BATH, UK – (ANS)-
The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told a group of
Christians in the city of Bath, located in Somerset, south west England, not to
make any claims which state or imply that, by receiving their prayer, people
could be physically healed.

A registered Christian trust, the
“Healing on the Streets – Bath” (www.hotsbath.org) team,
comprised of Christians from many different churches, have been praying for the
public outside Bath Abbey for three years and regularly offer to pray for
people who are sick to receive healing.

But atheist Hayley Stevens, a
24-year-old from Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, who is a regular blogger and
speaker at skeptic conferences, took offence to the group’s adverts,
complaining to the ASA that the claims by the Christians could “not be
substantiated.”

On the www.thisissomerset.co.uk
website, she is quoted as saying, “I have complained before to the ASA
about claims to do with healing people, but they were against spiritual healers
or people making false claims about treatments. I didn’t even realize the
Healing on the Streets people were Christian until I got home and looked at
their website.

“My issue isn’t with their
Christian faith, it is with the potentially dangerous situation of vulnerable
people who think they will be cured of something as serious as cancer.

“I don’t think it is
appropriate for them to be out on the streets taking the chance that they could
come across someone with, say, mental health issues who should be being treated
properly.”

Her complaint was upheld and the ASA
have now ordered the group to stop stating on their website or in literature
that God can heal.

The founder of the Christian group,
Paul Skelton, said: “Other teams around the country have been targeted in
similar ways.

“It seems very odd to us that
the ASA wants to prevent us from stating on our website the basic Christian
belief that God can heal illness.

“The ASA has even demanded that
we sign a document agreeing not to say this, which is unacceptable to us – as
it no doubt would be for anyone ordered not to make certain statements about
their conventional religious or philosophical beliefs.

“The ASA has decided it is
appropriate to insist that we cannot talk about a common and widely held belief
that is an important aspect of conventional Christian faith. They would now
like us to recant our Christian faith in the Bible.

“We tried to reach a compromise,
recognizing some of the ASA’s concerns, but there are certain things that we
cannot agree to – including a ban on expressing our beliefs.”

HOTs has said that it will now
appeal the decision.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of
Christian Concern, said: “This decision strikes at the heart of freedom of
belief in the UK. Will we be told that telling people their sins are forgiven,
or that you can go to heaven, breaches advertising standards next?

“Will all Christian websites
and leaflets now be liable to these types of complaints? Is all Christian
doctrine now going to be ruled as misleading by the ASA?

“This decision reveals all too
clearly how basic freedoms quickly begin to be lost in a nation that has
increasingly chosen secularism over the Christian faith.”

The “Healing on the Streets -
Bath” website says that it is a Christian trust and its vision is to:
“Promote Christian Healing as a daily life style for every believer,
though demonstration, training and equipping.”

It adds that they are working in
unity, from numerous churches outside the four walls of the building, in order
to:

* Heal the sick
* Share God’s love
* Equip the Church

The website — http://www.hotsbath.org/stories.html — also
features stories of claimed healings which you can check out for yourself.

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About Dan Wooding

Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST
(Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service
(ANS).

Wooding was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books.

To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.

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