The magic’s missing

Someone close to me was going through a difficult time trying to conceive children. As they turned to various solutions to their problem, the most commonly suggested ones were based on religious faith. I watched as a priest of a temple performed strange rituals with neem leaves and random mantras. His trance-filled mumbling to help them have a child came at a ‘moderate’ price. He pretended that God was talking through him and a close relative of the couple fainted on the spot with claims of a divine appearance. This was merely one of several dozen such transactions that usually left the couple hoping against hope and ultimately traumatised. Needless to say, it never worked.

The act of faith-based product selling or concept selling is not unique to any civilisation. England and the US are known for products like the infamous witch bottles. These bottles contained a lot of ‘magical’ ingredients consisting of urine, menstrual blood, nails, hair strands, etc, of the one being protected. The product is prepared carefully by a faith healer or a witch. The bottle is then buried in a corner of the victim’s property to nullify the effects of the perceived evil and protect them from future spells.

In India, there are prasads that can heal illness, yagnas that promise a better harvest for the season, special fruits that promise pregnancy, financial stability, etc. Certain places of worship have became specialists for solving specific issues and offer services targeting those problems over time.

In Gujarat, there is a temple that is selling cheap pens for a whopping Rs 1,900 with claims that the use of these pens will guarantee a passing grade in the ongoing board examinations. There are several temples across India like the infamous Chilkur Balaji temple near Hyderabad or the Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh gurdwara in Punjab (where believers offer toy airplanes to god) that promise visa request approvals for people praying there.

Special yagnas are hosted by local contestants before every election to increase their chances of winning. Faith healing centres run by Christian organisations promise a life free from cancer or AIDS. The claims are tall and so are the prices.

The obvious question to ask is, do these work? 

If the magical pens indeed work and increase the chances of gaining more marks, it would constitute a clear and gross case of exam fraud and students found using it must be disbarred by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board with immediate effect. If prayers increased the chance of visa approval, that too will constitute misconduct, at an international level. Elections being altered by yagnas, if they worked, would be a criminal case of electoral fraud. Of course, we know that magical pens have no impact in exams, there is no evidence of god running consulate services or having any influence on Mr Donald Trump’s decision to reduce H1B visas, and we certainly know that election yagnas won’t work — all contesting parties tend to perform them.

I understand the why, but I cannot accept a claim contrary to the truth merely because it is religious. If none of these worked though, that would mean the ones paying for these services have been taken for a ride and have spent their hard-earned money on a product that does not stand up to its claims. That would be cheating. They handle failure by squarely blaming the consumer for diminished faith or offer more services to counteract the first one.

It is certainly debatable whether places of worship can be regulated the same way businesses are. These providers do not pay sales/service tax and make specific claims, and hide behind religion to run a business with no liability and claim immunity from the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 specifically prohibits claiming curing certain diseases, yet faith healers do it with impunity. Faith healing, in addition, has the ability to sway people from seeking legitimate medical help and settle for magical ones that can. It has and will lead to the unnecessary suffering and death of people with serious medical conditions.

By directing these providers to add a disclaimer, something like, “This product/service is strictly for entertainment purposes only. The claims given here have not been reasonably proven and you are hereby advised that you will not be protected by any consumer forums”, the government can be better at peace with its silence.

The writer is an admin of Nirmukta — an organisation which promotes scientific temper and critical thinking. The views and opinions expressed in the article are those of the writer, you can send in your feedback to soorya@nirmukta.com

Put a label on it 

By directing the providers of faith-based products to add a disclaimer, something like, “This product/service is strictly for entertainment purposes only. The claims given here have not been reasonably proven and you are hereby advised that you will not be protected by any consumer forums”, the government can be better at peace with its silence on such products.