Charlatans capitalize on believers

May 06, 2010 Editorial

Belief kills and cures. It is for this reason that the churches today have the highest concentration of people living with HIV/AIDS. Whatever people did during the earlier years they always turn to some Supreme Being in times of need and distress.
Some scientists say that the human brain has been hotwired to believe in something higher than themselves. Some call it God, some Allah, some Buddha and the list goes on. This has been the case from time immemorial. In some societies there is the Medicine Man who also goes by numerous names.
It is this belief that spawns charlatans who set out to fleece the believers. In Guyana this has been the case for as long as the country has existed. Throughout the world there have been those who use the natural signs to foretell doom or bright days ahead for those who seek their services. And there is nothing anyone can do to convince people that their solution may rest in simple medicine.
In recent times, there have been notices in the newspapers by people who proclaim that they have come to cure the various ills suffered by people. However such ‘cures’ come at a cost which at times could be prohibitive.
People suffering various ailments have been responding to these advertisements, sometimes going hungry merely to find money to pay for the services. The police have now got involved in pursuing these so-called healers who operate from some of the most shady locations.
Pandits and other ‘holy’ men have been around to help people, mainly with things spiritual. They have been asked to bless children, save marriages by being marriage counselors and helping people to whatever life there is beyond the grave. They have also been asked to perform religious rites at the request of those who believe in evil spirits.
A month ago, there was confusion at a home in West Demerara where a pastor came under serious attack for attempting to ‘heal’ a sick girl. The girl died and the government eventually became involved in the ensuing investigation. It turned out that the girl was a victim of meningitis and no spiritual programme could have healed her. Of interest is the fact that when the pastor failed he recommended the hospital.
In one case at Plaisance, a charlatan did whatever he thought he could to fool the people and when the victim failed to get well he simply took the person to the roadside in the vicinity of the police station where the person died.
The Catholic churches are sometimes asked to perform exorcisms but even they must get permission from the Holy See. The movie Exorcist further helped spawn such things as priests being able to help people with severe mental disorders.
And so it is that people, knowing human frailties, descend on communities, and take money from people for services. Confidence tricksters abound. People have been known to mix all manner of concoctions designed to cure whatever ill people have suffered.
Recently, Kaieteur News visited a young man who came from India professing to be the panacea to the people. He was a fake like so many others. He is on the run now that the police are on to him. The skeptic would ask, “How is it that he never saw his own future?”
Just recently, in the United States, some reporters met a man who was taking money from people to heal them of incurable diseases. He professed to cure others although he could provide no case to the reporters.
The truth is that people are willing to try anything when they are ill and here they are ready recruits for the fakes. However, the state can provide people. They can be prosecuted for fraud once the authorities follow up on the advertisements.
Some newspapers for the sake of the dollar are prepared to run the advertisements but others, ever conscious of the welfare of people, simply refuse. In the same way there is a ban on cigarette advertising, there should be a ban on people who advertise things that are unproven.

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