yes, start another thread on that.
It seems to me that you are using words like 'faith' and 'belief' in different ways.
Faith that God will intervene and cure you, if only you accept this gift in your life, is rather different from faith that your car will start when you turn the key.
One is evidence based and one is not evidence based.
When scientists or psychologists say that 'we can not fully explain the placebo effect', that doesn't mean the options are completely open, including the supernatural (whatever that is). It doesn't mean all options are of equal probability. All manner of things can cause physiological changes, the precise mechanisms for which are not fully explained - simply due to the complexity of the human body and the brain in particular. This doesn't mean we can just claim "God did it!".
And I know you will claim there is evidence of faith healing, but just because a religious zealot attributes the physical effects to the supernatural, it doesn't mean they're right. Finding the cause and the mechanisms remains a scientific endeavour.
It seems to me that you are using words like 'faith' and 'belief' in different ways.
Faith that God will intervene and cure you, if only you accept this gift in your life, is rather different from faith that your car will start when you turn the key.
One is evidence based and one is not evidence based.
When scientists or psychologists say that 'we can not fully explain the placebo effect', that doesn't mean the options are completely open, including the supernatural (whatever that is). It doesn't mean all options are of equal probability. All manner of things can cause physiological changes, the precise mechanisms for which are not fully explained - simply due to the complexity of the human body and the brain in particular. This doesn't mean we can just claim "God did it!".
And I know you will claim there is evidence of faith healing, but just because a religious zealot attributes the physical effects to the supernatural, it doesn't mean they're right. Finding the cause and the mechanisms remains a scientific endeavour.