Miracles for Sale - Derren Brown exposes faith-healers in new show

 

The illusionist Derren Brown has spent the last six months using his talents to expose the scam of faith-healing. In his new show, Miracles for Sale, Derren looks for a candidate to train as a fake faith-healer by  hosting auditions for the star of a new TV show.  Derren eventually picked a diving instructor named Nathan. As Derren was aware, Nathan believed in God and could easily have rejected the challenge before him, but he seemed quite up for it. Half a years work was squeezed into an hour long programme aired at 9pm on Monday 25th April.  

Derren has previously confronted charlatans who profit from the grief and gullibility of others such as mediums, psychics and ghost hunters. He often poses as a practitioner of one of these trades/crafts, imitates their techniques perfectly or even better than the original and then explains how this can be done using  the powers of suggestion. Although Derren is very skeptical of the phenomenon he investigates, it is important to note that he seems to be motivated by a concern for those whose belief in the paranormal is exploited by charlatans. Despite this, many people who believe in such paranormal phenomenon have found his approach quite unsettling and have developed a dislike for the man.

In his new show, however, Derren appears to be incredibly sensitive about the beliefs of other people and repeatedly emphasises his concern for those who give their trust and what little money they have to faith healers, who then blame the victims for not having enough faith  if they aren't healed. One of the founders of the Trinity Foundation, a group of Christians who investigate fraud committed by faith-healers and televangelists, describes how he is motivated by a phonecall from a woman which he received after he was seen on TV successfully exposing a Televangelist:

"She had a thirteen year old daughter who had multiple sclerosis, and there was a testimonial...where a woman had made a thousand dollar vow of faith and, supposedly, was healed of multiple sclerosis. Of course it was an actor that did it. And so she, unbeknownst to her mother over the course of the year, paid off the thousand dollars - mostly from her grandmother.

So at the end of that year when she'd finally paid it all off, she wasn't healed - she was far worse. She called the man of God that told her she would be healed, and he told her that... the reason she wasn't healed was that she had secret sin in her life. And this little girl, now fourteen, went to the back yard and poured a can of gas over herself and lit herself, and committed suicide. And the mother just begged me to do something about this."

This really seemed to strike a chord with the crew especially Nathan, the faith healer in training, who was having doubts about the project. Throughout the show it was obvious that Nathan was uncomfortable with the extent of deception involved, as were the rest of the crew (including Derren) who decided to cut their ties with a man who ran a Texan Christian PR company for fear of negative impacts such a stunt could have on his business. I thought that such a moral decision should be commended, and it is a stark contrast to the disgraceful deceit and lack of concern for the opposition in the making of creationist films such as Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

The founder of the Trinity Foundation drilled home the fact that there are necessary evils which need to be addressed in order to serve the greater good.

We are so sickened by what we see, these guys taking advantage of people, and if you're successful in teaching this guy that you 'took of the street' to do the same thing that they're doing there couldn't be a better example to show how foolish these people are by continuing to support these idiots. You've got to be a hypocrite for a while so that the reality can be shown.

For me the most interesting parts of the show were the examples Derren gave of the techniques used by fake faith healers such as:

• Misleading the audience about the extent of someones condition and presenting examples of things they can already do as 'proof' of change.
• Stating that one leg is shorter than the other by loosening the shoe from the heel of the foot furthest away from the audience, and suggesting that they they are lengthening other leg by slowly sliding the shoe back onto the foot.
• Creating slight pain by keeping body parts raised for a while and then releasing them to alleviate the pain and claiming that they're healed.
• Whipping the audience into a frenzy so that adrenaline will temporarily dull the pain.
• Claiming to know details about people in the audience via god, despite the fact that they had to fill in cards before the event.

Check it out on YouTube or 4OD and see what you think.

Jokes and Humour for Atheists and Agnostics

Why can’t atheists solve exponential equations?...Because they don’t believe in higher powers.

