Shalini Sehkar - August 30th, 2008 in Feature 0 votes Vote Up! Vote Down!

I recently attended a ‘healing crusade’ where people expected Jesus to somehow cure their illnesses while children die of starvation in Africa.

Did it convince me that something supernatural was going on? No.

Granted, nobody was literally smacked on the forehead like what happens during Benny Hinn’s crusades, but it was a painful experience to sit through. The room was packed with true believers, and I felt exasperation overwhelming me. It took every ounce of effort not to start screaming and yelling at everyone to simply open their eyes to the deception that they have willingly entered into.

On the other hand, I felt pity and rage at the same time. I felt pity for the sick who attended desperately seeking a miracle. I felt pity for the children whose parents chose to drag to the healing crusade instead of receiving medical care. It was indeed a heart-wrenching sight to see the disabled, the deaf and the blind with looks of longing and hope on their faces as they ‘surrendered their fates’ to their particular version of a deity. I was filled with rage at the people who could even consider feeding tantalizing, false hopes to people who are desperately seeking a miracle just to propagate their own convictions. I felt rage looking at the entire system of self-deception and suspension of disbelief. With pity and rage alternating inside me, I took my seat among the true believers.

It started off with a few worship songs to supposedly ‘bring the presence of god into this place’. The songs were repeated over and over again, bringing about an almost hypnotic effect which some in the audience took as a sign that the ‘holy spirit’ was present. If the Christian god is the omnipotent, omnipresent, all-knowing deity he is portrayed as being, why would he need to be alerted to the fact that his followers needed healing? Couldn’t he have just healed them without having to be told to do so in a special ceremony? The ‘invocation’ also sounded a lot like pagan practices of invoking ‘spirits’. Another interesting question is that if god/his spirit/the holy ghost is omnipresent, why did he need to be specifically channeled into the hall? Why did they have to start the crusade with the act of ‘bringing god into this place’? Is it just me, or does something not quite add up?

The epitome of the phrase ‘fleecing the flock’ was displayed when the collection basket was handed out with calls to ‘give back to god what he has done’. In the first place, nobody had been healed yet, so what would be the rationale for that statement? However, the true believers gave, and they indeed gave! By the time the collection basket arrived at my row, it was full enough to line an evangelist’s pocket or two.

Next came the preaching. The preacher claimed that everyone wants to believe in a god. Many people do want to believe in a god, but saying that everyone wants to believe in a god was an overgeneralization. I guess he also missed the memo that wanting to believe in something doesn’t make it so.

He then claimed that he has ‘evidence’ to conclusively ‘prove’ the existence of one true god. First, he asked the crowd how many people have only one biological father. When the audience raised their hands, he continued with ‘Since nobody could have more than one biological father, it is only possible to have one god as well. It is impossible to have more than one god, as it is impossible to have more than one biological father.’

Yes, that was his great theological proof of monotheism. Voila!

I have to admit that I was more than a little disappointed.

After the great theological ‘proof’ of god, it was time for the ‘worship Jesus or burn’ threats. The usual evangelical stock-phrases were spouted: Now that you have proof that there is only one true god, it is your obligation not to worship false gods. You must choose Jesus, because if you don’t, you will end up in hell, and hell is not a place you want to go to. You want eternal life! You don’t want to end up in hell! You don’t! You don’t! You don’t! You don’t! You don’t! Hell is an absolutely terrifying place! You DON’T want to go there! ACCEPT JESUS!!

The same thing was repeated over and over again until I nearly fell asleep, but I was jolted awake in horror when I saw the true believers around me simply lapping it up. After attending evangelical crusades, trust me, horror movies pale in comparison. The horror of again realizing that around the world, millions of people are buying into this dogma would be more than enough to cause sleepless nights.

Next, we were promised that Jesus would work miracles and that through the miracles; we would see that he is the way to God. We were also told that God/Jesus/Holy Spirit would work the miracles not only to heal the sick, but to also ‘show the truth’ to the non-Christians.

You must be wondering what ‘miracles’ Jesus worked that night. And I have to say, Jesus was really disappointing, or more likely, a no-show. There were a few headaches, stress and depression cases ‘cured’, in addition to a kid’s cough, a slight pain in the foot, a mild ankle injury, ringing in the ears, and pain ‘disappearing’ from various parts of the body. Nobody got out of their wheelchairs and walked despite the repeated calls to ‘Get up and walk.’ No blind people suddenly saw, the deaf didn’t suddenly hear, the mute didn’t suddenly talk, and the disabled didn’t suddenly recover. Most importantly, no amputated limbs were re-grown by God.  Although that would be the most convincing ‘evidence’ that faith healing actually could have something to it after all.

One case was especially heartbreaking, as it was self-deception in the highest degree. A cancer patient who had undergone several rounds of chemotherapy claimed that she felt a decrease in the numbness in her right side. She also felt that the cancer had been ‘reduced by 90%’. How would this be possible to determine without a medical check-up? Despite the patient’s obvious credulity and willing acts of self-deception, I felt really sorry for her. Would she stop her chemotherapy treatments because she feels that her cancer is all but gone? I would never know, but somehow I hope that somewhere along the line, her skepticism kicks in. The anger and pity coursing through me when she gave her testimony at the front was indescribable.

Another sad part is how the crowd clapped and cheered at the end of each testimony, seeing the testimonies as a confirmation of what they so desperately want to be true. When it was time for the altar call, around forty people went up to the front to ‘accept Jesus’. Is skepticism dead among most members of the human species? Superstition claimed more members that night, and I am afraid that we may never be able to compete with the numbers superstition claims all over the world everyday if we are not willing to stand up, speak up, and be counted. Being an appeaser simply would not do.

I know this sounds pessimistic, but perhaps you had to be there on that fateful night.

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Tags: atheism, christianity, faith healing, skepticism