No one has the right to make fraudulant claims such as 'meeting loved ones' or 'instant healing'
In most countries, including the US, people do have the right to make unprovable claims if it doesn't concern a testable product. Religions do not have to submit their 'product' to the FDA for validation. And christianity is full of unprovable claims of highly desired rewards for particular behaviors.
Actually, I'm a great admirer of Popoff. In the same way that I admire Tom Cruise, Madonna, Sting, and the people who operate the lotteries. They understand their audience and give them exactly what they want. Why do film producers pay a name actor $20 million when there are equally competent no-names that will work for scale? We, the audience, are attracted to that familiar face, the familiar message and the movie will gross several $100 million more with the big names. Popoff has one of those "I know I've seen this guy before an that I liked him" faces and he capitalizes on that. There is a well substantiated law of physics: There is a steady flow of cash from fools to scoundrels. I am not bothered that such scoundrels drive Mercedes while many of those who send them money can't afford the medicines they need. More power to them. I would just hate to see the government spend my tax money trying to defrock these people. It would be as much a waste of money as the so-called war on drugs. Those who need their inspirational fix will just create a new generation of dealers.
Maybe God takes pity on some and they are truly healed.
Ninety to 95% of the time you go to the doctor with a complaint, the doctor really doesn't do anything for you. He examines you, takes some tests, and perhaps prescribes some innocuous medication. A few days later your symptoms are gone. What really cured you is your own immune system. This doesn't mean that the doctor is dishonest or shouldn't be paid. His true value is in knowing when the other 10% of the times occur and how to react to them. Popoff, faith healers, and religions that promote prayer (which, of course, is completely incompatible with an all knowing or a compassionate god) merely capitalize on our evolved immune systems capabilities to promote their position.
I also disagree with the posters in this thread who believe the foolishness (by which I mean the invalidity) of Popoff's claims is relevant. If you watch him, or any of the successful megachurch televangicals, or any others of their ilk, you detect a common thread, a certain sameness, which is their persona, the production values of their show, and their "I'm your best buddy" presence. When their words enter the ear and are converted to neuronal signals in the parietal lobes, a message is sent by the emotion center to the forebrain. For some of us, that message is: "What an asshole!". For others, its: "Glory Hallalluyah! Praise the lord! I am saved!". Rock on Popoff!
(I assign no significance to the fact that my spell checker wants to replace 'Popoff' with 'Poop'.)
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