Psychics Under Attack in the UK

In another example today of the State colliding with people's belief systems, the UK is poised to crack down on psychics, mediums, and other spiritualists for false advertising:

Fortune-tellers, mediums and spiritual healers marched on the home of the British prime minister at Downing Street on Friday to protest against new laws they fear will lead to them being "persecuted and prosecuted".

Organizers say that replacing the Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951 with new consumer protection rules will remove key legal protection for "genuine" mediums.

They think skeptics might bring malicious prosecutions to force spiritualists to prove in court that they can heal people, see into the future or talk to the dead.

Psychics also fear they will have to give disclaimers describing their services as entertainment or as scientific experiments with unpredictable results.

I think they're probably right to worry. Didn't Florida get Miss Cleo's promoters for fraudulent advertising? The UK could be going the same route.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 04:49 PM

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