Allopathic Medicine and Alternative Medicine

A problematic attitude I have seen in followers of Western allopathic medic=
ine is their dismissive, even hateful, attitude to the practitioners of alt=
ernative medicine. The claim being made about them is that they are irratio=
nal quacks who do not live in the real world. In fact these are simply peop=
le who have figured out that there have been smart people in the world befo=
re there was Western allopathic medicine, and that some of these people hav=
e come up with valid things. Their stance is not irrational; it is highly r=
ational. It comes from understanding that there have been many smart people=
 outside Western allopathic tradition, and that is a lesson from which many=
 people, including regular doctors, stand to learn.

Another claim has been that such things are witchcraft. I see witchcraft in=
 the same way in which I see guns. It is what you are using it for. Witches=
 believe that all that people send out comes back to them three times; whic=
h means that most witchcraft is going to be good.  With ones who are doing =
bad things through witchcraft, there should be a way to keep them in check =
in the same way as can be done with any kind of wrongdoing.

Of vast influence in the Western world are three worldviews: Materialism, C=
hristianity and Metaphysics. All of them hate one another. However it is al=
so possible for them to work with one another as well. During the Second Wo=
rld War, the English military went to Aleister Crowley for advice, especial=
ly as to how to deal with Nazi magic. There have been people in the academi=
a studying such things as re-incarnation. There are many people who, having=
 been exposed to paganism or occultism, convert to Christianity and use the=
 knowledge they=E2=80=99ve gained to empower the church.

I guess the question to ask is one made by Rodney King: =E2=80=9CCan we all=
 get along?=E2=80=9D I think that we very well may be able to all get along=
. I follow Jesus, but I am respectful of other paths to wisdom. I have espe=
cially found wisdom in the Hindus and Buddhists. Probably the only major sp=
iritual path I=E2=80=99ve never considered seriously is Islam, and they hav=
e to blame for that the behavior of their followers.

I have seen the best and the worst in people, and both appear to cut across=
 ideologies. They are not all equally good or equally bad; some are better =
than others. However within each one there is also variety among individual=
 practitioners. I both embrace and oppose multiculturalism. It is valid for=
 there to be a cultural variety in the world instead of a universal monocul=
ture that fails to consider ways and wisdom other than its own.. At the sam=
e time, tolerance for other cultures doesn=E2=80=99t mean accepting a cultu=
re that thinks it is right to throw sulfuric acid into the face of a child =
for going to school, or to brutally beat one=E2=80=99s family, or to kill o=
ne=E2=80=99s daughter and throw her body to the dogs for getting raped.

Is there a potential for abuses with things such as occultism? Yes, yes, a =
thousand times yes. The correct solution is for the benevolent to learn the=
 tricks of the malevolent and use them for things that are right. Academia =
gains absolutely nothing from failure to consider alternative medicine; ins=
tead it impoverishes its own understanding. A truly rational person will re=
alize, once again, that there have been many smart people in the world befo=
re there was allopathic medicine, and that things stand to be learned from =
these people. Then one=E2=80=99s understanding of the world will grow deepe=
r, and one will be able to do more for the world.