Dear Gilbert, Are you now claiming that one of the purposes of the Inquisition in Goa was to
stamp out medical malpractice by non-Catholic doctors? If you can document such cases in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, you will have a sure best-selling treatise on your hands. Regards, Victor ________________________________ From: Gilbert Lawrence <gilbert2...@yahoo.com> To: goa...@goanet.org Sent: Sat, October 23, 2010 3:47:21 PM Subject: [Goanet] Goa: The Cruellest Inquisition ------------ Gabriel de Figueiredo Why dig out only the Portuguese? Perhaps comparative history would be better - how many people were subject to torture in England in the same period, and how many people were tortured in India by the Brits in a similar period for political and religious reasons? ----------- GL responds: As I was writing my last response to this thread, I read the posts about the practice of medicine by medical quacks - aka non-certified physicians. Today likely in Goa and India; but definitely in UK, Australia, USA, etc medical quacks are barred and even subject to criminal prosecutions because of the risk of killing patients. Medical quacks are certainly condemned on Goanet. Yet similar efforts in 16th, 17th, 18th century in colonial Goa against non-certified doctors a.k.a. vaidya (Hindu), hakim (Muslim) are called the "abuses of Inquisition." Given the economic advancement of colonial Goa, it was an attractive place for anyone seeking to improve their socio-economic status. The govt action of colonial Goa is condemned, by the same people, who rightly condemn the current medical practices of non-certified medical practitioners. I find this hypocrisy and / or ignorance amusing. I am not claiming that 'certified physicians' of the 16th, 17th, 18th century were practicing 'evidence based medicine' and were always curing patients. All I am claiming is the desire to license physicians in the 20th and 21st century was as significant and important as in the 16th, 17th, 18th century in colonial Goa. Regards, GL