Religion Goes to the Dentist

'Spiritual' dentist fined $10,000 - National - theage.com.au

For those of you who haven't read this story, it should make you laugh. Its another religious nut story. Another person who just doesn't get that not everyone wants you to shove your religion down their throats. In this case, very literally!

Paul Gardner is a dentist, a "spiritual" dentist at that. He is a professed christian who has apparently been "praying" over patients for years with out complaint. Of course this lady was a schizophrenic and was probably not in the mood to be told she had demons in her. And to pile it on, he told her that her wife had demons in him too.

But then, he and others believe that his "command prayers" have helped patients over come gagging, fear of needles, anxiety, crying, and vomiting! However, the agency over such things in Australia made sure to send a strong clear message about this. He was fined $10,000 for unprofessional conduct and he was directed to undergo counseling on the relationship between his religious beliefs and dental practice. Let me rephrase that.

There is no place for your ridiculous religious superstitious belief in medicine! Pray to yourself or do it at home, but you don't have the right to force your beliefs on someone in a vulnerable position, someone in your care. It is unethical.

He is of course doing the christian think, nailing himself up on a cross and making himself out to be a martyr. If he doesn't stop, I hope they force him out of practice. If he isn't intelligent enough to understand what business ethics are in medicine, then he shouldn't be allowed to treat people.