***

What do you get when you cross an atheist with a Jehovahs Witness?…. Someone who knocks at your door for no apparent reason

An atheist buys an ancient lamp at an auction, takes it home, and begins to polish it. Suddenly, a genie appears, and says, “I’ll grant you three wishes, Master.” The atheist says, “I wish I could believe in you.” The genie snaps his fingers, and suddenly the atheist believes in him. The atheist says, “Wow. I wish all atheists would believe this.” The genie snaps his fingers again, and suddenly atheists all over the world begin to believe in genies. “What about your third wish?” asks the genie. “Well,” says the atheist, “I wish for a billion dollars.” The genie snaps his fingers for a third time, but nothing happens. “What’s wrong?” asks the atheist. The genie shrugs and says, “Just because you believe in me, doesn’t necessarily mean that I really exist.”

***

An Atheist dies and, to his surprise, finds himself met by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.
St. Peter reviews the man's record and tells him, "Well, even though you didn't believe in any deities, you led a good, moral life. It is especially good that you did so without expecting any eternal reward. So we are going to let you into Heaven."
St. Peter then assigns an angel to take the Atheist on an indoctrination tour. During the tour, the Atheist sees Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, other Atheists, and people of all religions. He also notices a high wall in a far corner of Heaven. When the tour ends, the angel asks him if he has any questions. The man asks, "What's behind the high wall in the corner?" 

The angel replies, "That's where we put the Christians. They think they're the only people up here."

A man sees a boy with a box of kittens
the man goes over and says "oh what cute kittens!" the boy replies "yes they are Christian kittens". About a week later the man sees the boy again with the same batch of kittens. once again he walks over and says "my, those are just adorable!" the boy replies "yes, they are atheist kittens" the man asks "wait, weren't they christian before?" the boy looks at the man and says " yeah but they have their eyes open now"

***

How many atheists does it take to change a light bulb?
Two. One to actually change the bulb, and the other to videotape the job so fundamentalists can’t claim that god did it.

***

This guy needs to win the lottery really badly he thinks it will help get his life on track, so he kneels down to pray. He says "God if you let me win the lottery I will pay my tithe every year and never complain about it." He doesn't win.
The next week he gets down on his knees again and says,"God if you just let me win the lottery I will give my tithe and then some to the church and help the local orphans find good loving homes." 

He doesn't win again.
The next week he again prays and says,"God I will pay for a modest home and a gently used car and give all the rest to good charities in your name and the church if you just let me win the lottery." 

Yet again, he doesn't win.
Finally the next week he is so mad and he prays,"God what do you want from me? I don't know what else to promise. Why can't I win the lottery." Suddenly a big booming voice comes from the heavens and says, "Would you buy a fucking ticket already, geez."

An Atheist and a Christian get in a car wreck together. The Atheist sees the Christian's crucifix necklace and begins talking about how lucky they are to be alive, and the Christian says God granted it. The atheist is surprised to find an unbroken and unopened bottle of vintage wine by the roadside. "God has decided to bless us twice today!" says the Christian. "Let's not put it to waste then!" says the Atheist, handing the Christian the wine. The Christian takes two big gulps then hands it back to the Atheist. The Atheist in turn, without drinking, puts the cork back in the bottle and says, "I think I'll just wait until the police get here before I celebrate."

***

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
God.
Who?
God.
Who?
God.
Must be the wind.

The Intelligent Design Colouring Book

Hey Kids! It's the birthday gift you've all been waiting for... The Intelligent Design Colouring Book, and (according to the cover) it's 100% Fact free! YEY!!! Check out the description below:

A child’s life is full of both joys and challenges—the infinite wonder of learning, the literal and figurative scraped knees of everyday life, and, of course, deep, penetrating theological terror.

That’s why Pastor Brett of the Mega-Pheasant Heights Assembly Church has created an activity book that will divert those long lazy hours of idle youth into a soul-saving good time. Inside are crafty puzzles, mazes of wrath, and connect-the-dots! Also, the mysteries of God’s creation are revealed and explored, including, but not limited to: why God sometimes does not answer your prayers; why heterosexual monogamy is demanded of us; and why listening to scientists will end with your corporeal destruction and eternal damnation. You will learn the nature of other “religions” as well as how best to crush them. And then there will be juice boxes.

