Some of its practitioners and patients swear by its effectiveness, and millions have sought solace from non-traditional 'spiritual treatment'. Faith healing’s many critics, however, believe it is at best a placebo, at worst a dangerous and potentially deadly deception.
John of God (João Teixeira de Faria) is a Brazilian faith healer: a self-described medium and psychic surgeon. Millions of people are said to have been treated by de Faria since the 1960s, with thousands still flocking to a small Brazilian town every week to seek his treatments.
De Faria provides both ‘invisible’ and ‘visible’ treatments for physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual ailments. The ‘invisible’ category can involve everything from intense meditation to a walk to a local waterfall. 'Visible' treatment, on the other hand, can see him perform physical ‘surgeries’ without traditional anesthetics. You can see a video of this in action below, although you are advised it contains some graphic images:
De Faria still advises his patients to take any medication they might be on following their faith ‘operation’, and also warns he will not be able to cure all patients. Many who have availed of his services - such as author and journalist Susan Casey - swear by his abilities, even acknowledging his ‘cures’ defy traditional region and logic..
Meanwhile, scientists point to a lack of verifiable evidence concerning alleged faith healing successes, and De Faria has frequently been questioned, arrested and even on one occasion jailed for practicing medicine without a license. Other faith healers are frequently embroiled in legal disputes: some parents, for example, have been jailed for allowing their children to die from treatable ailments because their religious beliefs encouraged faith healing over traditional medicine.
Do faith healers cause some patients to neglect other proven treatments? Are some alleged healers little more than scam artists? Is there any scientific evidence justifying a potential ‘placebo effect’ of faith healing?
On this week’s show, Futureproof will be discussing John of God and the phenomenon of faith healing generally from a scientific perspective. It’s all part of our Adventures in Science series with thanks to Bayer. Tune in from 10 AM this Saturday morning to hear what will surely prove a lively discussion on this most controversial of subjects.
