psychics ban in the U.K. good or bad?

Have a look at this story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7354089.stm


I'm in two minds about it.I don't think that psychics/mediums are doing what they claim. However at the same time can you take away someones right to pay for something that isn't harming anyone else and may/may not be as important to them as religion?
What does everyone think?

Thanks,
Jamie

 

They recently had something similar in some places in the US where they pulled up a rather old and obscure law that bans fortune telling. Apparently it was the easy one to pull up when they needed something to deal with the number of apparent robberies and scams that they were coming across that were connected with fortune telling shops.

The funniest thing was... the fortune teller they interviewed showed up at her shop in the morning to work... yet she wasn't able to foretell that they shut her down...

 

Fantastic.
For the words "Psychics" and "Meduims" read "Parasites" and "Charlatans".
Put 'em out of business.
This made me laugh..."Under the new laws, some mediums feel they will be obliged to prove what they do.".
That must be a nightmare for them.

I'm sorely tempted to go to see a "psychic" when one next comes to York.
Sit in the audience with a clip board taking a tally of how many right and wrong answers they get to their questions.

And for Derek Acorah I'd think about bringing back the death penalty.

 

My response is going to sound callous. The very idea of this policy is ludicrous. It's another extension of the nanny state. The very idea that the government should step in and protect people from their own stupidity is idiotic. The mindset that originated this policy is setting human evolution back because it denies the principle of natural selection.

These people are so freaking stupid that they need the government to tell them that psychics and fortune tellers are a flipping ruse . . . give me a break!! I hope the psychics are milking the crap out of them. Maybe they will run these people into abject poverty so they can finally learn their freaking lesson and grow a third brain cell, but no . . . .

The government will be more than happy to put up idiots who waste their money on psychics and lottery tickets while living in a housing project sucking off the government teat, and they'll never have to learn a lesson or grow as people because the government dole will never make it necessary.

 

At least you can't say they didn't see it coming

While they are banning things that can't be proven...................................:Angel:

 

Quoted for truth.

A fool and his money are soon parted. If you're an idiot, you'll find lots of things to waste your money on, phychics or no. There's a reason why the code of Hammurabi had "buyer beware" as part of the deal.

Best regards,

-Mark

 

I agree wiht most of what has been said. Altho i'd like people to stop believeing in psychics or religion of any sort i would never want to ban it.

I agree with you but how's this any different to any toher religion?
Lets take catholisim. It's quite normal for the church to take donations. Then as long as you confess forgive you for your sins. Not bad and certainly better value for money than a travelling psychic if you believe it!
Guess the difference is that Most religions deal with a god/gods who are based firmly in the realm of fantasy/belief. So no real harm if they make up their own rules for that. But maybe the government view mediums etc differently becasue theyre dealling with real people/events.

 

It's not being banned though even the main pyschic group has said it hasn;t got a problem with it because it only targets those who make exaggerated claims. It is all a sham though and unlike Yohan I can't agree that all the people who get caught up in such things are idiots who deserve it. Some are just vunerable people who are grieving... people making money from grief and ultimately making stuff up about dead loved ones I can't really accept as fair game.

 

Very good. It should keep the buggers off the TV. And these people are well known for preying on the recently bereaved.

 

They didnt see this coming...du dum cha!!

 

That was a big stand-up comic line back in 1998 in the USA when this story hit the newswire:

"Known mostly for its infomercial for the Psychic Friends Network, starring Dionne Warwick (1960s pop singer), Inphomation listed in a preliminary filing assets of $1.2 million and liabilities of $26.3 million" filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Too few insomniacs believed in psychics?

 

Psychic no longer available, due to unforseen circumstances.

 

This topic has a better fit here as it is not really religion related per se and you'll probably get more discussion going here then in the Religion forum.

 

If someone is charging you for a service that they know damn well is completely ineffective then yes I'd say it's fraudulent. If they wanted to convince people who didn't already believe in it then they could just do some double-blind studies like everyone else, unless of course they had something to hide. However, it's not fair to force spiritualists to back up their claims but not ask the same of priests, imams etc, which are no more based in logic. I thus think this law would unfairly discriminate against minority religions.

 

I haven't seen the text of the bill but it appears from the BBC article that it's only bringing the claims of psychic mediums under the Consumer Protection Regulations, so it won't cover things like redemption for your sins in return for donations to the Church.