How do Atheists explain "faith healers"?

Well lets say faith healers are a real phenomenon, in this instance, no, I as an atheist can't explain how it is possible, but the trip with religious people is that you think just because we can't explain something, means your explanation is automatically the right one. There's a lot in this world that we can't explain, but I don't think it's a good idea to just jump to answers or take things like superstition or whatever as fact in the absence of a proper scientific explanation.

 

I as an agnostic agree with your line of thought.

 

crock of shit. was this a serious question??

 

Should only be considered a serious question if we can site an unbiased scientific study that evaluated their illnesses before and after said healing and determined that there was healing otherwise it is indeed a fucking crock of shit!

 

it's either a lie (in the case of blindness for example -- there have been no such healings) or a placebo effect. if you believe something will work, your mind has a way --within its limits-- of reinforcing that what you believe physically.

 

Actually, blindness (or certain forms of it) is one area where faith healing has probably been effective--depending on one's definition of blindness. Some blindness is caused by hysteria, or what we call today a conversion reaction. It has a psychological rather than a physiological basis. A talented faith healer can use suggestion and emotional stimuli to effect a real cure--i.e., the patient can see. Now amputations are a different story.