Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine
Richard P. Sloan
304 pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 0312348819
ISBN13:
Language: English
Publish: 1162281600000
In an America that increasingly turns its back on the teachings of science, the worlds of religion and medicine have grown disconcertingly close. A majority of Americans now see prayer and other religious activities as a substitute for well-researched methods of curing disease. Many ask, “So, what’s the problem with prayer?” By taking a hard look at the scientific evidence. Richard Sloan believes there is no proven curative power to prayer and that the use of it as a medical treatment underminds effective patient care.In Blind Faith , Sloan exposes the questionable research practicies and unfounded claims made by ethical scientists who manipulate scientific data and research results to support their claim of effective mystical intervention in healing. Sloan begins by looking at how good science works and what it’s founded on. He then discusses the faulty methodology employed by those trumpeting the role of prayer in healing and implicates a gullible media in the propogation of bad science. He looks at ethical and clinical concerns of the debate and the ultimate trivialization of religion that results. As the Christian right turns its back on science, medicine, seems to be its next target. Sloan lays bare the faults of these assertions in a book sure to make headlines.