Alternative Medical Treatments: Science or Sorcery?

For decades now, alternative medicine has been gaining steam. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there are a variety of practices that fall under the umbrella of “alternative medicine” and some of them should be avoided. I'm particularly interested in discussing the spiritual angle. One of the biggest problems that I see with the alternative medicine movement is that Christians with little discernment end up practicing things that are rooted in the occult and demonic realms. There's also a lot to be said about the “quackery” of some of these treatments, but there are plenty of scientific studies and material out there, so I will only briefly touch on that. Let's take a look at the origins and practice of some alternative treatments.

Homeopathy

Homeopathic medicine often uses herbal remedies diluted to such a degree that there is statistically none of the herb left in the dose. This is because homeopathy is based on the philosophy that plants have a mystical “life force” that can be used to re-balance the life force within a person. Homeopaths attempt to isolate and concentrate life force while minimizing the physical presence of the plant. Therefore, the whole practice is rooted in eastern mysticism. It would not be a stretch at all to categorize this as what the Bible would term sorcery. Obviously, this is something that Christians should completely avoid.

Acupuncture
As with homeopathy, the philosophy of acupuncture is firmly rooted in eastern mysticism. In short, the practitioner attempts to promote health by inserting needles into your body at key points in an attempt to improve your “chi flow” or “spiritual energy”. Again, considering the attempt to manipulate spiritual energy, this is easily classified as sorcery. Some practitioners claim acupuncture as a purely material science, but in reality they are just attempting to distance themselves from the spiritual roots of acupuncture.

Yoga
Yoga is sometimes thought of as simple relaxing exercise, but at its core it is a non-Christian religious practice. There are various schools of yoga associated with buddhism, hinduism, and more, but in each case yoga is a central part of the religion. Yoga supposedly brings one on a path of enlightenment, to become one with the universe. In some forms of these religions, they even believe that they achieve salvation through yoga. This stands in complete opposition to Christianity. Therefore, a Christian doing yoga “for health reasons” is kind of like a group of atheists baptizing each other because it feels good, or Muslims taking communion because it's yummy. If you want to do stretching exercises, that's no problem. But be aware that yoga is a specific religious practice that should be avoided, even if divorced from the religious context.

Chiropractic

Getting your back cracked seems innocent enough, right? Believe it or not, Chiropractic is also rooted in a terrifying amount of mysticism. Daniel Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, believed in a concept very similar to “life force”, which he called innate intelligence. He was also a spiritist who claimed he “received chiropractic from the other world” – obviously a demonic spirit. To Palmer, chiropractic was essentially a religion. His 'life force' position used to be standard among chiropractors, but these days most chiropractors reject these ideas and view their practice as a purely material thing.

A Christian absolutely shouldn't be involved in chiropractic based on Palmer's philosophy. As for the purely material view, use your conscience. Personally, I wouldn't play with something that originated from a demonic mind, even though it is trying to distance itself from its origins. Beyond that, I offer a bit of wisdom. Studies on the efficacy of chiropractic treatments show mixed results. There's no conclusive evidence that chiropractic can help anything other than temporary back pain. Also, some data suggests that the treatments which help the acute back pain can actually lead to chronic back pain. This would explain why someone who starts going to a chiropractor usually ends up going regularly. In my experience, it's uncommon for someone to have one or two treatments and then be 'fixed'. For all these reasons, I don't recommend chiropractors.

Vaccines

The anti-vaccine movement seems to have a strong foothold in certain Christian sub-cultures. While this isn't a spiritual issue, it's another area in which Christians need to show some discernment. These days, much of the anti-vaccine movement stems from the belief that the MMR vaccine can cause autism. This has been shown to be false in many studies. Just last month, an ambitious study of nearly 100,000 cases was published, which focused on children at risk for autism. Yet again, it was shown that there is no link between autism and the MMR vaccine.

So how did this start anyway? Back in 1998, Andrew Wakefield published a paper in a major medical journal suggesting a link between MMR vaccines and autism. It took the journal over 10 years to fully retract his paper, after much investigation. It was found that Wakefield was paid a lot of money to “find evidence to use against vaccine manufacturers”. He failed to disclose this conflict of interest, and was found to have manipulated his data. In short, Wakefield was a total fraud. However, the damage was already done. The media had already reported on his study. Thus, the anti-vaccine movement is still alive and well today.

Herbal remedies

It's becoming increasingly popular to reject modern medicines in favor of herbal remedies. There's generally not a spiritual issue here, but I must recommend caution. Herbal remedies can be good, and sometimes can even work well as a substitute for over the counter drugs. However, there's also a lot of misinformation out there. As a general rule, the bigger the claim, the more skeptical you should be. I've seen books where the author advises cancer patients to stop going to their doctors and to do their 'herbal cleanse' instead. That's tragic, irresponsible, and evil. Is traditional medicine perfect? No. Are traditional doctors and researchers your best bet for treatment? In almost every case, yes. Herbal remedies should not be used as a substitute for your doctor, but they can work together. Most doctors are open to herbal remedies these days and they can give you advice on which remedies are likely to help, which ones probably won't help but are worth trying, and which ones are harmful.

Radical diets 

This is another fad that has risen in the last few years. Unless you think you can get closer to God by following dietary laws, there's really not a spiritual issue here. Yet, as with herbal remedies, beware the absurd claims. You're not going to cure cancer by eating a lot of carrots (or other food). There's really no such thing as a detox diet (for a fun experiment, ask them to name a single toxin the diet supposedly removes). And the Daniel diet is not a Biblical weight loss program. The issue in Daniel was his desire to remain obedient to God's law (Jews had dietary laws, gentiles don't). In fact, Daniel gained weight during this time (Dan. 1:15). With all that said, I'm for proper diet. Obesity is a huge problem in America and the increasing attention to diet is probably a good thing. Not to mention that gluttony is in fact a sin. Honestly, most of us could do with a little exercise and a better diet. Just find a balance and don't get sucked in by absurd claims.

In conclusion, there are alternative medical treatments that are worth exploring, but we should exercise wisdom when approaching the topic. Mainly, I hope to draw attention to several popular alternative treatments (homeopathy, acupuncture, yoga, chiropractic) that are rooted in occult practices, which Christians should absolutely avoid. It's one thing to partake unknowingly, but to dabble in sorcery with knowledge is certainly a sin.