FAITH HEALING

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1932, Page 5

FAITH HEALING

MR. DALUMGRE’S MISSION, A ••- “.. - - ■'• s "■sA AUCKLAND INQUIRY. : * > ■ . -’> ■■■ ■ > , REPORT FROM INVESTIGATORS., . ”;A '.■ / > “The whole exhibition has. been’ well described at a vaudeville show under .A"? 1 ! 1 the cloak of religion,” states the re- ;•■ port of the representative committee -;: /Ai which has investigated the faith-healing "A J A mission conducted at Auckland by Mr. '< A. H. Dallimore. The printed report of''A’..Athe committee bears the quotation' from Abraham Lincoln: ; ’ - A’--'-'' tA •“You may fool all the people some of ••.\ r '; ■ the time; t And some of the people all the timej But you cannot fool all the people all - ; the time.” ' The special committee was composed , of prominent ecclesiastical, medical and educational authorities, and the . investi-; AA gation was aimed at the actual results , -AA achieved by faith-healing methods. Num- '■'■St erous cases were dealt with, and" about 44 of the cases are summarised in the. . ? report. The general result of the : checked up is that. no permanent. benefit ~ ,- ; followed on faith-healing. : ' : Mr. Dallimore refused. to co-operate ■ . with the committee and he refused substantiate his testimonies. . NO GENUINE “CURE.” The conclusions of the: committee art. ‘ , i as follow:— . ~ “Several of the cases for which. ( cure has been claimed through the. Re-, vival Fire Mission have been . ghted by the committee. Not one, of ~ these “cures,” on being , subjected .to . . medical investigation, has proved to be .. . genuine- Some of them, appear to haye . U been . sheer self-deception, for the evi- •' ...j dence crumbled at the touch of ip- .< < A quiry. Others who were sincere ■ im, , ; their belief that they had been .cured quite forgot to give credit to the medical treatment undergone before and dur<s ing their visit to the mission. , “One of the most disquieting, facto in connection with this mission has been the amazing credulity shown by a’section-of K ,\;,i

the public.-' ' < . : ' ■' “The hysterical applause given at the Revival Fire Mission at every of ‘miraculous cure’; is a manifestation of that queer inferiority complex' which delights in the abnormal and unconstitutional. Civilisation only restricts—it does not eradicate—those irrational and insurgent impulses in man which /' ever and anon surprise as by their ready. . : .'f'; response to'the' appeal of the sensation • : monger. MORBID CURIOSITY. . “This - particularly noticeable whaa the motives of self-pity and self-exhibi-- .5 lion are crudely played upon and used.to , ’ ; further the missioneris propaganda. Morbid curiosity is fed by, and grows upon, the spectacle of religious excitement 'v breaking out in hasty testimonies of physical miracles. The incomprehensible .• gibberish called ‘speaking with tongue** 1... rA is of the same order. We beUeye_ the susceptibilities of the great majority of the public have* been deeply-shocked by the degrading spectacle known as 'go-; ing under the power.’ .: \ ?. A “Unfortunately the ridiculous side : does not lessen the danger to., the health, sanity and.morale of the community. The permanent results of this mission may be looked.for in..broken homes, broke* . /.A; hearts and broken careers when the idle testimonies of spiritual and physical blessings have long been buried in-rich- ! ly-deserved oblivion. ; “These considerations will satisfy the ' public of the need of a careful and impartial investigation such as ’has been > attempted.; • “Hie yim o<' the* committee has • peea .4>. solely to bring the facts to -light- add' to help public opinion to a balanced' . judgment.” / \