Scientologests have gone down to Haiti to heal people with their theaten free magic. They believe that they can heal by touching people.

Ravi Somaiya at Gawker has talked to someone who traveled to Haiti with some scientologists.

I knew we were traveling with doctors and EMTs, but I didn't expect to see 50 scientologists, in their yellow shirts with Volunteer Minister on them. They were completely unprepared for going to a third world country, let alone a disaster zone. One girl was in designer cowboy boots. I asked her if she'd brought any sturdier footwear.

"Oh no, these'll be fine."

Haiti didn't have much of an infrastructure to begin with and now what it has is in ruins. If you going to go down there you need good shoes. It is not a fucking camping trip, its literally a disaster area.

I asked another guy what he'd packed and he said he hadn't bothered to bring soap or toilet paper or food, but that he'd just "buy whatever I need at Port-au-Prince airport." I couldn't break it to him.

There is nothing to buy. Thats why people have to bring food in from elsewhere and even before the earthquake it was a poor country.

They had no place to stay, and no supplies — their idea was to use the ton of money they had to buy food to distribute when they got there. But there was no food and no water. That was the point.

Now I know scientologists keep them selfs sheltered but such naiveté is inexcusable. They are taking food and water away from the victims!

But they had no-one who spoke Creole, and they brought the weirdness of touch healing into a very superstitious society. They'd leave the tent and come into the general hospital downtown, and try healing people. One of the doctors and one of the nurses told me that the wounded started coming to them to tell them they didn't want to be treated by the people in the yellow shirts.

They go into another country with out and interpreter and ignorant of the beliefs of the locals. Thats not naive, thats stupid.

One nurse told me that the Scientologists actually caused harm — they gave food to people who were scheduled to go into surgery. That then led to complications in the operating theater.

Giving food to people before a doctor cuts them open. Just thinking about it should tell you its a bad idea.

I know that this is just one mans anecdote and it may not be representative of all scientologists going down there but the shear naiveté and stupidity of these scientologists is mind boggling.
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Found at Unreasonable Faith