Dawkins ("The God Delusion") stated that the Templeton Foundation, spent
$2.4 million funding such a study on 1802 coronary bypass patients in six
hospitals.
(H Benson et al, "Study of the therapeutic effects of intercessionary
prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients, American Heart Journal, 154:4,
2006, 934-42.)
All proper measures were carried out including controls and double-blind
procedures. The pray-ers were just give the first name and initial surname
of the persons for whom they were praying and told to pray "For a
successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications".
The outcome was that as between those who were prayed for and those who
were not, there was no difference. There was a difference between those
two groups and third group, who were prayed for and had been told they
were being prayed for. However, the difference was in the wrong direction
-- they suffered significantly more complications than the other two
groups.
J Ralph Blanchfield
On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:53:56 +0100, you wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ian Russell" <[log in to unmask]>
>> Here, science must never concede an inch of ground to militant
>> creationism. It is here that the ID campaign oversteps the mark.
>> Here, a concession is required from creationists.
>>
>> However, personal prejudices have been allowed to misrepresent
>> science to the public as essentially atheistic, not agnostic. Here, a
>> concession is required from science communicators driven by a strong
>> personal commitment to atheism.
>>
>Yes, but another concession is also required from those who want to use
>science to explore/prove the possible existence of a deity or supernatural
>agent, whether this science is biology, genetics, physics, cosmology, or
>even mathematics. Who has, for example, been funding research in
>intercessory prayer?
>
>See http://www.templeton.org/newsroom/press_releases/060407step.html
>
>Will research in the efficacy of Vodoo spells be next?
>
>Alexander Hellemans
>
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