--- Kevin Saldanha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I posted the link to the outcome of the lawsuit > against Quackbusters because there are always two >sides to every story... and the spin masters are >getting better and better every day. Reading the two >sites (Quackbusters and Quackpotwatch) are as >interesting as the debates here on GoaNet. >
Dear Kevin, A reasonable argument can be made for the role of particular kinds of harmless, untested, faith-based alternative treatments in chronic diseases that may sometimes be resistant to well-tested, evidence-based rational treatments. I have made this argument here on several occasions in the past (please see the archives). I have also made the argument that alternative therapies should be subjected to the same kind of rigorous validation procedures as modern scientific therapies. And when one does this, they would no longer be alternative. They would be part of the armamentarium of modern evidence-based human and veterinary medicine. However, this is not the issue that I am concerned about in your recent missives. What I am concerned about is highlighted by your quote above, and your citation of two questionable sources in this forum to support your case for vegetarianism. I submit to you that in recommending these sources as "mainstream" and authentic you have not adequately exercised your powers of critical inquiry and dispassionate rational thinking. If you had done so, you would have noted that these sources provide misleading information regarding health and nutrition, and have irrational anti-establishment agendas. For example, the author of the book you have recommended claims that milk and dairy products cause a host of diseases including bronchial asthma, diabetes, and breast and prostate cancers (Please see http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.227/news_detail.asp). His group is against all human and veterinary biomedical research involving animals, and opposes non-profit humanitarian organizations such as American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, the American Red Cross and March of Dimes. As Jose pointed out earlier, the other source acts as a publicist for various quack remedies including magical cures for AIDS and cancer, and fake electrical devices that supposedly kill parasites, bacteria and viruses. The website Quackpotwatch.org (http://www.quackpotwatch.org/) you refer to above claims that there is a worldwide conspiracy to suppress these "cures", and that professional scientists and physicians who expose them as frauds, are part of that conspiracy. I question your judgment in implying in the above quote that the two sides, namely those who expose health-related fraud and the litigant who sues and campaigns against them are making equally valid claims. If you believe that reason and evidence rather than faith can settle all disputes in the real world then this has got be a good test case for such a settlement. I hope you recognize this fact, and show some consistency in your rationality. Cheers, Santosh
