Exploiting people's superstitions for profit should be made a criminal offence

Banning "fortune-tellers, feng shui practitioners, soothsayers, witchdoctors, astrologists, exorcists, Shaman priests, spiritual healers and holistic medicine sellers..." would be a bad idea. These people are all full it. I won't argue with that... The mere existence of so many forms pretty much cancels each other out. All religions should be added to the list as well. If the Christians are right, then how could a Native American spirit-worshipper be right? Is one just dead-wrong? This is all nonsense. Some people just aren't committed to rigorous examination of reality and settle for a good story instead. With that aside, we obviously cannot actually ban these activities. Contention 1: Banning these practices would be impossible to achieve, and would only make them stronger. That is, ALL one of these people would need is for their practice to be forcibly banned. Some people would understand, but a lot of them would only get a more... supernatural... feeling about the subject, like the government was trying to hide something from them. It would be more of a government endorsement then anything else. While the main stores would go out of business, inevitably, a black market could be created and it would be nearly impossible to regulate. You see, the devil is in the details. What EXACTLY are we regulating? If people got together without an official store-front, what items would we look for to "make a bust"? Are we banning candles, symbols, chants... What would a trial look like for one of these people? What evidence would be brought against them? The fact that they received money could be shown, but they would probably catch on quickly and create a suitable cover - like giving customers a cheap item that they would have essentially bought from them for the money they paid - like a small work of art. A trial for one of these people would make the Salem Witch Trials look like the OJ Simpson Trial - It would be so ridiculous that all we could possibly achieve is embarrassment and strengthen the cause in dispute. You can't regulate stupidity, my friend. Contention 2: Separation from religion. I am not religious, but I am also aware that I can't force religion to be nonexistent. There is nothing in the thesis that prevents religion from being dismantled. Religion is just organized superstition, after all. Churches are strong across the nation, and many millions of people, probably more than half of our US population, consider themselves Christian in some capacity. A priest at a church collecting "offerings" is in absolutely no logical form different than a sleazy soothsayer making it up as she goes along to get whatever money she can out of her customer. The logical implications to religion would harm one of the most basic civil liberties we have: freedom of religion. Even a stout Atheist cannot say that the religious should not even have the right to consider religion. I agree that religion has many indirect negative effects in our country (just listen to an episode of Sean Hannity), but these cannot be forced out at the end of a gun. They have to be reasoned out. Contention 3: What if we ban the "right" religion/superstition? What if one of these superstitions is actually the right one? Maybe it was astrology! Christianity, Buddhism, Islam... they were all wrong. But the Astrologers were right after all! This is ridiculous, mind you, but it does present a logical flaw. There is no logical support for superstition, but there is also a lack of proof that superstition is non-existent. If someone wants to take a chance with Tom Cruise and Scientology, then they have that right. But before we go arresting Tom Cruise, we should stop and make sure we aren't being worse than he is by our actions to prevent him. Contention 4: The strong will continue to prey on the weak no matter what laws are passed. There are no "perfect laws", as far as I have ever seen. The only way to perfection is a society without laws, and that only works if everyone is playing fairly. No matter what laws you pass, these people will find a way to take advantage of them.