While tradition states that the path to heaven is paved by knowledge of scripture, the doing of good works, and the conversion of heathens, it has recently been revealed that no one can obtain their eternal reward without first obtaining a copy of The Intelligent Design Coloring Book!

It's quite obviously a parody, but if you're still not convinced or have a complete lack of faith in mankind, check out the author's bio:

Before joining the Mega-Pheasant Heights Assembly Church in 2010, Pastor Brett Pirkle headed up the Intelligent Design think tank at American Family Mission. A proponent of corporal punishment, he claims that the Holy Spirit channels God's love into his fist before he corrects the evildoer. The jury did not see it this way.

A Medical Dilemma for a Sunday Creationist

This is just genius cartoon highlighting the problem of making choices based on your beliefs when they are misinformed :)

 A strip from Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau

The Saga of Biorn: Not everyone wants to get into heaven...

What does a Viking have to do to get a decent afterlife? Die in battle apparently. But it's not as easy as that when other people think they know what is best for you...

Pastor publicly executes elf in protest against Satan's minions at Christmas

John Knudsen, a Danish pastor at the Løkken Free Church in Vendsyssel, has dealt the first blow against an enemy that he believes to be one of greatest threat to Christmas. It is, of course, the Elf.

Many people imagine elves as Santa's little helpers making toys for children or magical folk from Germanic and Norse Folklore, but not John Knudsen. He believes that they are "poltergeists that come from the devil and make children sick" and that the decorating of elves at Christmas is "comparable to decorating with Nazi flags."

Since Mr. Knudson is a reasonable man, he decided to hang an elf by the neck outside of his church. Accompanying the elf was a sign reading "we reject Satan and all his works and all his empty promises”, a reference to the Christian baptism rite. The protest against Satan and his elvish minions has also been supported by his parish and some members of the town.

Since the pastor was unable to catch a real elf, the mock execution was only performed on an effigy of a Christmas elf. However, many people have asked, even threatened him to take the elf down. His decision to ignore these requests has not gone unnoticed by the "elves", as Knudson claims they have been sending him threatening letters. He also reported the mysterious appearance of a dozen or so metre-high gnomes outside of his home.

Refusing to give up the fight, the pastor set up a night watch to prevent the elf from being stolen before it's scheduled removal on Sunday. However, one resident managed to take the elf down in broad daylight on Monday and also left behind a note to reassure the pastor that it would be "kept safe until after the New Year".

Knudson, obviously worried about elven poltergeists infecting the children his beloved town, reported the theft to the police. Despite a confession from the thief, the police refused to press charges on the grounds that their "caseload was too heavy to make investigating theft of a stuffed toy elf a priority".

With thanks to the Copenhagen Post

PETA use Pope's comments in campaign to neuter dogs and cats

Many people have misunderstood the comments made by the Pope as a relaxed stance on condoms. However, unfortunately for those westerners who chose to live by the words of a senial pontiff- nothing has changed unless abstaining from using a condom could be a matter of life and death. Nonetheless, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has used the recent media flurry surrounding the Pope's comments in their newest international campaign.


The campaign poster shows the pope waving to crowds with a condom in his hand. Below the picture are the words "DOGS AND CATS CAN'T USE CONDOMS." The poster aims to draw attention to "an unholy animal overpopulation crisis" which leads to the euthanizing of millions of healthy pets each year and urges people to spay or neuter their dogs and cats to help reduce the problem. The "Pope Condom" campaign was launched outside the vatican this week and will soon be hitting Cathedrals and Churches across America.

It's possible that PETA may have created for themselves some uneccessary obstacles by potentially narrowing it's audience down to christians, particularly catholics. However, any complaints about the imagery from the the vatican or the likes of Bill Donohue from the Catholic League could actually prove more helpful for the international success of the project. It's quite conceivable that provocation is the honest aim of PETA's message.

'Christian Voice' call for ban on Twilight's calendar

The Article

I found this article in the free paper 'METRO'

Christian Voice says mixing religion with the cult vampire series is ‘deeply offensive’ to Christians.
‘It’s sickening to see the message of Jesus Christ being hijacked to peddle a brand like Twilight, which to all intents and purposes proclaims an anti-religious cult,’ said Stephen Green, national director of the group.

