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February 3rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda - Group claims ‘scores of people’ have been ‘physically healed’ by its work
- Atheist says their claims could give scores of terminally ill people false hope
By
Emily Allen
Last updated at 9:00 AM on 3rd February 2012
A Christian group has been banned from claiming it can heal people after complaints to the advertising watchdog.
Healing on the Streets – Bath (HOTS) stages regular sessions outside the city’s abbey and says ‘scores of people’ have been ‘physically healed’ as a result of its work.
But atheist Hayley Stevens, from Wiltshire, took offence to the group’s adverts and claimed it could give terminally-ill people false hope.
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Healing on the Streets – Bath stages regular sessions outside the city’s abbey and says ‘scores of people’ have been ‘physically healed’ as a result of its work
She complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to say the claims by HOTS could ‘not be substantiated’ and were ‘irresponsible’.
The ASA upheld her complaint, stating that testimonials found on the group’s website were ‘insufficient as evidence for claims of healing’.
But Christians have reacted furiously to the decision, saying the ASA is trying to ban the ‘basic Christian belief that God can heal illness’.
The watchdog has now told HOTS not to make claims which stated or implied that, by receiving prayer from their volunteers, people could be healed of medical conditions.
HOTS, who base themselves outside the Abbey, pictured, has reacted angrily to the decision and confirmed it will appeal against the findings
It was also ruled that the group should not refer to medical conditions in their adverts ‘for which medical supervision should be sought’.
HOTS has reacted angrily to the decision and confirmed it will appeal against the findings.
In
a statement, the group said: ‘It seems very odd to us that the ASA
wants to prevent us from stating on our website the basic Christian
belief that God can heal illness.
‘The
ASA has even demanded that we sign a document agreeing not to say this,
which is unacceptable to us – as it no doubt would be for anyone
ordered not to make certain statements about their conventional
religious or philosophical beliefs.’
It also criticised Ms Stevens, describing her as being from a group ‘generally opposed to Christianity’.
They
added: ‘The response to what we do has been overwhelmingly positive,
and we find it difficult to understand the ASA’s attempt to restrict
communication about this.
‘Our website simply states our beliefs and describes some of our experiences.
‘We
tried to reach a compromise, recognising some of the ASA’s concerns,
but there are certain things that we cannot agree to – including a ban
on expressing our beliefs.’
Ms Stevens also challenged whether the group’s website and leaflets could ‘discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought’.
She said: ‘I guess I am the only person who can state why the complaint was made and it was not made by a ‘group generally opposed to Christianity’ as HOTS Bath have alleged, not even an individual generally opposed to Christianity either.
A clip of ‘healing’ from HOTS’ promotional video. The group said it would appeal against the ASA ruling
‘I couldn’t care less if somebody believes it is God, Allah or the Flying Spaghetti Monster that will heal the sick, but I do care when claims are being made that might be providing those who are extremely ill with hope where hope does not exist.
‘I made the complaint because claims were being made about a range of illnesses and medical conditions being healed through prayer on the streets on Bath.
‘Some of these illnesses were severe – MS, depression, crippling disease, paralysis, asthma, and cancer just to name a few.’
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Religion is always an iffy subject for me, as personally i’m not one for specifics, i believe in a multitude of things from different religions (though none of those things are from Christianity). You need to be careful with what you say, and claiming you can heal all sicknesses with the healing power of prayer and the man in the sky is really something you need to refrain from preaching. I have absolutely NOTHING against Christians, and beliefs are specific to the individual but don’t get peoples hopes up and claim things that haven’t been proven.
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Praying for someone to get better certainly will not make them worse. So what’s the problem?
