The Humbug

Why don't we trust in rationale?

We've been on this planet for so long, and we still fear the unknown so strongly that we choose to use voodoo and magic instead of trusting in the honesty and completeness of science and common sense. There are still opportunists that prey on the fears and misunderstandings, the wish-fulfillment thinking that pervades some people who have a desperate need for answers and an open pocket book.

Reflexology, Feng Shui, Crystal Power, Shakras, Magic Pills, Weight loss miracles, Telekinesis, ESP, talking with the dead, spoon benders - and the greatest hack, the most despicable opportunists in my book - televangelists.

Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff, Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts and others. Even though these men were publicly exposed as frauds, they continued to thrive and make money off of some of the poorer members of society.

They promises things they can't. They promise healing powers. Peter Popoff, for one, claimed that God was speaking directly to him. He seemed to divinely know the names of members of his audience, their addresses, their afflictions, and he used the intensity of his personality to make people believe he could heal them without medicine. He was exposed as a fake on Johnny Carson's show when debunker James Randi proved that Peter Popoff wasn't hearing the voice of God, but hearing the voice of his wife feeding him information through a tiny ear piece. Information she got from prayer cards and info cards filled out by audience members.

These are the charlatans of our time. Purveyors of a billion dollar industry that strips away the dignity of its followers along with their money. Bakker embezzled from his organization. Oral Roberts claimed he needed 8 million in donations or he'd die - which got his followers cash flowing - Hinn made prophesy after prophesy that didn't come true in the mid-90s. Despite being proven time and time again that they have no magical powers, no direct line to God (anymore than any Christian would claim) they still have followings and still get boatloads of cash. What would Jesus do, right?

The question is not a matter of being disgusted by it all. That's easy. The question is, how can we combat it? Can it be combated? How do we see an end to people taking advantage of others in this way? Why, with all that science has given us, do people still believe that a $30 handkerchief from a television minister can cure Cancer?

How much further must we go before we leave magical thinking behind for real results?