A skeptical more or less activist and evidence based health policy advocate’s views, comments and opinions on the many inroads journeyed by The Enemies Of Reason.
Like most Australians I support equal rights and equality in marriage. That this nation continues to deny and not celebrate such a basic human reflects most poorly upon us.
Like many Australians I reckon equal and human rights must be extended to all refugee arrivals.
Refugees are not ship loads of illicit drugs – which flow virtually unimpeded onto our soil daily. They are human beings and the issue is one of human rights, not border security.
Speaking of drugs (and users) we have fallen way behind our world leading policy dynamics of the 1980’s and early 90’s. A massive escalation of Harm Reduction is now required.
Aussies should not be held to ransom by a minority of conservatives intent on imposing their restrictive, retributive and bigoted will on the larger community.
Political leaders must stand not only for achieving what they believe is right: achievable through their own design. They must manifest the strength to potentially forego power in the pursuit of what is right for all of Australia – for humanity.
Political power should not depend upon any manner of prejudice, nor be shaped by fear to implement progressive policy. By definition this is not leadership, but mimicry.
We are Australians. We are unique. We have well earned the right for our voice to be heard globally. Australia’s diversity demands tolerance and her diverse public deserves its embrace.
Our leaders must speak, not echo. They must show vision, not reflection. They must step forward, not follow. They must stand firm, not waver. They must know how to cooperate, and not be contrary. When to acquiesce, and not argue. To accept and not deny.
For the betterment of our nation and as an example to all, we must be the Australia that supports equality in all its forms.
The Australia that denies this opportunity is the Australia that is less than what it could be.
Racial, sexual, religious and marital discrimination should no longer be drivers of power. Nor should the demonisation of science and the promotion of pseudoscience be protected under the guise of education.
To the crimes against humanity, it is incumbent upon us as oath takers, advocates of neutrality, professionals and ethicists to note one more: the intentionally malignant anthropomorphism of “science”.
Science is the vehicle that freed us from the struggle to survive so completely, we have forgotten this singular gift.
To demand that affluent society must now see science as a lumbering, monstrous, evil, sentient agent with the single aim of polluting human nature is puerile, ideological, mischievous and markedly in error.
To those of us who defend reason I say we are agents of morality far, far before and because we are agents of evidence.
Jolly good, carry on…. 
Paul Gallagher
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
paulgall[at]westnet[dot]com.au
Paul; your writings are amusing, but you have only 183 followers! My 14 year old daughter has three times that on a silly facebook page!
I suggest that you revise the outcome of the Chester Wilk Case*(1996, Chicago, Illinois, Judge Getzendhammer)in which the American Medical Association and several allied bodies were found guilty of perpetrating “40 years of organised propaganda designed to eliminate and contain the chiropractic profession”, and fined quite heftily on their losing appeal for even having the gall to try. Quite embarrassing for the waspish witch-hunters of political medicine.
* And the 19 or more other Commissions of Enquiry, etc, etc, made into chiropractic around the world that all found in favour of chiropractic, and were all instigated by vested-interest medical and physiotherapy lobbyists.
They’ve all covered all this ground before, but you guys won’t let go of the bone. If your fast-dwindling group of activists haven’t shut down the evil empire of chiropractic and natural therapies by now, despite years of having the upper hand in your self-created ‘turf war’, what chance have you now? None, I’d say. All these perceived ‘evils’ are here to stay.
That’s all for now.
Keith L.
Keith. Mate!
Your daughter has a bigger number than mine. On Facebook! Well, I’m sure that every one is a dedicated and true friend engaged in a deeply meaningful personal relationship. Or… maybe quality isn’t what matters, if I’m to take the meaning.
Yes I agree chiropractic will be around for years to come. Chiropractors will tweak and change to keep in line with shifts in superstition and trends in gullibility to ensure they maintain a large slice of the health scam market. They will also fight and defend like skilled con artists and fraudsters to hold onto the empty title of “doctor”, being only too aware of the psychology that drives the gullible to their doors. Mimicry of actual medicine and misuse of technology is vital to the illusion.