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Funny how most cosmetic and shampoo adverts (which are permitted by ASA) just state things like 80% of 240 women agreed that this product does what we say. This is obvioously not clinical or scientific trials the advert is substantiated by ordinary peoples perception about the product. So why does this group have their anecdotal evidence dismissed?? Of course they do not have millions of pounds to spend on advertising and they do not charge for their service and so are not marketing anything. How many doctors have signs up in the surgery warning you that the doctor is unable to cure you of illnesses or even that they may misdiagnose you or that the hospital or surgeon might make a mistake and cause further injury or even death. Hospitals are not required to put up signs warning people that they may contract a serious infection while they are in hospital and that there is no guarantee of success. In fact you are required to sign a consent form to absolve them if anything goes wrong.
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“Paul Henry your “absolute 100% nonsence” post. And how original of you to use such a phrase! You are filling up this thread with your own personal ideas – David” The “100% nonsense” was a quote from a previous post from DM. You can tell this because I put it in Quote marks. I see that your reading comprehension is still just as poor as it was when we last communicated but that is not really a surprise considering the usual, infantile credulity of the faiith-befuddled. Atheists only agree in that they lack any belief in any God (be it God, Zeus, Odin, Rah, etc, etc, etc) due to lack of any Empirical evidence. Other than that then they would naturally agree or disagree on a whole range of different issues being independently minded. You can moan all you want and post the same feeble-minded rubbish as repetitively as you wish – it will still be just as stupid as it was when you forst posted it and will make absolutely no difference whatsoever at the end of the day.
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Ryan 20:07 — That argument is, if I may say so, is ridiculous. You don’t have to “prove” something doesn’t exist to lack belief in it. I also notice you use the word “persecuting” which is becoming so tiresome coming from people living in a secular democracy which protects the rights of people to believe what they want. Try living in the alternative, a theocratic state, and then find out what persecution is …… although of course, it could be you doing the persecuting!
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Amending my previous post, it’s an example of a priori reasoning to assume there is no God and therefore any hope of healing is ‘false’. The lady is just as narrow as the people she is persecuting. If atheists wish to make their voices heard at least level the playing field, your belief is based on just as much faith as anyone else’s.
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Let me repeat it. Atheists are really amongst some of the saddest people around. . You have very little compassion but there again compassion is not a high point amongst the faithless.
– David, S London, 3/2/2012 19:20
========== What an asinine post. I have many friends who are, like me, atheists, and many who are not. Amongst my closest friends is a Catholic Priest. We are friends because we have a great deal in common, and enjoy each others company. As for compassion – I know ‘Christians’ who are mean-spirited, judgmental and unpleasant. I know some atheists who are like that too. But in my experience most people, though not perfect (me included), are compassionate and caring regardless of their beliefs. Have you considered the possibility that your experiences reflect your own personality more than that of others? That they react to your pious put-downs, and treat you accordingly? You seem to be the sad one to me.
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Let me repeat it. Atheists are really amongst some of the saddest people around. They build there beliefs on a negative and is it not surprising that they are very negative people? Always complaining. Always whinging. Always bellyaching. Rarely able to be polite to their opponents. Always looking for the slightest excuse to insult religion irrespective of the issues themselves. Here on this thread several folk have explained how they have experienced healing through prayer yet then like a bunch of cruel grumpy kill joys you pour contempt on it all. In one case it was a 15 year old female that was helped. You have very little compassion but there again compassion is not a high point amongst the faithless.
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David 19:02 — Oh the irony of a Christian telling us not to cherry pick!
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I’m quite happy to believe in prayer as a cure but not until there have been double-blind tests run. – Deek Smith, Brighton, UK, 3/2/2012 18:52
============ There have been such trials, Deek. The Templeton Foundation, a religious organisation, paid to have one done – the Benson Trial. People who didn’t know they were being prayed for, and people who weren’t prayed for had the same statistical outcomes. People who were told they were being prayed for had statistically significant worse outcomes. Which suggest that people praying for you and not telling you makes no difference. Whereas, being told you are being prayed for potentially leads to worse outcomes. The Templeton Foundation weren’t very pleased with the results of their expensive and carefully constructed trial. ‘The Lord moves in mysterious ways’ . Or doesn’t exist, which seems more likely.
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