An article in the Dallas Morning News quotes televangelist Gloria Copeland as saying there is no such thing as flu season. You just have to inoculate yourself with god and all will be fine. She says that if you tell yourself you won't get the flu if you tell yourself you won't. Meanwhile over 70 people in Northern Texas have died from the flu so far this season.
I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how this works. Do I walk around chanting "I won't get the flu" over and over or do I wear a sandwich board saying "I won't get the flu", what about a mass mailing? I know that evangelicals a big on mass mailings. And, there is this... If god gave us the flu, why would he protect us from it? Am I confused? Should I get the flu shot? Should I pray the flu away? I think I'd rather just hibernate until winter is over.
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Lorac,
While the real flu is very dangerous and deadly in reality not too many people actually die from it because they never had the flu. They died from something else. When people get a severe respiratory illness they assume that it's the flu but chances are it's another illness. The medical establishment pushes the fear because it wants to sell its product, the flu vaccine that it develops every year.
Don't Believe Everything You Read About Flu Deaths
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lawrence-solomon/death-by-influenza_b_46614...
"The CDC's decision to play up flu deaths dates back a decade, when it realized the public wasn't following its advice on the flu vaccine. During the 2003 flu season "the manufacturers were telling us that they weren't receiving a lot of orders for vaccine,"Dr. Glen Nowak, associate director for communications at CDC's National Immunization Program, told National Public Radio. "It really did look like we needed to do something to encourage people to get a flu shot."
The CDC's response was its "Seven-Step 'Recipe' for Generating Interest in, and Demand for, Flu (or any other) Vaccination," a slide show Nowak presented at the 2004 National Influenza Vaccine Summit.
Here is the "Recipe that fosters influenza vaccine interest and demand," in the truncated language that appears on his slides: "Medical experts and public health authorities [should] publicly (e.g. via media) state concern and alarm (and predict dire outcomes) - and urge influenza vaccination." This recipe, his slide show indicated, would result in "Significant media interest and attention ... in terms that motivate behavior (e.g. as 'very severe,' 'more severe than last or past years,' 'deadly')." Other emotive recommendations included fostering "the perception that many people are susceptible to a bad case of influenza" and "Visible/tangible examples of the seriousness of the illness (e.g., pictures of children, families of those affected coming forward) and people getting vaccinated (the first to motivate, the latter to reinforce)."
As for myself I always get a flu shot by October. My health insurance plan pays for it. I've never had the flu.
I think its a great idea that 'god fearing' christians don't get flu jabs; measles, diptheria, scarlet fever and polio vaccinations should also be off the table. They can give their health insurance premiums to the local churches for the "thoughts and prayers " that will cure everybody.
Brilliant idea from a televangelist. More of this should be publicised. Darwin Awards at their finest.
The biblical health care plan from James 5:13-16 is rated at five stars.
I know how it works, you call the 1-800 number that is displayed during the copelands broadcast, "donate" 100 bucks (they will say all you can reasonably afford, their "god" will pay it back 7 fold) and voila done.
If you still get the flu, you did something wrong on your end, like not donate all you could possibly afford to them, like taking out a 2nd mortgage on your house.
@Logic Re: "If you still get the flu, you did something wrong on your end, like not donate all you could possibly afford to them, like taking out a 2nd mortgage on your house."
Well then, that is what they deserve for trying to cheat God out of the money he already knew they had. Shame on them! What the hell were they thinking? Trying to cheat God! How dishonest can a person be? Sheesh! God NEEDS that money to do his work. He has responsibilities we mere mortals cannot possibly imagine. (Plus, he needs to get his pool repaired before summer vacation starts.)
You're fporgetting the upgraded private jet to avoid sitting with all thse demons hanging around in 1st class....oh wait...there are mosty demons in 1st class, the decent people are down the back.
Creatards should also be sure and ask for old antibiotics that no longer work as well when they get an infection, because there is no way antibiotic resistant infections can evolve.
