Do you remember a few years ago, during the height of the pandemic, when then President and resident idiot-in-chief Donald Trump hinted that drinking bleach was a possible cure for this disease? For those of us not steeped in conspiracy theory, it seemed like it was plucked right out of his limited imagination. This is not the case. It turns out that it’s a health “fad” that’s been marketed for years in Christian circles, and it’s killing them.
It began over a decade ago when an ex-scientologist named Jim Humble wrote a book claiming that what he had unlocked the secret of a magical solution he called “Miracle Mineral Solutions:, or MMS for short. The formula is simple, consisting primarily of Chlorine Dioxide, which is a commercially available bleach used to clean pools and hot tubs. Some municipalities use it to treat their water, but to ensure that it is safe, it cannot exceed 10 PPM (parts per million). That’s the equivalent of roughly one drop for every 50 liters of water. This “miracle cure” proports to treat illnesses such as cancer, leukemia, diabetes, AIDS, and a variety of other disorders. Instead of being sold as medicine, which would have put them immediately into the crosshairs of the Food and Drug Administration, they decided instead to market it as a religious sacrament, to be taken as part of a “healing ritual”. Humble registered the “Genesis II Church of Health and Healing” church, which anyone could be ordained in for the right price.
He has since recanted his claims:
“There are certainly times I have said some things that I probably should have said differently. For lack of a better way to express things at the time — or because others put words in my mouth, in the past I have stated that MMS cures most of all diseases. Today, I say that MMS cures nothing!”
The damage has already been done, however. This “miracle cure” took on a life of it’s own, and since then, a number of people have been arrested for poisoning their “flock”. Recently, a family was found guilty in the state of Florida for selling their poison to desperate Americans. Mark Grenon, along with his three sons Jonathan, Jordan and Joseph, were sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling MMS as a cure for Covid-19. The severity of the sentenced was largely because of the desperation of their clientele, many of whom had refused the vaccine and were desperate for alternatives. With the cost of healthcare being out of the range of most of the poor, this inexpensive solution was sold, not as medicine, but as “donations”, which also has the added benefit of avoiding pesky taxes. In total, these criminals sold more than 1 million dollars worth of poison.
The Grenon’s family’s Linkedin profile doesn’t even try to hide the fact that they were selling an industrial bleach, although they preferred the more appetizing word “salt”:
Genesis II Church of Health and Healing was founded by Bishop Jim Humble in 2010 to bring simple and largely overlooked healing methodologies and a self-responsible approach to wellness to the world… The major breakthrough that lead to the necessity to create the Church was the discovery that a commonly used mineral salt, sodium chlorite, when properly activated, made the simple molecule chlorine dioxide (ClO2) available within the body when taken internally or applied topically. Chlorine dioxide is an unique, weak oxidizer that eliminates many pathogens, including viruses, fungi, and anaerobic bacteria, and will break up toxins in the blood and deep in tissues so they can be flushed out of the body.
If you thought that this horror was confined only to Florida, you would be mistaken. A few months ago, a Calgary man named Pedro Acuna Saavedra was given a fine of $12,000 (a prison sentence would have been preferable, given that one person was in critical condition as a result of ingesting it) for operating as a branch of Genesis II Church selling this poison. In Argentina, a man by the name of Andreas Kalcker was arrested in connection with the poisoning of a young child. His naïve parents were convinced Chlorine would somehow ward of Covid-19. He has since died. Now Kalcker faces 25 years in jail.
The fact that people are going to jail has only fueled the idea that all of this is a giant conspiracy against Humble’s “teachings”, courtesy of the pharmaceutical industry; the favorite bugbear of QAnon believers. As with any belief that is challenged, the faithful are doubling down on rather than accept the idea of being wrong, even at the cost of their own lives.
What I find annoying is just how powerless and impotent the FDA, and other government agencies around the world are when it comes to the sale of kinds of dangerous products under the guise of medicine. You can thank the cloak of religion for providing a workaround that has largely tied the hands of most regulatory bodies who shy away at the possibility of offending the faithful. Just read this impotent sounding letter the FDA sent Genesis II informing them that they needed to take down their product. Here’s a sample:
If you cannot complete corrective action within 48 hours, state the reason for the delay and the time within which you will complete the corrections. If you believe that your products are not in violation of the FD&C Act, include your reasoning and any supporting information for our consideration.
Keep in mind that this “Church” had been exposed by the media over 6 years ago, but it took the government years to do anything about it. How many people died or became sick as a result? Considering how polite this letter was, the family probably thought that they would only get a slap on the wrist. They were wrong.
If you want to lose all faith in humanity, check out some of the comments in one of the videos exposing this dangerous product:
“After giving this to my brother having hepatitis c . The doctor at the VA after testing his blood for ammonia levels asked me what I was doing to him. His blood test had come back as normal for the ammonia levels . They had been treating that with a drug called lactulose which helped but didn’t bring it to normal . I gave 2 drops twice a day for only two days this cleared it out and his thinking returned to normal. Thanks Jim and all.”
MMS saved my life. I didn’t understand what it was. I was desperate after being diagnosed with covid19 and my medical doctor refused to prescribed medications. After being unable to move, severe pain, and having shallow breathing I drank one bottle of mms and I was able to breathe and sit up. The following day I was able to talk and walk. That is my testimony.
The comments in any video that features MMS is typically overrun by these types of testimonials. Anecdotally, this can all sound pretty impressive to someone that’s not familiar with the scientific method. In low dosages, it can be passed by the body fairly easily, and act as a powerful placebo. I’m even willing to concede that for people in Africa that have limited access to clean drinking water, the addition of this product might actually have some benefits. However, I can’t help but stress that all of the criticisms levied against the government for prosecuting vendors ignores the fact that people are attempting to pass off medicine as a religious offering. Anything can be a poison, including water, if the dosages are too high. Add the fact that Chlorine Dioxide is extremely potent, this is a recipe for disaster.
If MMS does have some form of health benefit, there is nothing stopping their proponents from commissioning a scientific study to show its effectiveness. There are plenty of highly trained professionals that would love to get paid to research things. Science is not something that is controlled by powerful elite. Hell, it can even be done at home by amateurs, so long as they are using the principles outlined by the methodology of science. Findings must then challenged by others, and stand up to scrutiny if it is to be given any credence. To pretend that science is the domain of the rich and powerful only demonstrates how little these people understand it.
Even with people being jailed of fined, it hasn’t stopped the product from being marketed. Recently, Vice did a news segment on a pastor by the name of Joe Salant. He’s selling this poison promising that it can cure autism. Surely a genetic disease needs only the introduction of pool cleaner to magically disappear. Give the man a Nobel prize already!
