The force (of the inquisition) is strong, ObiWan.

Women are inferior. Conservatives are criminals. Homosexuals are sinners. Catholics are doomed to hell. Homeopathy is sham. What! Hold on! Homeopathy is a sham? (Nod to Woodshed for the opening-line inspiration.)

I'm a little surprised at the degree of medico bigotry rearing its ugly head wrt homeopathy. I can understand disagreeing with homeopathy but out-n-out calling it a sham is a bit severe, I think.

I can understand the medicos calling it a sham. After all, they are inculcated within their system of medicine. I wouldn't expect them to be tolerant of alternate thought any more than I would expect the Pope to endorse Islam. Still, I naively expected ordinary people to be tolerant of differing health care views. I was wrong. There are still cross burners out there.

The history of homeopathy is fascinating. It was an organized and practicing medical system in North America even before allopathic medicine. It has a long history of treating epidemics far, far more successfully than the allopaths. Indeed, the allopaths still have no defense from pandemic. I can see why the logical, thinking, result-oriented person would choose homeopathy over allopathy for protection. I can see why parents would opt for homeopathic "immunization."

Medico bigotry, of course, can tolerate no disaccordance. The allopaths can only gnash their teeth at superior health outcomes in China with TCM after both bird flu and swine flu. The medicos here merely whacked people with their supposed anti-virals (ex oseltamivir) and corticosteroids, and if the patient lived claimed to have saved them.

The ironical credo of herbalists is "a plague upon humanity." It is wishful statement for an end of modern society's cornucopian thinking and, one of its inherent horsemen of the apocalypse, the apologist medicos. And, it represents firm belief in an alternate system of medicine that would prove far more successful than allopathic medicine during such events.

Homeopathy is not my way. I have differing views. Still, I would not ban homeopathy. I would not question whether children should be removed from a household if parents chose homeopathic options. I recognize alternative health care systems and the right of choice amongst them. I would not denigrate one system to maintain and support a single monopolistic, bigoted health care paradigm.

What triggered this post? The Marketplace hatchet job on Homeopathy: Cure or Con and the dross of dangerous opinion which emerged afterward.

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