Continuing the dialog about the lack of a spiritual healing industry

"Anonymous" asks:

Are you aware of other long-time practitioners who have rather suddenly left the practice and taken a 180, so to speak?

No. I know that some dropped out suddenly but I never heard any explanations, certainly not as much as I'm willing to divulge.

Among your former colleagues in the healing work, were there ever discussions of discouragement, disillusionment, etc.?

No. It's considered "unscientific" to be negative or doubtful about the theology and institutions based on it. I'm sure there are doubts in a few, but they are kept on the QT, just as mine were for the last few years of my affiliation. Some of them will "stray" and teach heretical ideas and then eventually get kicked out. My "180" came about a degree at a time and as the result of much thought and wider reading.

Most of the "career" practitioners I know seem to genuinely think they've answered a high calling and have spent their lives in a very productive way.

That accounts for 25 or so years of my career. But being convinced of something - even for a long time - doesn't make one right. Fortunately, I lived long enough to break the spell.

The biographies of Mary Baker Eddy record healings that, if true, would impress just about anyone. Do you believe these accounts are fabricated or exaggerated?

Fabricated and exaggerated out of ignorance or unscientific analysis. I don't see how we can take seriously accounts written over 130 years ago in an era of crude science and testing. And even today, there are no credible research studies involving double-blind techniques that confirm that prayer is effective in healing. As I offered initially, if such evidence were available, there would be a huge spiritual healing industry. There isn't, and there isn't.

The prostate of the union

I didn't have surgery for cancer, but Jennings' experiences are very similar to mine recently. "Yes, yes and yes — lust is essential. But right now, sex seems quaint, old-fashioned."

By Dana Jennings

I vividly recall those first few hours in the hospital room after my prostate cancer surgery last July: the plastic thicket of I.V. tubes; the leg cuffs huffing and chuffing to ward off blood clots; my throbbing incision packed with gauze. But, most important, I remember peering through the post-surgical haze to see my wife, Deb, sitting there, smiling at me.

These days, I epitomize the “in sickness” part of the wedding vows that Deb and I took back in 1981.

rest of story

Reply to comment: Why there's no spiritual healing industry

I got an interesting - and rare - comment to my last post, but thought it worth replying with another post instead of burying it in the comments section. The commenter asks:

Why did it take you 30 years to reach the conclusion that spiritual healing doesn't work? How did you survive that long without being able to make a living? I ask these questions sincerely, as a prospective spiritual healer myself, and not out of any sense of hostility towards your position.

Religion works because it offers desperate people a way to find meaning in their lives. It shuts down the critical faculties and gives one a place not only in the universe but in an earthly community. It's like the neighborhood tavern, “where everybody knows your name” and you can obtain the drug that makes you forget the inconsistencies and unfairness of life. I had been raised in a religion that I eventually rejected and had been on my own for 15 years. But when relationships broke up and life got scary I was ready for some kind of general anesthesia. What I found promised not only an explanation for my problems (they weren't real) but a community and a career path that I could join.

Of course there wasn't any money in it but the theology made me feel I was doing something worthwhile and that I would be rewarded with good luck. And I was. I had some investments and a spouse who worked. And then the church started giving me some paying – non-healing - work to do, eventually even hiring me to work at headquarters. So, while the actually “healing” practice didn't pay, there were a lot of auxiliary sources of income.

That's how most people do it. I don't know anyone who makes a full living out spiritual healing work. Some of them make a lot more than I did, but they also tend to be independently wealthy and more charismatic or connected with more affluent and more loyal clients than I was. But if that's all they had to live on I'm sure they couldn't do it – unless they're willing to live at or below the poverty line.

And then there are the people. Such a strong positive theology makes most – but not all - of them cheery and optimistic, and they love to radiate happiness and confidence. They are nice to be around – more pleasant than the fire and brimstone crowd. And they appreciate that their practitioners are making a financial sacrifice in order to be available to shower them with cheer and confidence when they are hurting.

But of course, reason and evidence issues kept nagging away. As I grew older I had physical problems that neither I nor other practitioners could heal. I had to turn to medicine – with a great sense of guilt of course. But further thought and reading forced me to admit that the whole thing is bogus. I now survive on social security, pensions, investments and a part-time job.

Again, if there were real healing, business would be great. But most “patients” are as eager to affirm the efficacy of the practice as the practitioners are. So they will ascribe just about any tiny improvement to the prayer, and are willing to take comfort in – and pay for - the fact that somebody cares about them. Physical healing is mostly the effect of the body's amazing ability to fix itself - it had to be in order to survive eons of evolution. Spiritual healers co-opt this innate ability that is enhanced when patients relax and feel confident - which is the practitioner's main tool. Most older believers – those who survive neglect – get regular medical help, most of the time in secret.

If you're seriously thinking of getting into the spiritual healing racket make sure you have lots of money in reserve. Otherwise, go practice your ministry by helping others in more practical, less dangerous and more remunerative ways. Good luck.

Why there is no "spiritual healing" industry

For over 30 years I practiced "spiritual healing" and never could make a living from it. And I never knew anybody else who got rich off that kind of practice. The little money I did make was from faithful people who believed they should support the practice, or from people too timid to complain they weren't healed, or from people who simply wanted a dial-a-friend. (Yes, there are a lot of lonely, hurting people who just want someone to say nice, positive things and express some love to them.)

But aside from the theological issues, a strong reason I stopped that kind of quackery is that there's no money to be made in it because spiritual healing simply does not work. If it did, it would be the hottest industry in the world. There would be millionaire spiritual healers. IPOs would spring up like mushrooms over every latest wrinkle in prayer technique or practice. Apologists for spiritual healing explain the vacuum by citing the evil materialism of opponents, even while they often admit that medical practitioners are sincere and humanitarian. In other words, most people who rely on or practice medicine just aren't spiritual enough.

And yet, in spite of - or even because of - their greed, there would be a spiritual healing industry larger than modern medicine. Sheer pecuniary interest would make converts of atheists and those billions of vulgar materialists - just as they now invest in the oil and defense industries, that while they do so much damage still have huge markets for their products.

But there's no such investment opportunity. Spiritual healers are pretty much loners, cultivating groups of followers who have more faith in them as shamans than in the spiritual "science" they purport to practice. And I'm not talking about the flashy televangelists who mesmerize millions with their obviously tricked up displays of faith healing. I'm talking about "professional" solo entrepreneurs, like I used to be. And even ordinary folk who offer to pray for sick people.

In the following article, Why Use Medicine If Prayer Works?," this conversation sums it up:

Nurse: “Would you like me to say a prayer for you?”

Me: “Feel free. Now I’d like to ask you a question… why did you go through all the necessary medical training if you believe that prayer can heal people?”