Some sense... at last

I came across this story today, it's so unusual to read something that actually makes good rational sense these days that I felt I had to blog it. In a nutshell the ASA (Advertising standards authority) has ruled against some "preacher" in the placement of an advertisement stating that he was a "healer" and mentioned conditions like cancer, aids and blindness, clearly utterly irresponsible potentially to a criminal extent.

This is a critical point of principal that all government and educational establishment should grasp and adhere to in my view, that is, just because someone believes something doesn't mean that its either true, useful, good or deserving of respect.

Any idea (and I mean ANY idea) should be able to be criticised and be subject to scrutiny via the universal litmus test of EVIDENCE. As this ruling wisely underlines, "faith healers" don't have any evidence of efficacy in dealing with medical conditions, modern medicine on the other hand has overwhelming evidence of efficacy, if you are sick then go to a doctor!