Let the bodies hit the floor

[andrewducker]

I am rather intrigued by what is _actually_ happening in this video:

(via tao_ who, when he's not being a grumpy bastard, writes The IT Crowd)

Comments

[spaj.livejournal.com]

I can at least explain the phenomenon. It's faith induced fainting. The power of Christ compells you (to fall over).

Some of the people are probably plants, but others are being pseud-hypnotised to fall over, because of mass hysteria and the like.

Or maybe God just likes pushing Christians to the ground for kicks?

[aliiis.livejournal.com]

That's horrible - fainting, in my experience, really sucks :(

I thought it must be something like that, but then it also totally looks like some of them he's just physically pushing! Surely faith fainting shouldn't be a contact sport? When old ladies are involved??

[sterlingspider.livejournal.com]

I know this is about two weeks out of date, but I was looking for the potter post below to crosspost and thought to check this out...

One of my exes had a younger brother who was born with hydro-encephalitis and was pretty much a vegetable from day one. His mother became highly religious and would take the brother (who lived to his early teens) to this sort of thing to try to get him healed. A couple of weeks before he died they took him to one of these people, who proceeded to hit him.
Hard.
In the head.
Did I mention he was hydro-encephalic?

He died shortly thereafter (it was a matter of weeks apparently) and my ex still blames the guy (and his mother I think, but that's a different story).

It's pretty popular in Southern Baptist and Pentecostal congregations supposedly.

[andrewducker]

That's appalling!

In this case I'd find it hard to blame the minister, as he wouldn't know - but the mother should have done.

[azalemeth.livejournal.com]

The martial art that I learnt would explain that all in terms of chi...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

I was thinking something like that, that my Aikido sensei could do not much more than that have have people flying ... and if you watch the video, dismiss any knowledge of faith-based healing etc. and just watch him, he looks like an expert in Used-Car-Salesman-Fu :-)

[nameandnature]

It's Benny Hinn, famous televangelist. The people are being slain in the Spirit. You might have seen Derren Brown doing something similar in his Messiah programme.

[sneakingyoda.livejournal.com]

That... Kinda scares me.

[drjon.livejournal.com]

It looks like a type of mass hypnosis, or mass hysteria. Perhaps a combination effect, in combination with a mob or crowd mentality.

That doesn't actually explain anything, of course...

[darkoshi]

A preacher gone over to the dark side! Slaying his congregation! heheh