'Twilight may be fiction, but it is dangerous to mix-up such a story in the minds of impressionable children with that of the Nativity.' 

Stephen Green - Christian Voice

The Twilight Eclipse calendar features a picture of actress Kristen Stewart, and her two rivals in love - Edward the vampire, played by Robert Pattinson, and Jacob the werewolf, portrayed by Taylor Lautner. 


Tesco apologised if anyone was offended but said it always gives customers a choice, adding: 'Twilight is a very popular brand and we aim to provide the types of products our customers would like to buy.'


My Reply

I thought it was ridiculous so I decided to email Christian Voice about it:

Dear Christian Voice,

Whilst travelling home on the train after a day at university, I picked up a copy of the free newspaper - METRO. In it I saw an article concerning a row between your organisation and a large supermarket chain over a Twilight themed advent calendar. Despite the fact that I can't wait to see the back of Twilight, I found your stance on the matter very confusing, considering the reasons (below) voiced by your very own national Director, Stephen Green.
"It's sickening to see the message of Jesus Christ being hijacked to peddle a brand like Twilight, which to all intents an purposes proclaims an anti-religious cult."
Mixing religion with the cult-vampire series is "deeply offensive" to Christians.

Firstly, I imagine that by 'the message of Jesus Christ' you are talking about the many references to chocolate filled advent calendars that are a littered throughout the New Testament. Unfortunately, I don't remember any mentions of these novelties in the psalms, letters to the Corinthians; neither have I heard any stories of the apostles opening the first windows on their calendars and asking each other if their chocolates are also shaped like baby Jesus. Could you explain to me how having Doctor Who, The Simpsons or Father Christmas on these calendars is promoting 'the message of Jesus Christ'  for you any better than Twilight. Why of all the secular calendars have you singled out the Twilight calendar.

Secondly, this season belongs to everyone - not just Christians. Christianity has hijacked the winter solstice in order to peddle the message of Jesus Christ, and it is by no means the first religion to do so. We don't mind you celebrating the birth of your saviour on the Winter solstice, as long as you don't try to stop people having their own non-christian celebrations. By claiming that non-christian themes should be banned during this festive period, this is exactly what you are doing.

Furthermore, on your website it says that "Christian Voice opposes the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill as an ILLIBERAL ATTACK ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH." I agree with you that all religions should be criticised, and that preventing people from doing so is an attack on freedom of speech. But then you go on to say that if the bill is passed you want to "Report Islamic bookstores for selling the Quran and Hadith" claiming that it is hate speech, yet you want to be able to continue to preach about how other religions lead you to be eternally tortured in hell. If this really is the Voice of Christians, then I'm thankful not to be amongst your ranks.

Happy Holidays,

David Craggs


I'll let you know if I get a reply.

Anti-Evolutionist Parody

This is a great parody of the sort of 'logic' that is parroted by advocates of Intelligent Design and Creationism. One of the biggest of these is the Discovery Institute. There are still many people who think that evolution means that humans came from slime, or that a cat gave birth to a dog. Once again this video's best asset is it's comedy value.  Enjoy :)

Perspectives from an ignorant minority

This quite a popular video of 3 guys acting out quotes made by fundamentalist christians on forums. Although there is a clear take home message, that most of the opposition to science and atheism is based purely on ignorance of almost everything, the video is far more appealing purely due to its comedy value. In fact, you can see that one of the guys has a hard time trying to keep a straight face. People often say to me that these type of people are in a minority, and I agree. However, I believe that people forget just how many fundamentalist christians there are, so a minority in their case can still be quite a considerable number. Some of them even get slots on prime time television! Just imagine if they replaced the word 'atheists' with 'homosexuals', 'mixed race couples', 'people who read the times' or 'people who ate meat'. You'd be mad not to get angry.

There is an entire website devoted to examples of crazy  quotes called Fundies Say the Darndest Things. They also have quotes from paranoid conspiracy theorist and bigoted racists, some of which are frightening in their stupidity.