Does the GB unwittingly endorse disobedience to the FDS??

by hamsterbait 6 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  hamsterbait

  I dont have the WT CD, so will need help on the references.

  Do you remember how the Borg originally said that acupunture was demonic, as it posited unproven theories as to how it worked?

  So for many years, a JW would not take acupuncture treatments, if they were truly faithful.

  THEN (and note this well) an article came out, where the writer told us about his experiences of acupuncture, and how it helped him.

  In the interim NO STATEMENT RESCINDING THE PREVIOUS VIEW OF ACUPUNCTURE AS WRONG HAD BEEN PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.

  In other words, they printed an article showing that a JW had gone against current "light".

  The same thing happened with Kidney Dialysis.

  One minute the WTBTS says it is wrong, then an article comes out about a CO wife who had a home dialysis machine - again with no printed article cancelling the previous "light".

  Are they stupid, or is somebody telling us to do what WE think is right?

  HB
• 

  hamsterbait

  Looks like a "DEAD THREAD" tho it could have shown some interesting flip flops....

  OY VEY....

  HB
• 

  Elsewhere

  The WTS has so many articles about so many topics all piled up in a huge heap that when one writes a new article it is almost impossible to not contradict a previous article.

  This is because their literature is Spirit Directed. (lots and lots of booze drinking going on.)
• 

  maninthemiddle

  I don't see anything against either of these procedures in the material on the CD. If there was talk against it, it was probably before the 70s.
• 

  hamsterbait

  man in the MDDLE

  Interesting that the current CD doesnt let you find the references....

  We were dubs in the late 60s.

  I gather that a search on 1975, or "6000 years of human history" also gets a no show. At least on the later discs.

  HB
• 

  maninthemiddle

  Hmm, could be.... I do like to give them the benifit of the doubt in in things like this.. But i do remember a lot of talk in the '80s about Dialysis... I remember it as a "conscientious matter... with the relative warning much like blood fractions now. My fater even now refuses fractions, he has always been over the top, so maybe that was his opinion I remember..or Maybe it was one of thoes things that what was said in talks was different than what was in print.
• 

  blondie

  *** g72 9/8 pp. 15-16 Is There Anything to Acupuncture? ***

  ‘Mind

  over

  Matter’?

  The key question about acupuncture is this: How does it work? Is it really ‘scientific,’ or is it a case of ‘mind over matter’? Could it even be associated with spiritism?

  As yet no one really knows how acupuncture works. Even its most ardent supporters admit that they do not know the precise scientific explanation.

  Because of this, some have suggested that acupuncture is related to hypnosis. American orthopedist Dr. Robert Kerland compared acupuncture to drinking from the water of Lourdes, or having Oral Roberts touch people who then scream "I’m cured." Others suggest that the Chinese have been brainwashed by Mao Tse-tung’s thoughts.

  Many, however, disagree. Dr. Rosen notes that the Chinese have produced general anesthesia in animals by using acupuncture. "I do not think that cats and dogs read the quotations of Chairman Mao," said a Chinese acupuncturist. Dr. Darras said that the French have also conducted experiments on animals to show that acupuncture success cannot be attributed to suggestion or hypnosis.

  Dr. Gutman of New York, when asked about the matter, replied: "A psychological factor is involved in any medical treatment. That’s why there are clinical trials with placebos. Since acupuncture has been successfully used, particularly in China, in pediatrics [children] and in veterinary medicine [animals], . . . the psychological factor, if any, is only a small part of the effect, as in any other therapy."

  Dr. Rosen, noting the skepticism regarding acupuncture, stated: "There is a lot of skepticism about how aspirin works too, but people still take aspirin when they have a headache." He noted that "our Chinese colleagues also had been skeptical but that they finally had to bow to the evidence of their senses."

  Medical

  WorldNews says: "Research in the Soviet Union and other countries indicates that reflexes between points on the skin and internal organs are involved." Dr. Ting told the New York Times: "We believe that the needle point desensitizes certain nerve centers and promotes a flow of health." Other explanations involve nerve connections and electrical impulses.

  In the Easton, Pennsylvania, Express Dr. Lawrence Lamb, commenting on acupuncture, said: "We are always learning new things about the body, and even new ways in which things are relayed by the nervous system. There are many feedback mechanisms from the skin itself that cause all sorts of problems. A good example is letting the skin be chilled or cooled and ending up with a stiff neck."

  More

  Knowledge

  Needed

  Thus, at this point, there is no agreement on how acupuncture works, or the extent to which it does. It is agreed that much more research needs to be done on it in the Western world, especially in the United States.

  Prevention

  magazine put it this way: "One of the reasonable demands of the public upon the medical establishment is that they investigate, carefully and in good faith, the possible uses of acupuncture. In a world full of pain and suffering, we cannot afford to ignore any promising therapy simply because the AMA [American Medical Association] does not understand it."

  Dr. Gutman says: "One requirement for everyone who wants to call himself a true scientist is open-mindedness. It should be pointed out that one of the few giants of medicine—Semmelweis, discoverer of the cause of childbed fever and father of modern antisepsis—was condemned and persecuted by the medical profession of his time."

  Hence, for most of the world outside China, acupuncture is still in an experimental stage. At this point there does not seem to be any evidence that it is based only on ‘mind over matter,’ or that it is associated with hypnotism or spiritism. But much more remains to be learned.

  *** g80 8/22 pp. 25-26 I Got the Point—About Acupuncture ***

  What

  Is

  Acupuncture?

  There has been a tendency to dismiss acupuncture as mysterious hocus-pocus, a simple placebo, or a psychological effect. Upon investigation, I was reminded that oftentimes ignorance breeds suspicion. For example, when William Roentgen discovered X rays, he was considered a quack.

  That acupuncture is neither superstition nor a pure psychosomatic therapy is evident from reports of a veterinarian in Mito, Japan, who applies acupuncture with four electrified needles to farm animals. According to the veterinarian, the treatment neutralizes the acute pain of cows after stomach operations and speeds recovery afterward. It is also used successfully on newborn infants. Another impressive point is that clinical tests have proved that body parts and functions react when acupuncture is applied. For example, tests in Japan and Europe prove that application to a particular acupuncture point can raise the red blood-cell production from below normal to normal level in 24 hours.

  Explaining the treatment, the acupuncturist who treated me said: "Acupuncture is simply our way of treating illness. The patient likes the personal touch that is sometimes regrettably missing in Western medical treatment. Through acupuncture we can ease pain and correct an unhealthy condition—in other words, help one who is sick to regain reasonably good health."

  Yes, I got the point—about acupuncture.—Contributed.

  *** g00 11/22 p. 22 From Agony to Anesthesia ***

  ACUPUNCTURE—Pain Relief From the EastAcupuncture is an ancient Chinese therapy that is said to relieve pain. Practitioners insert needles at specific points on the body, often distant from the area being treated. Once inserted, the needles may be twirled or connected to a low-voltage electric current. Encyclopædia Britannica says that acupuncture "is routinely used in China as an anesthetic during surgery. Western visitors have witnessed ambitious (and ordinarily painful) surgical operations carried out on fully conscious Chinese patients locally anesthetized only by acupuncture."

  Acupuncture should only be practiced by a skilled, medically trained therapist. According to the Encyclopedia Americana, "serious accidents have occurred when acupuncture needles have pierced the heart or the lungs, and hepatitis, local infection, and similar complications may occur when unsterilized needles are used." Of course, the use of general anesthesia also carries risks, as do operations themselves—whichever form of anesthesia is used.