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I forgive you, Stranger

Posted by Hayley on Feb 12, 2012 in atheism | 5 comments

I was going to write an in depth blog post today about the person who tried to get me sacked because of the complaint I made to the ASA recently. Despite not publishing anywhere on the internet where I work, and ensuring I didn’t bring the name of my employers into the situation in anyway, this stranger saw it fit to make a complaint with the malicious intention of getting me into as much trouble as possible. It was a very upsetting experience as I am very dedicated to my job and love what I do for a living.

What I do outside of work has nothing to do what I do within work. I was going to write out how malicious this was of them, how unchristian of them it was, and how pointless it was too.

However, I decided not to, because I forgive them. Which is funny, considering I’m an immoral atheist, and all that…

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Brian McClinton thinks I’m trying to censor people?

Posted by Hayley on Feb 5, 2012 in musings, Skepticism | 12 comments

Brian McClinton from the Humanist Associatio of Northern Ireland today claimed that the ASA adjudication against HOTS Bath was wrong and potentially a freedom of speech issue, during an interview with the BBC’s ’everyday ethics’ programme (you can listen directly here)

I find this extremely disappointing. The premise of the complaint was nothing to do with religion, or the right to be able to express your beliefs as a religious person. The complaint was about specific claims being made about specific illnesses being cured by faith healing – it was about the false hope this could cause. Nothing more. Nothing less. It’s really quite simple.

It is illegal to claim you can heal or cure cancer. Whether you are Muslim, atheist, christian, jewish, Jedi or catholic. It doesn’t matter what you beliefs are, you cannot make those claims.

The complaint was not about the group being religious, it was not about what they personally believed, it was about a specific claim they were making, and how they were making it.

I’m not entirely sure how many times I will have to repeat this until people get it, and I am entirely sure that some people never will get it because of some sort of victim complex.

As I have posted elsewhere to people who claim I am trying to shut them up because of what they believe,  I’m not stating you shouldn’t pray for those who are ill or suffering, just don’t tell strangers your god can cure their cancer. That is what I have a problem with, and if a fellow humanist doesn’t get that, then shame on them.

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Healing claims being made across the UK

Posted by Hayley on Feb 4, 2012 in atheism, Skepticism | 5 comments

I didn’t know that ‘Healing on the Streets’ (HOTS) was as widespread a group in the UK as it is. I did a search on Facebook a day or so ago and found dozens of branches of HOTS who operate in their local areas. It turns out that they may be making similar claims to those the Bath group were, that the ASA ruled were in breach of CAP codes.

SkepticBarista brought my attention to an encounter he has had today with the ‘Healing on the Streets’ group in Loughborough. He says:

Just seen these people out on the streets of Loughborough. As far as I know they plan on turning up on 1st Sat of every month. A woman gave me a leaflet with healing claims (Cancer, addictions, blindness, deafness + others).

I had see the ASA adjudication. She tried to take the leaflet back (Failed!) saying that their solicitor had said it was OK as they had some different text at the bottom. Checked with the leaflet I was given before Xmas, it’s all the same.

The text is certainly not a disclaimer and the whole leaflet will be with sent to the ASA.

It’s a bit worrying that these claims are still being made, and that the groups solicitor seems to think it’s ok. The ASA asdjustication stated the Bath advert must not reappear in it’s current form, and as you can clearly see from the image comparisons below, they are very similar with near identical claims being made.

I think it is worth people keeping an eye out for these claims being made in their local areas. You can easily submit a complaint to the ASA if you think claims like the ones that were adjudicated against are being made. Whether it’s Christians, Jews, Atheists, Muslims or Jedi’s making the claim – the claims are still irresponsible, and my complaint to the ASA about these claims was successful. I think there is a bigger impact to be had (& remember, you don’t have to ‘come out’ as the complainant as I did).

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The ASA adjudication states:

HOTS offered to amend their ads to state “We believe God can heal” and “See God heal the sick” or “Pray for the sick”, to include the words “We believe” in any references to healing, to include a prominent reference to medical treatment on their website, and to remove the leaflet from their website.

