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British 'rottweiler' attacks faith healers

LONDON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The British man known as "Darwin's rottweiler" for his attacks on religion has turned his attention to alternative medicine.

In a two-part television series, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins visits faith healers, psychics and other gurus in an effort to counter what he calls a wave of irrational superstition sweeping Britain, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

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Self-described healers, like a woman in Glastonbury, England, who charges nearly $300 a day to treat seriously ill patients with meditation and chants, are extorting about $3 billion a year out of Britons and hurting British culture, Dawkins argues in the program.

But the scientist does not limit his criticism to small-time entrepreneurs.

He challenges Deepak Chopra, a world-famous guru who charges tens of thousands per lecture and has a slew of celebrity devotees, the newspaper said.

Dawkins reserves special ire for National Health Service funding of homeopathy, a popular but unproven field of medicine shunned by the mainstream medical profession.

The rise of irrational belief in such healing is accompanied by a decline in interest in hard science, the program says, as evidenced by the precipitous drop in students pursuing careers in chemistry and physics.

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"The Enemies of Reason" will air on Channel 4 this month.

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