Can one sue Benny Hinn and others for making false paranormal claims??

Question

A few years ago "Miss Cleo" and her associates at the Pychic Hotline were sued by the FTC for making false paranormal claims. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Cleo How is this any different from the hucksters like Benny Hinn who get money from their sheep by making false claims they have the power to heal.
http://www.bible.ca/tongues-benny-hinn-ministries-fake-fraud-miracles-healing-prayer.htm

BTW Ever notice the suckers in these scams on the most part are pentacostal types that believe in creationism and literal interpretations of the bible?

Dogs are NOT psychic. They can "smell" cancers and irregularities as part of their evolution. Most predators avoid diseased carcasses unless they are immune to the bacteria. Their senses are not paranormal

I find it disturbing that one poster thought her donation even if it was misued like the TV preacher that was paying for prostitutes (not the high class ones either) was still going to god.
http://religion.netscape.com/story/2006/11/02/gay-escort-claims-tryst-with-preacher-ted-haggard/comments/5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart

Answer 1

I found two lawsuits:

"One eighty-five year old woman who had come forward for a healing touch from Benny Hinn died after someone slain in the Spirit fell on her, fracturing her hip. The woman's family filed a five-million dollar lawsuit against Hinn in the incident" (Charismatic Chaos, John MacArthur, Jr., 1992; ref. Elderly Woman Killed by a Person ‘slain in the Spirit' falling on her, National & International Religion Report, Sept 21, 1987"

"Last October, Hinn and his church, along with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, agreed to pay $610,000 to 10 religious protesters who brought suit after they said they were arrested without cause outside the church of the Orlando-based minister. In June 1996, Pastor Ricky L. Johnston and members of his Volusia County congregation were demonstrating in front of Hinn’s World Outreach Center when they encountered the church’s security force.

An early investigation revealed that members of the sheriff’s department, who also worked at the World Outreach Center, had harassed and illegally arrested the protesters. A six-month internal investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department also turned up falsification of off-duty records, lying to investigators, and abuse by commanders of their positions of authority. The findings resulted in the firing of two commanders, the resignation of a volunteer reserve deputy, and the suspension of three other officers. The televangelist’s younger brother, Christopher Hinn, was the reserve deputy who voluntarily resigned from his reserve deputy post." (http://www.pfo.org/scandals.htm)

I would love to see him sued as a false prophet. That would be awesome.

Answer 2

There are alot of gifted psychics, and if dogs can detect and smell out cancer,,and dolphins seem to be able to emotionally heal people by swimming with them, Why not sheep why cannot they heal. I believe we are yet to discover the power of the animal kingdom. We are ignorant of so much. Sad to say. Oh i didnt know who Benny Hinn was now I know..yikes..

Answer 3

I believe the public has to know that guys like Benny Hinn are just scamers, unfortunately our governments are not protecting the people, and warning them that all these religious scamers are just out for their money, and that what they preach simply is not true, we really need more law suits against these blood sucking money grabbing false preachers out there, It dose prove one thing though that their are a lot of vary ignorant people out there that buy into their lies, and false healing, It really is just criminal what these guys get away with.

Answer 4

I don't know. I'm not familiar with Benny Hinn, I've heard of people like him.(Saw the movie Leap of Faith) Perhaps the predictions Miss Cleo made were not so important in peoples lives as the ones they seek out faith healers for. It's very sad really that people like him prey upon people who are desperate for kind of solution to their pain.

Answer 5

Read the really fine print and the disclaimers. All these fakers are pretty good at getting around the question of whether or not they are real. As long as there are people who want to believe stuff like this, there will be people willing to lead them down the path to financial ruin, which is what the hucksters are after - MONEY!

Answer 6

Okay. I was not familiar with Benny Hinn so I did a search. His showmanship is disturbing. His fleecing of the flock is unconscionable. I hope that someday there is a large class action suit against him.

Answer 7

I wish someone would sue this shyster!! Unfortunately these cons are a dime a dozen and someone would step up to replace him. There is truly a sucker born every minute. I think a lot of people who follow these yard birds have not been taught or maybe do not use critical thinking skills. I wonder why people turn logic off when it comes to religion and when you question any sacred text, Christian or otherwise, believers go into spasms of "how dare you question faith"

Answer 8

I agree with you concerning Benny Hinn and th like. He is a such a fake right down to that mop on top of his head. I so wish someone would sue him right off of the air.

Answer 9

I think Bennie and the others need a good whack.
A lightning bolt so to speak.
I think that they are despicable.
I feel very sorry for the people that are taken in by them.
For some reason the people can't see that they are frauds.
I for one would like to see Bennie get it good.
Perhaps something that he said he could cure.

Answer 10

Not a lawyer, but it seems the biggest difference is that people seeking healing don't pay specifically for the healer to perform. He does seem to seek donations pretty aggressively, but it doesn't seem to be a model where you pay before he prays.

I still believe in miracles, even with folks like this out there.