However, the ASA did not find this a sufficient adjustment, stating:

We acknowledged that HOTS had offered to make amendments to the ads, and to remove the leaflet from their website. However, we considered that their suggested amendments were not sufficient for the ads to comply with the CAP Code.

I’m not suggesting people should only be targeting HOTS groups. There are other individuals and groups who make dangerous and misleading claims too. In the past I have complained about psychic surgeons and homeopaths too (proof surely I’m not out to target the religious?) but this is a group who make their presence well know and, in the fact of the adjudication, are still blatantly making claims they probably ought not to be.

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‘but atheist Hayley Stevens…’

Posted by Hayley on Feb 4, 2012 in atheism | 2 comments

I recently wrote about the complaint I made to the ASA about a group of people who were making claims about treating specific illnesses through prayer. Since writing my blog post it was picked up by the media and just… well… exploded.

Bath Chronicle | Fox News | Daily Mail | BBC News | Western Daily Press

I know there is more coverage to come as I have had to turn down numerous interviews. Out of the above, the reporter from the Western Daily Press was the only one to contact me and speak to me which enabled me to explain my side of the story to him before he wrote about me. The following day (yesterday) as I watched all of these other news sites pick up on the story without getting in touch I had an email from Callum Watkinson from ITV Westcountry to ask if I would film a piece for the news that evening. So, on my lunch break I met him in the centre of Bradford on Avon and was able to talk about why I make the complaint.

I managed to film the news report with my phone, you can watch it here if you want, but it’s poor quality. It was a fair, balanced report which I am grateful for.

I will write about this whole fiasco at some point in the future, but right now I’m busy studying. Thank you for those who’ve been understanding.

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Bath Chronicle write about my complaint

Posted by Hayley on Feb 2, 2012 in Skepticism | 6 comments

This morning, the Bath Chronicle have written a piece covering the complaint I made to the ASA about ‘Healing on the Streets’ Bath. They mentioned that I blog here and I am sure many people may find my blog as a result.

I would ask that anyone who does come here as a result to read my account of why I made the complaint by clicking here.
Anybody wishing to get in touch with me can do so through the ‘Contact’ page here. 

Thank you

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Grow up, Mr Philip!

Posted by Hayley on Feb 1, 2012 in paranormal | 2 comments

I really don’t want to write much more about Don Philip and the GSI UK team because I have much more important stuff to be concentrating on, but Don just doesn’t seem to understand my points and I want to round things off with a final post here.

Trystan Swale has written about Don and GSI here and here, and in the comments of the first article Don has responded in the same way he did on my blog – by missing the point and attacking the critic rather than answering their criticisms.

To make matters worse Don is now using the video of the ‘Ghost Investigations Today’ panel from the QED conference in 2011 as proof that I am  not open minded and not to be taken seriously. He is doing this on Facebook pages where I cannot comment or reply. When I did initially reply to the post on the GSI Paranormal UK Facebook page I was deleted from the page and my comment removed.

I believe Don and the GSI team have too much invested in what they do to even consider that they might be incorrect. Not allowing me to respond to his criticism of me is poor form. This is how open to criticism Don is.

Don, if you’re reading this you should understand that there is a difference between bitching about somebody and offering constructive criticism. When you allow the person you are writing about to openly respond to what has been written that is fair, which is how I have acted in my criticism of you and GSI. However, when you write about someone and don’t let them respond like you have with me, you’re just being bitchy. Grow up.

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Healing on the Streets & why I am not ‘a group generally opposed to Christianity’

Posted by Hayley on Feb 1, 2012 in atheism, Skepticism | 40 comments

Last year on a visit to the city Bath I became aware of a group of people who called themselves ‘Healing on the Streets” (HOTS) who were outside the cathedral, offering to help people with various illnesses be healed by god.

It was concerning but I didn’t think much of it at the time as I was distracted. A few weeks later a conversation I was having about healing reminded about the group and I decided to check out their website for more details on what they do and how they operate.

I was quite concerned at the claims I found there about illnesses and conditions that this group seemed to be promoting as healable through prayer. At the same time I became conflicted about what to do next because I knew that no matter what I did, I would be accused by people of being anti-religious.

