Religion/Mediumship ban them both ??

[mamagpi]

Ok a few on here think mediumship should be banned because it cant be proved, neither can religion.

There are countless religions out there, everyone has their own beliefs, yet these various gods, that are worshiped cannot be porved, no one has seen them, religion has been behind various wars through out history and the cause of many countless deaths over the years, so why dont we ban religion then ??..mediumship was born from a religion and many would happily see that disappear.

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

We should ban any religious minister who claims they can speak to the dead, heal the sick and so on.

I have little problems with the church as such, but if any minister is claiming to be able to heal you, or speak to god for you then that is wrong, worse if they want money too.

The thing with mediums is that they are on the nextlevel of evil, they want money to pretend to speak to YOUR dead relatives, if that isnt dispicable and evil then i dont know what is

[mamagpi]

What about terrorist acts being done in the name of religion, you cant get more evil than that can you ? innocent lives lost.

I can totaly understand the arguments over mediums, but to date i havent heard of any one being killed in the name of mediumship !

Religions can con just as much as anyone else, whether they be mediums,plumbers,decorators etc.

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

What about terrorist acts being done in the name of religion, you cant get more evil than that can you ? innocent lives lost.

I agree, any crime committed in the name of god is bad

I can totaly understand the arguments over mediums, but to date i havent heard of any one being killed in the name of mediumship !

Heavens gate sound familiar?

This was a version of what mediums do, ok its an extreme, but you still had a man who convinced people to committ suicide so their soulds could join some aliens

Religions can con just as much as anyone else, whether they be mediums,plumbers,decorators etc.

But plumbers and decorators can be forced to answer for theircrimes, there are trading standards and various other legal issues.

Mediums are in large free to do what they want, setup when they want.

Did you know that tomorrow i could call myself a medium, charge £50 for readings, and not a soul could stop me.

At least plumbers and tradesmen have to get recognised certificates. Even if some still con its better than nothing

[mamagpi]

Heavens gate sound familiar?

I hadnt heard of that, so cant comment on it until
I have read the link.

Mediums can get certificates, not that they are worth the paper they are printed on.

The main reason I started this thread was to see what others thought of the dangers of Religion as well as mediumship. I dont want to get into a battle over fraudulent mediums, there are already enough threads on here discussing that topic.

I have done a lot of thinking and rethinking over my beliefs and values latey and religion has cropped up on a few occassions and it is only my opinion, but I do think religion causes as much damage and destruction as conmen and people setting out to defraud.

[quackersgpi]

I agree that religion has caused many wars..however without it I think those wars would continue. At the moment I think the religion is only the excuse, so many wars have been going on for years I think the real reason for most of them has been lost.
The problem is you cannot ban religion, and in all fairness the only battles today because of religion are abroad (ok you have Northern Ireland but that isn't about religion really anymore). If religion was banned I reckon it would start even more battles. Look to the days when Catholisism was banned in Britain..days of Priest Holes and secret meetings. The atrocities then were babaric and although the nature of those battles would be very different they would have the same devistating effect.
Mediumship couldn't be banned either..all that would happen would be that it would go behine closed doors again, and that would make it even more dangerous. What is needed is governing bodies that actually have powers..bits of paper that do mean something and can be acted on.

[lowrider]

It is claimed by many theologians that Jesus was in fact God.
So surely that means that all ministers claim to speak to a dead person in another realm.
So ban them.
If you can,take on the church Jon and you will lose.

[quackersgpi]

Ministers claim to send prayers to god on our behalf, if we are sick or in need of help in that way they are speaking to God for us..is that any different from people claiming to speak to other dead people for us ?

Religion has been the basis for society since the year dot..it cannot be banned because it is everything to do with the cultures and ethics of all races.

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

I would be quite happy to ban the lot of them. But you cant ban peoples faith in god or the church, this comes from them and not always from the minister.

Mediums brainwash their follows, as do some ministers.

Now you can ban mediums and preachers, but you cannot ban faith, nor should you want to.