Also I agree on the history. Palmer certainly wasn’t the first person to rattle and dance, poke and prod whilst intoning godly laws about the human body and human health. He was however the first to market his touchy brand of magic as “science” and made liberal use of the most modern tools at his disposal.
I note your journey to last century to exhume the Wilk case. A splendid diversion. Yet since then, not only was your daughter born but chiropractic shifted into a fundamentalist ideology that denies every rule of medical science and the very laws of nature itself. Of it’s own accord it has become the “go to discipline” for glowing appraisals of alternatives to medicine and solemn condemnation of conventional medicine.
More so, it has again of it’s own accord inserted itself in serious health debates way beyond the beliefs ensconced behind the battlements of it’s extradimensional reality. The vaccination issue. Pre natal, neo natal and extended post natal proclamations designed solely to scare vulnerable and gullible new parents to sign those lucrative “treatment contracts”. Paediatric chiropractic – perhaps more amusing than you realise if not for the conclusive demonstrations of inefficacy.
To my knowledge the only scheme to actually provoke symptoms of Munchausens Syndrome By Proxy it is responsible for creating nervous wrecks and genuine psychological patients of innocent parents. The invention of “syndrome” after “syndrome” and the terrifying warnings of what awaits those who do not succumb to regular “maintenance”.
However as we read in Quacks galore in facade of quirky medicine:
“Harmful, worthless, discredited by every reputable medical organisation from the Royal Society down”. Keith, mate! And that’s coming from proponents of alternatives to medicine.
Like all magical claims chiropractic has been sternly examined and found wanting. It’s claims of efficacy crushed under the simple application of RCTs and it’s claims of safety evaporate before a monumental collection of research into death, permanent injury and disability or injury and complications with frequent cases of lengthy recovery. To be sure this happens in medicine also but to those already on death’s doorstep, significantly ill, disabled or in need of life saving surgery. And they are well informed of the risks that apply to a strictly evidence based choice.
That chiropractors scheme and trick people who are absolutely perfectly healthy – indeed many fatalities in robust health, the prime of life – to believe they need attention is itself a grave insult to common altruism and a thunderously immoral application of psychology. That healthy and vital people can be killed or injured and experience levels of morbidity that equal high impact vehicle accidents is a statement about chiropractic no-one can ignore.
Again addressing your mine’s bigger than yours argument I note the “fast-dwindling group of activists” reference. Of course nothing could be more inaccurate. Advocacy for science based medicine and skeptical defence and examination of consumer rights in health and beyond, is at an all time high. But it is not quantity that matters, and your obsession with quantity reveals your lack of appreciation for quality.
It is evidence that matters. Including evidence explaining what drives the interest in so many health scams we have seen rise up of late. The search for Truth is indeed vital, but skeptics and other scientists will accept the evidence as it comes. This happens to include that which explains the manipulation of individuals to believe the equivalent of magic is fact. Should the evidence indicate an increase in the future this too will be sought for further elucidation.
To comment on evidence gleaned from the methods that can be trusted to inform us of our world is not to be waging war. Much less a “self created turf war” as you put it. Of course people will continue to believe in fallacy and illusion. Magic has been a feature of our species for countless thousands of years, yet today we can discern the mechanics by which false displays are executed and the primary role of the believer themselves.
Many things will persist with health scams. Wars, cults, belief in the supernatural and our disposition to internalise superstitious belief to name a few. People are hard wired to believe in fantasy. Yet in a democracy I would not have it any other way for it reflects on my freedom. Your real concern should be with a.) the lack of evidence for chiropractic and b.) the ultimate goal of regulators.
Seeking to impede exploitation of fellow community members when evidence irrefutably confirms this, is the democratic right of skeptics and science advocates. When perpetrators of scams confirm malignant intent by misrepresenting evidence it becomes a moral obligation – a duty to our species.
Of course, with real freedom we find expression and belief should not be inhibited. In this light the freedom to be stupid is your democratic right.
I too have found great amusement in this exchange.
I fear however, your return to the lives of schoolgirls on Facebook is perhaps well justified.
Here’s lookin’ at ya Keith.
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