UK Bans Ads Proclaiming ‘God Can Heal You’

Jesus can heal you everywhere you hurt. But Britain’s advertising watchdog is barking about ads that proclaim the healing power of God.

The Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, said Healing on the Streets (HOTS) is making misleading claims about its ability to heal people with ailments. The ASA is forcing HOTS to change its verbiage from “God can heal you” to “We believe God can heal you.”

“We told HOTS not to make claims which stated or implied that, by receiving prayer from their volunteers, people could be healed of medical conditions,” the ASA said in a statement. “We also told them not to refer in their ads to medical conditions for which medical supervision should be sought.”

The ASA moved against HOTS after Hayley Stevens filed a complaint with the watchdog.

“I was quite concerned at the claims I found there about illnesses and conditions that this group seemed to be promoting as healable through prayer,” Stevens wrote on her blog, “Hayley is a Ghost.”

HOTS plans to appeal the ASA’s ruling. The group finds it “odd” that the ASA wants to prevent it from stating on its 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,” HOTS said. “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.”