My argument is that faith in god comes from the person, faith in mediumship comes from the medium conning people, and that can be banned

[quackersgpi]

I agree to an extent however what about those religions that brain wash people, that control them by fear (fire and brimstone and all that). I was brought up a Catholic and that was my parents choice..however, once they had you in there they soon had you fearing damnation. Some people are still in that religion because the ministers of that religion scared the living cr*p out of them when they were younger.
There are also the religions where they are your family..and, if you leave the church you have to also leave your family. Jehova Witnesses for example. I once worked with someone who had severe mental health problems because he had had sex before marriage and had been found out. He was given the choice to leave the woman or leave the church..leaving the church meant leaving his family, his mother, father and brothers. Those laws were made and are upheld by the ministers of those churches. I know we could say that that is stil the choice of the person..however how much of their faith is what they really believe and how much is brainwashing and forcing of beliefs on a person through fear and control.

[skeptomatic]

You can't ban stuff unless it is breaking a law. Some things like various cults and religions will go underground and/or become violent if banned. Better to expose them - to show them for the frauds they are. For as much as religion gives me the heebie jeebies and I loathe psychics, I would hate to live in a society in which they were controlled by the state. But prosecuting fake psychics for being scammers? That I would like to see.

[mamagpi]

I do agree, if you did ban a lot of thesee things it would go back behind closed doors and un monitored...

I have nothing against a religion or mediumship, it is the way it is carried out and preached I have the problem with. Because in a sense if these things give people comfort and something to turn to in times of need, then thats fine, its when people are being brain washed and literally forced into religious cults and evil things are done in the name of such religions.

[gilgamesh]

I don't have the slightest problem with religion, as long as it's not being forced down my throat, what the man down the road believes in should have little consequence to me..unfortunatly we now live in a world of fundamentalists and so the impact of extreme views and behaviour does impact us all..in law, in schools, in considering where we visit in the world..etc,etc. That bothers me somewhat.
Mediums and psychics probably fall into the catagory of entertainment to the powers that be, not important enough to deal with in any legal sense, a ban on performing their 'powers' in public would mean nothing to the sharks, and there is no way of regulating something that cannot be proven, it's not like going to a doctor where you can be assured of their qualification and expertise is it ?
To advertise yourself as a hotline to dead people should be a crime..don't think it ever will be though.

[doodlebug]

religion has been the route cause for nearly every conflict in history,extemists permanently threatening our everyday lives today and yet you dont question religion jon? i was brought up within the christian faith, as a child i had no choice. Religion in itself gives the moral codes by which to live by and this is obviously good, otherwise, in todays world of greed there would be complete anarchy. however, from personal experience the people who are higher in the church i have found to be the most uncharitable and unchristianly people i have met. the majority of priests are caring people who feel they are there for the good of their parishioners but some are definitely "holy ere than thou"
in the same way the spiritualist religion surely is much the same the majority of mediums are good caring people who wish to share their faith with you if you choose to ask them.Their beliefs are not shoved down your throat ,unlike other certain religions.and i have never heard of a medium advocating war in the name of what they believe (unless you count some of the heated debates with you jon) .
in conlusion i would have to state that every religion has its positives and negatives and that a person has the right to choose what they believe in and thus what help they seek in times of trouble whether it be from priest or medium. my feeling is believe in what ever you like as long as you do no harm to anybody else.

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

I question religion all the time.
Its just that i can have more fun with mediums

[adey67]

Not sure if its practical to ban psychics or mediums although it would certainly be desirable.
What I would like to see done is a strengthened law, at the moment they can cop out with an entertainment disclaimer, I would like to see all mediums forced to place the following on any advertising wether printed or web based, a prominent statement that there is no scientific evidence to support the assertion that mediums can contact the dead and prominent links/ phone numbers for bereavement charities/organizations like cruse.
If we have to have warnings and advice on tobacco packets we should have them on mediums and psychics both are bad for you !

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

But they already have the entertainment disclaimer, and at the start of shows they tell the lie that EU law forces them to call it entertainment, so they play the victim to the audience and further gain their trust.

There is no warning that would work

[Deleted]

As long as there is death a lot of people will need to believe there is a god, and that life goes on somewhere else.  You can prove that the gospels probably don't contain eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life, but you still can't totally disprove the existence of god that is impossible!

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

But not being able to disprove something that has no actual evidence in the first place does not give it any?

Swap the word God for 10 foot invisible giant foot alien on Mars, you cant disprove its existence any more than Gods