A quick example of that is a woman who said she'd been healed of throat cancer where the faith healer admitted he touched her on the forehead.

Feeling better is not actually being better.

The conjuror or con man is a very good provider of information. He supplies lots of data, by inference or direct statement, but it's false data. Scientists aren't used to that scenario. An electron or a galaxy is not capricious, nor deceptive; but a human can be either or both.

They would have been very let down if they had to leave the theater and he had missed. He would feel badly. Everyone would feel badly. But he never let them down.

gods are children's blankets that get carried over into adulthood.

There is a distinct difference between having an open mind and having a hole in your head from which your brain leaks out.

The only difference is that religion is much better organized and has been around much longer, but it's the same story with different characters and different costumes.