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John of God on Oprah

Smiledriver

Thinker
Smiledriver
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
168
So Oprah is doing a show on John of God...it is a scandal. I googled "John of God eyeball scraping and the first link is to a link to a blog dedicated to stopping JOG and quotes Randi's Flim Flam.

Oprah, her O editor, and some Doctor have just been uncritically fawning over him for 30 minutes.

I tried to join Oprah's forum and comment on the show and how simple it is to find robust debunking of JOG. However, I couldn't click the agreement to the term of service.

Either way, she has 30 minutes to redeem herself here.
 
I thought she was canceled.

Look. Oprah was freaked out by the potential reality of a horror movie (can't remember which) about demonic possession. She gave us Dr Phil. She's been a woomeister since she took over what was a local morning show that went national. She's an idiot. The people who hang on her every word are idiots. Idiots are also more-easily influenced by advertising and what Oprah likes, which makes advertisers happy because idiots make up a significant percentage of the population. It's hard to ignore her influence, but try. Your nerves will thank you.
 
To me, Oprah is like the TV shopping network. You go there, you pitch your product, and everyone makes money. I don't see it changing, but perhaps someday her credibility will reflect what she is really doing. The pop psychology, the demented moralizing, and the "expert" advice from "professionals" like Phil and Oz just make me puke. One can only hope that someday people will go "oh, that quack..." when referring to any on these people.
 
Exactly. When I express a certain disgust for Oprah, folks chime in with "look at all the good she does!". Yes, she gives away a lot of money and sets up schools in poor regions and yadda yadda.
Very nice.
But she also unhesitatingly promotes charlatans and purveyors of woo like "Jon of God".

Anyone who had done any diligence in this regard knows that this fakir is doing exactly the same schtick that his predecesser, "Arigo of the rusty knife" did 30 years before.
It was flim-flam then, it's flim-flam now.
 
Bikewer said:
Exactly. When I express a certain disgust for Oprah, folks chime in with "look at all the good she does!". Yes, she gives away a lot of money and sets up schools in poor regions and yadda yadda.
Very nice.
But she also unhesitatingly promotes charlatans and purveyors of woo like "Jon of God".

Anyone who had done any diligence in this regard knows that this fakir is doing exactly the same schtick that his predecesser, "Arigo of the rusty knife" did 30 years before.
It was flim-flam then, it's flim-flam now.
Click to expand...

Ramen!
I do respect the charity work, but at the same time, what uber-multi-millionnaire in the public eye doesn't give millions to charity...

ETA: What I mean is the money she spends on charity will never touch her own budget. It really is like me giving chump change to an "urban outdoorsman" on my way to work.
 
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Blimey! I thought Oprah had retired already?

And as for JOG - isn't he so 1990's? I mean he has been debunked so many times now, I thought his cult was done for?... Looks like he is competition for Sylvia (hack, cough, non-smoker, honest) Browne?
 
Smiledriver said:
So Oprah is doing a show on John of God...it is a scandal. I googled "John of God eyeball scraping and the first link is to a link to a blog dedicated to stopping JOG and quotes Randi's Flim Flam. ---
Click to expand...


Is that this blog: STOP JOHN OF GOD? That's maintained by one of our forum members, EMM (as she's known for short). :)
 
dropzone said:
I thought she was canceled.

Look. Oprah was freaked out by the potential reality of a horror movie (can't remember which) about demonic possession. She gave us Dr Phil. She's been a woomeister since she took over what was a local morning show that went national. She's an idiot. The people who hang on her every word are idiots. Idiots are also more-easily influenced by advertising and what Oprah likes, which makes advertisers happy because idiots make up a significant percentage of the population. It's hard to ignore her influence, but try. Your nerves will thank you.
Click to expand...

I've been watching " Married with children " lately, and it kills me that 10 years ago they had oprah's schtick down so well. Then suddenly people just forget how full of **** she was.

She had one good idea, and that was promoting the movie precious. Other than that, waste of television space.
 
I find it fascinating how people like Peter Popoff, Uri Geller and such can keep doing business in world with ready access to information, extreme transparency, Youtube and whatnot.

It just seems to take incredible, shameless audacity.

Maybe their market has shrunk though. I'd like to know.
Do they have less success then in say, the seventies?
 
Eddie Dane said:
I find it fascinating how people like Peter Popoff, Uri Geller and such can keep doing business in world with ready access to information, extreme transparency, Youtube and whatnot.

*snip*
Click to expand...

People are stupid, and the less sexy explanation is always less preferred. :(
 
Maurice Ledifficile said:
The pop psychology, the demented moralizing, and the "expert" advice from "professionals" like Phil and Oz just make me puke.
Click to expand...

I've seen Oz promote woo; I wasn't aware of any substantial faults with Dr. Phil. Does he give clinically bad information or something?
 
Checkmite said:
I've seen Oz promote woo; I wasn't aware of any substantial faults with Dr. Phil. Does he give clinically bad information or something?
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[OT] I'm not a fan of Dr. Phil, but I saw him speak at a graduation and I have to say that he is a very engaging speaker. Self deprecating, funny, sincere, and very well paced. He had a little something for everyone. I was pleasantly surprised.[/OT]
 
Dr. Keith said:
[OT] I'm not a fan of Dr. Phil, but I saw him speak at a graduation and I have to say that he is a very engaging speaker. Self deprecating, funny, sincere, and very well paced. He had a little something for everyone. I was pleasantly surprised.[/OT]
Click to expand...


I can't think of too many specific examples right now and it's not a good day for research, but I've seen him promote kinesiology, for one thing. That's enough for me.

I might have a bias due to his resemblance to Hank Kingsley...

ETA: Sorry guys, I meant to quote and respond to this one:

[originally posted by:Checkmite]
[I've seen Oz promote woo; I wasn't aware of any substantial faults with Dr. Phil. Does he give clinically bad information or something? ]
 
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I saw Dr. Phill promote applied kinesiology once on his show very early on in his first season. I'm not aware of him promoting it since.

Ward
 
I am going to start an allergy-healing crusade using the old "I got your nose" trick. First I "get" the victim's nose, then I rinse it in holy water, and then I replace it. Praise Jesus! Be sure to sign your checks.
 
Checkmite said:
I've seen Oz promote woo; I wasn't aware of any substantial faults with Dr. Phil. Does he give clinically bad information or something?
Click to expand...

He had a show with James Van Praagh and Char Margolis. I don't recall a skeptical voice appearing on the show. James did warn everyone of "fake" psychics, since Dr. Phil was worried about some people becoming addicted to using them. A "real" psychic would never allow that to happen...:eye-poppi

Dr. Phil still has psychic crap on his website here.
 
Even NPR's "Doctor Zorba" gets a little close to the line at times. He's generally very straightforward, and folks call him up all the time about what "supplements" they should be taking.
He'll generally point out to them rather gently that the supplements are not supported by science, that there are no regulated standards, that they may not even contain any of the supposed materials advertised, etc.
Then he'll turn right around and advise people to "try it and see if it makes you feel better"....

Likewise recommending acupuncture and similar treatments while mentioning "chi" as if it were a real thing.
 
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