In the world of homeopathy, the truth is often much weirder than fiction. Take this recent article, for instance; it was published by the famous lay homeopath Alan Schmukler in the current issue of ‘HOMEOPATHY 4 EVERYONE’.
Before you read the text in question, it might be relevant to explain who Schmukler is: he attended Temple University, where he added humanistic psychology to his passions. After graduating Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa and President’s Scholar, he spent several years doing workshops in human relations. Alan also studied respiratory therapy and worked for three years at Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia. Those thousands of hours in the intensive care and emergency rooms taught him both the strengths and limitations of conventional medicine. Schmukler learned about homeopathy in 1991 when he felt he had been cured of an infection with Hepar sulph. He later founded the Homeopathic Study Group of Metropolitan Philadelphia, giving free lectures and hosting the areas best homeopaths to teach. He also helped found and edit Homeopathy News and Views, a popular culture newsletter on homeopathy. He taught homeopathy for Temple University’s Adult Programs, and has been either studying, writing, lecturing or consulting on homeopathy since 1991. He wrote Homeopathy An A to Z home Handbook, which is now available in five languages. Alan Schmukler has been practicing homeopathy for more than two decades and is Chief Editor of Hpathy.com and of Homeopathy4Everyone. He says that his work as Editor is one of his most rewarding experiences.
Now, brace yourself, here is the promised text/satire (in bold); I promise, I did not change a single word:
EIGHT REASONS TO VACCINATE YOUR CHILD
- Your child is deficient in Mercury, Aluminum, Formaldehyde, viruses, foreign DNA or other ingredients proven to cause neurological damage.
- Your child has an excess of healthy, functioning brain cells.
- You need more cash. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation program has paid out 2.8 billion dollars to parents of children injured or killed by vaccines.
- You and your husband are feeling alienated and you need a crisis to bring you together.
- You believe that pharmaceutical conglomerates which earn billions from vaccines are more credible than consumer groups.
- You think thousands of parents who report that their children became autistic two weeks after vaccination are lying.
- You don’t see a problem in logic when the government tells you that vaccines work, but that vaccinated children can catch diseases from unvaccinated children.
- You think the government should dictate which healing methods you and your children are allowed to use.
Funny? No!
Bad taste? Very much so!
Barmy? I think so!
Dangerous? Yes!
Irresponsible? Most certainly!
Unethical? Yes!
Characteristic for lay homeopathy? Possibly!
14 Responses to The bizarre world of homeopathy: “Eight reasons to vaccinate your child”
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You missed out “vicious”.
I agree that the ‘the government should (NOT) dictate which healing methods you and your children are allowed to use.’
But of course ‘homeopathy’ is not a ‘healing method’ and so needs no consideration whatsoever.
Homeopathy has never ‘healed’ anything, though time spent with an empathic practitioner may have helped patients come to terms with their condition.
This chap is obviously a Specialist in Logical Fallacies.
most homeopaths are, in my opinion!
When it comes to delusional thinking, Alan Schmukler is living proof that intelligent people have the strongest delusions. Unfortunately this wasted mind will cause harm to some of those who are persuaded by his point of view. His background in Psychology would have been a good training for “flexible” thinking. Ref: “Psychology Gone Wrong” by Tomasz Witkowski and Maciej Zatonski. He then went into health care in a position where he would be treating seriously ill patients but with little decision making power. That would have been an ideal breeding ground for resentment. Homeopathy has offered an alternative platform from which to articulate this resentment. There is blatant resentment of establishment and people in power written into all eight “reasons”. Schmukler has a position of power in make believe medicine and this has turned him into a zealot. Beware of Zealots!
I was just rereading this post and noticed number 3. Not being American, I have never heard of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program. Does it exist? And if so, what injuries has it been compensating 2.8 billion dollars for. That seems a hellava lot of money. Surely that indeed would be a national scandal. Personally, I’ve never heard of any “injuries” from vaccines. I know the guy is nasty and seems to have turned his victimhood into a persecution complex, but on this point is there any truth?
schmuck
ʃmʌk/
noun North American informal
noun: schmuck
a foolish or contemptible person.
“you’ve really got to be some schmuck to fall for that one”
(Google definitions)
From http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/statisticsreport.pdf
since 1988 its paid out $3.19 – which is alot of money. about $118m per year for about 4200 claims. So about $1m per claim (how much to lawyers how much to the kids?) .
From http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/statisticsreport.pdf
since 1988 its paid out $3.19 – which is alot of money. about $118m per year for about 4200 claims. So about $1m per claim (how much to lawyers how much to the kids?) .
Wonder if alot of these payments were historical for the failed polio vaccines in California etc.
Thank you for asking about the Vaccine injury compensation program.
https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/index.html
Here’s a list of table injuries..
https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/vaccineinjurytable.pdf
The amount paid out is now approximately $3.5 billion.
That’s $3,500,000.00 dollars.
@Gina Harrison
I see you understand neither the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, what can and cannot be concluded from any case or, indeed, simple numbers.
If I didn’t know better I’d say this was a parody. #5 is particularly ironic.