KingdomBuilder wrote:I raised this point earlier: if you look into the history of any herb (motherwort, lobelia, vervain, etc. etc.), you will find some occultic past and/or usage.
So where do we draw the line?
Lamp and Light Publishers published a book on this subject, which I think I have in my library somewhere. They go into great length concerning homeopathic treatment and chiropractors. What I think happens often in such cases is that they dig up old explanations about the treatment. The Chinese had no idea why chiropractic treatments worked, so they came up with what they considered a plausible explanation. Mennonites and fundamentalists of today grab that explanation and use it as "proof" of the relationship between occult practice and chiropractic treatments.
The same thing happens in many other situations. So an Indian witch doctor discovers that a certain plant can be brewed into a tea that helps a medical condition. It becomes a part of his magic occultic treatments. Now suppose that same witch doctor had stumbled onto penicillin. Would we now condemn penicillin as being occultic?
I know that occult is real. And I know that some of the Old Mennonites in the past got involved in some of that. But do we really have to find a fire behind every wood pile because of that? There is nothing inherently godly about modern medicine. It is really unfortunate when churches divide over these issues. In spite of what has been said in this thread, that does happen, and has happened even in our Western Fellowship, I believe.
I'm inclined to agree with the old Mennonite bishop who told me that what is most important is knowing your doctor and what he stands for. I didn't go to a herbalist to fix my fistula, I went to a surgeon. Maybe a nutritionist specializing in "natural" methods could help with my Krone's Disease. Or maybe Plexus would do it. But my battle with a fistula was scary enough that I think I'll stick with what I know works -- Remicade. But if someone wants to take the other route, that is fine with me. Where I have a problem is when these situations are viewed as spiritual issues. I remember discussing acupuncture with Dr Nolan Byler once (he's an old friend of mine) and he admitted that as an osteopath he uses the same points as they do, but uses pressure instead of needles. So why is the one wrong and the other okay? I'm not an expert at some of these things, but too often it seems to me that we are straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.