians. Part of being a Christian is realizing that I am a sinner who cannot save himself. I’ll never be good enough to get into heaven on my own. God solved the problem for me. Jesus paid the penalty for my sin by dying on the cross, and he purchased a place in heaven for me by raising from the dead. Out of gratitude for that incredible gift he gave me, I do my best not to go around lying, stealing, and cheating people out of their money.
No Christian is perfect. In fact, if we were, we wouldn’t need Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. But to have a lifestyle that involves separating people from their wallets is a pretty sure sign that someone is not a Christian. That’s not an occassional screwup, it’s a way of life.
jamesglewisf,
I agree that Mr. Parsley falls in to the huckster category and thus does not represent Christianity well.
What I need is some good hard facts…some real dirt on him so that I could present this to someone who * doesn’t* believe he is a huckster. Or at least some solid speculation.
To me it seems obvious he is a money-hungry phoney, but that is a belief and a hunch based more on historical trends (Poppoff, Billy Graham, that Baker guy) and not on any tangible facts. I don’t think I could convince a true believer without some kind of proof.
Check out the Christian Research Institute. Hank Hanegraaf has a nationally syndicated radio show about all of this kind of stuff called “The Bible Answer Man.” You can get info about it at this site. The site is searchable for articles and books. He has several books about these hucksters.
Can I be honest with you, though? A lot of people who follow these guys have never even opened their Bible except at Sunday School. They don’t read it, and they don’t know it, and it is the best tool to know that the teachings of these guys is way off. You’ll have a hard time convincing them of anything.
I’d start listening to his radio show and then invite your friend to. That might be a little less confrontational.
Feel free to register at Married Adults.com and post questions in the “Bible Q&A” forum. We can answer just about any question related to Christianity and the Bible. I check those forums more often than this one.
When I get home tonight I’ll look up Parsley in my books and see if I have anything for you.
I’m curious as to why Billy Graham got included here. I am not a personal fan of his; I disagree with a lot of his theology. However, I have never seen any evidence that Graham is anything other than a sincere preacher who believes what he preaches. He does not push “faith healing” and he does not push the collection basket. (He does take up collections and probably rakes in quite a bit, but all the evidence I have seen indicates that he turns that back around to fund his preaching. He does not seem to be taking it home to live luxuriously.)
In the spirit of the Straight Dope, I think we ought to object to what people actually do, rather than lumping together everyone who has a casual resemblance based on outside perceptions.
James,
Thank you for your suggestions. I may check out that website but probably won’t listen to the radio show. I am not a Christian and don’t wish to submerse myself in religious forums, radio programs etc. (not that there’s anything wrong with that–{as Jerry would say}). However, I do appreciate the information as I’d like to find out about Rod Parsley.
Tom,
I may have been wrong about Billy Graham. I thought he was the guy who said God was going to kill him if he didn’t collect x amount of dollars (maybe in the 80’s?). I could definitely be wrong. And I agree with you about objecting to what people actually do. That is why I was looking for real evidence to back up my perception/hunch/what have you about Rod Parsley.
Thanks for keeping me honest. 
Oral Roberts is the guy who was sent on his mission by a 900 foot tall Jesus, then threatened with death at the hand of God if he didn’t come up with the money, fast.
Billy Graham is honest, and often appears at presidental function etc…
I stand corrected! Oral Roberts was the scoundrel to whom I was referring. My apologies to Billy Graham.
Thanks for the correction tomndebb and labdude.
I don’t see a General Question here. In fact, I’m not real sure what I see here. But since it deals with religion, it will almost certainly end up in Great Debates anyway, so that’s where I’ll send it.
Just a witch stopping by to say that while not “purely” witchcraft, definitely included. Okay, carry on with your discussion! 
There are christian organizations that work towards and are determined to debunk the hucksters. The Trinity Foundation is one. Joe Bob Briggs, at least his real persona, is a member. They have an online humor magazine also. I used to have its link, but it was on my old pc. A web search will bring it up.
There is also another organization, I cannot remember the name, but they were responsible for exposing Mike Warnke for the scum he really is.
Oh yeah, I remember Mike Warnke the former “satanist”.
I read his books and loved them, til I found another book by 2 christians who exposed him for not being a former satanist after all, and his 4 marriages, et al.
Theres a really good cite called the Bob LArson Fan Club, which is also funny and exposing of good ol Bob for the money hungry pastor he is.
I’ve noticed the fundies sometimes pick up tricks from the neo-Pagans and the New Agers from time to time. A while back there was some Christian group conducting special prayer meetings for the purpose of counteracting the magic of “evil magicians,” Satanists, and the like. Some of the techniques they were using, such as visualization, group chanting, calling upon angels to perform specific tasks, etc. were obviously borrowed from contemporary magickal practices. There’s one woman who receives messages direct from the Holy Ghost and will only charge you twenty or thirty dollars a month to send you personal messages just for you right straight from the Sacred Spook. And I always thought fundies were closed-minded!