(June 25, 2011 at 4:07 am)lilphil1989 Wrote: I think it might be a little more complicated than that, given that quite a lot of these people genuinely believe that their "treatments" actually have efficacy.
Yes, but I couldn't sell Tylenol by claiming it cures Alzheimer's no matter how much I believed it. A valid belief in a cure should not be legal grounds to claim it works. Alleged cures for diseases need to have documented benefits to be peddled to the sick, regardless of whether it's being charged for or not. I know some of these faith healers can give desperate people hope in dark times, but to me, false hope is no hope at all.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