However, as time passed I saw the group at work again, and I also became aware of their Youtube videos in which even more claims were made, and I realised that I didn’t feel comfortable with not expressing my concern to people who might be able to do something about the claims if they agreed something was wrong. That’s when I made the complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority using the ‘Fishbarrel’ plug in. 

You can read the complaint details in the ASA adjudication report published on their website here. I am glad that the ASA could see my points and agreed that the claims could certainly be perceived as a last hope for those with serious illness.

spacer I thought twice about making it known that I was the person who had made the complaint because in the past I have been harassed by those I’ve made complaints against, and with this group being based on Bath they’re very close to home. Yet the reaction from HOTS Bath has made me decide against remaining anonymous simply so that I can answer the accusations raised in a frankly bizarre statement on their website. 

We are disappointed with the ASA’s decision, and will appeal against it because it seems very odd to us that the ASA wants to prevent us from stating on our website the basic Christian belief that God can heal illness.

The ASA has even demanded that we sign a document agreeing not to say this, which is unacceptable to us – as it no doubt would be for anyone ordered not to make certain statements about their conventional religious or philosophical beliefs.

All over the world as part of their normal Christian life, Christians believe in, pray for and experience God’s healing; our ministry, in common with many churches, has been active in praying for God‘s healing (of Christians and non Christians) for many years.

Over that time the response to what we do has been overwhelmingly positive, and we find it difficult to understand the ASA’s attempt to restrict communication about this. Our website simply states our beliefs and describes some of our experiences.

We tried to reach a compromise, recognising some of the ASA’s concerns, but there are certain things that we cannot agree to – including a ban on expressing our beliefs.

It appears that the complaint to the ASA was made by a group generally opposed to Christianity, and it seems strange to us that on the basis of a purely ideological objection to what we say on our website, the ASA has decided it is appropriate to insist that we cannot talk about a common and widely held belief that is an important aspect of conventional Christian faith.
It appears that HOTS Bath have intentionally or unintentionally misunderstood the ruling by the ASA and are making it sound as though this whole ruling has been made on the grounds of what they believe rather than the grounds of the claims they were making. It quite clearly states in the ASA adjudication exactly why the ruling has been made.
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I guess I am the only person who can state why the complaint was made and it was not made by a ‘group generally opposed to Christianity’ as HOTS Bath have alleged, not even an individual generally opposed to Christianity either. I made the complaint because claims were being made about a range of illnesses and medical conditions being healed through prayer on the streets on Bath. Some of these illnesses were severe – MS, depression, crippling disease, paralysis, asthma, and cancer just to name a few…
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I did not feel that the claims being made and the emphasis being put on their success was justifiable and, as the ASA adjudication comments, I felt the ads were irresponsible, because they provided false hope to those suffering from the named conditions and that is why I made the complaint.
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I couldn’t care less if somebody believes it is God, Allah or the Flying Spaghetti Monster that will heal the sick, but I do care when claims are being made that might be proving those who are extremely ill with hope where hope does not exist.
Between the ages of Fourteen and Eighteen I suffered with a life threatening condition in my inner right ear. At the time I was an avid believer in ghosts and an afterlife and people I was friends with who were involved with the paranormal research field claimed they were sending ‘healing’ my way to help me get better. I genuinely thought they could help.
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Luckily I also believed my doctors could help me and I went ahead and had surgery. Had I postponed the surgery for another three months I would not be alive today. I don’t even like to think what would have happened if I had been someone who didn’t trust conventional medicine and, luckily for both me and the people who ‘sent healing’ I wasn’t.
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However they weren’t to know that, just as HOTS Bath aren’t to know who they’re offering their ‘healing prayers’ to.
They do not know if the people they encourage to pray for healing from their god is someone who mistrusts their doctor (which sadly many do) and even though they apparently give out a letter telling people to carry on with their medication or treatment, there is potential for damage to be done.
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I have no issue with people praying for the healing of others in their own personal way, and if you believe your god can cure somebody then I’m truly glad that you have such faith, but I object to that being pushed onto other people as a genuinely potential cure. Especially when they’re vulnerable.

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