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Non-Western/holistic medicine
John Mcreery (jlm@TWICS.COM)
Sat, 23 Jul 1994 10:06:46 JST
J.O'Brien writes,
"crap! you are biased!"
He is absolutely right. I am strongly biased in favor of the kind of
scholarship that requires knowing the languages and sifting through the
primary material before making sweeping generalizations about traditions
that have sub-continent wide distributions, hundreds of years of recorded
history, and impact for good or ill on the lives of billions of people.
As a stick for beating the modern medical establishment, I also approve
of "holistic" medicine as a way to promote more personal and total forms
of care. What leaves me more than a little dubious are schemes that pick
up a bit of Taoism here, a bit of Tantra there, throw in some chants
from black Elk and a passing reference to Voodoo, add crystals, yoga
and hallelujah! we're dealing with the whole person. I admire P.T. Barnum.
I don't want to be one of his marks.
Still feeling ornery,
John
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