Sheldon,
I bought some antibiotics yesterday that had a retail price of $1025.33 for 56 capsules. My insurance price for them was $199.52. Maybe I should start praying?
FMD! You serious? That's what you have to pay for antibiotics? Most I ever have to pay here is AU$6.20. We have whats called a PBS here, Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme which subsidises essential drugs like statins, ACE inhibitors, Aids suppressants and hosts of others. Paid from our taxes for the benefit of all. We can also demand generics when available so as to cost the system less....I have to have about 1800$ worth of drugs every month, they cost me a grand total of AU$37.00pm.
some call it socialism...most call it good sense.
Old man shouts ...,
Our drug companies and health insurance companies make the rules here and they can charge whatever their CEO's want to. There's a veneer of regulation but it's only for show. Trump said that he's going to try to reduce the price of medications. He will fail. Prices increase every year but you can get some drugs for a couple of dollars out of pocket with the right drug plan. But then you're paying more for the drug plan. It's a real crap shoot.
Generally speaking drugs are more expensive in America than elsewhere because they use foreigners to test the drugs on. That's how they find out all of those side effects.
Stunned me too, Old Man. I don't say Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi very often, but I'm saying it now. Americans have been fighting for a public health care system for approx forever.
Sorry to hear that. I am lucky enough to live in a country that has free medical care at point of use, and in Wales, where I am from all prescriptions drugs are free. Just as well as I have had some issue with chronic back pain for most of my adult life.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and i'm not sure about the former" - A. Einstein
I was over at www.catholic.com (I think it was there...yeah I was, the url proves it) researching catholic apologetics, and I came across a thread about how the flu epidemic is currently affecting the communion activity in different churches in attempts to limit contact and the spread of the flu.
The wine has been put on hold in a lot of churches. You can only get the wafer and apparently this is standard procedure in a lot of places at any time, flu or not, reasons not given. The wine is only made available in these places on "special occasions", the mind boggles.
The chummy rituals of handshaking and hugging have been replaced with fist bumping LOL What? No high fives?
An argument broke out in the thread about whether or not to call it wine or Precious Blood, for crying out loud. The transsubstantialists (whatever) argued that not calling things by their correct name is partly to blame for the fall off of catholic church attendance and membership.....really? All that child buggery and coverup might have done a bit for that too.
I hope they all catch the flu.
Edited because I could
So, a televangelist says Jesus prevents the flu and this makes the news? Why?
My brother in law has been getting overly religious in recent years. He' s starting to spout nonsense such as faith healing. Oddly enough when he had his heart attack, he went to the hospital and they installed stents - rather than going to church and getting a laying on of hands.
It brings me joy to keep pointing this out.
:)
Make sure to ask him: "why can't/won't faith healers heal amputees?"
My biggest problem is that I have NEVER had the flu in my whole life. I remember watching my brother and sister getting the flu (or a very bad cold) twice while I was a kid. Even saw my mom get it three times. However, my dad and I never caught it.
Once grown and married with children, I had always been a carrier giving it to my wife and daughters. At least I guess I was the carrier.
I have had some hellish nose colds, but nothing has ever bothered my lungs. My doctor says it is good genes. To which I always say, "Thank you. If you had said it was god, I'd have to switch doctors." Fortunately, she is as atheistic as I am.
I do know that flu can kill. I had a friend who got that very deadly strain of it way back in 95 or 96 or somewhere around then. I just remember it killed thousands. His wife said he was fine one minute, then an hour later he was delirious and passing out due to a very high fever. Upon arrival, the hospital immediately rushed him to an ice bath that was too late.
However, as said, I have good genes from my father who also never caught flu or cold in his entire life. He died of a myocardial infarction.
As for faith healers, they are just this generation's version of the voodoo and witch doctors.
And I love that question Nyarlathotep. It is one I have even been excommunicated from one church for asking TOO many times.
rmfr
Let's see if this god thing works with ebola.