I went to Mexico once on a youth group mission trip back in high school (don't judge) There was a man visiting the Mexican church we stayed at, I guess he was a faith healer -- he was bopping people on the head and they were falling down, and then he would tell them what god wanted them to do to make up for whatever sins he decided had caused their maladies (he was literally making stuff up that he said they had done, he lectured one guy for essentially being a jerk in his dreams). It was pretty obvious that most people were only falling over because they knew it was expected. There was one man who just wasn't going down, finally the "healer" became visibly angry and started very obviously avoiding and ignoring him, and eventually yelled at him in front of everyone for a lack of faith. Then he noticed us and started preaching about how evil teenagers are. Finally, they took a special offering as a thank you to him. These people really had no money to give, it was a very poor neighborhood. It was appalling.
Needless to say, that confirmed for me beyond a shadow of a doubt that faith healing was a sham.

Anybody remember the 1972 documentary about Marjoe Gortner about a boy who had been brought up to be a faith healer and then allowed cameras in to show how bogus everything was?

[so4j.com]

Faith healers and mediums are just plain frauds. When I was younger I used to think mediums were possible but I realized quickly that is was BS. However, I do think it's possible for some people to have the mental ability to foresee or predict "future" events. Now don't go thinking I'm crazy. I'm not taking about seeing lottery numbers or anything like that. I just don't have a better way of explaining it. I've had some personal experiences that leads me to believe this. Example 1: When I was a kid my mom used to tell me about this dream she would have all the time for several years. She dreamt one of her kids died. (I don't know why she would tell me, one of her kids but she did. And yes it freaked me out) She didn't know which kid, how or when it would happen. Just that it was a really dark dream and the sadness from the dream was so overwhelming she would wake in tears. She didn't think much of it, except it was a really weird feeling. Then it happened, my younger brother (8 years old) was diagnosed with cancer and died within 6 weeks. It's been 30 years and she's never had that dream again. Example 2: When I became pregnant with my first child I would get this overwhelming fear that my baby was going to be born deaf. I dreamt about it all the time and even when awake the thoughts consumed me into tears. It got so bad I asked my doctor if something was wrong with me. Was I losing my mind? Anyway, my son was born perfectly healthy and could hear. My second pregnancy I had the same overwhelming fears of the baby being born deaf. Except I didn't freak out as bad because the first one turned out fine. I just blamed it on hormones. My daughter was born healthy and hearing. My third pregnancy was no where near as bad as the other two. The crazy thoughts would sometimes creep in or a dream but I pushed them away. Never letting myself get overwhelmed emotionally because hey, the other 2 babies were fine. Well, daughter #2 was born healthy and hearing impaired. After her official confirmation at 4 weeks old I remember the audiologist getting very nervous trying to explain what the tests showed. When she was done, she told me in the 10 years she's been an audiologist she's never had a parent not cry or freak out when she tells them their baby can't hear. She was so impressed with how I handled it. To be honest I wasn't shocked. All I could think about is how much I feared and knew this exact thing was going to happen and it did. I cried a few times when she was only a few days old but I had no fear or overwhelmed emotions like I thought I would. My daughter is now 5 years old and considered profoundly deaf. I believe my crazy fears and irrational thoughts during my pregnancies were a prediction that helped prepare me for what was to come. I could give other examples but this is already super long (sorry). I'm not saying its a psychic ability what so ever but I have no explanation for how freaky it is.

I think they would make the world a much better place if they used their skill set in a medical setting. Like volunteering in actual hospitals to cheer up patients.

I don't like saying someone is evil I prefer to think that they are using their abilites in the wrong way and i hope they correct that.

I agree. They are all frauds and charlatans.

Yes, despicable and exploitive

Yes, I agree. Despicable and exploitive

It is unfortunate that this type of grifter preys on people so in need.

I have no faith in someone who asks for payment or donations.

"A fool and his money..."

As long as there are stupid people, there will be people to take advantage of them.

Despicable is a good word, yes. The funny thing about this is that no matter how many times they are debunked/shamed in the public arena, a few weeks later they crop up somewhere else with the same scams. They are harder to get rid of than cockroaches.

Rebecca Watson can often phrase things better than I can:

Charlatans. Just like preachers and other snake oil salesmen.