Would most people consider IFB churches anti-government and anti-modern medicine?

I have been visiting my daughter's fundamentalist Baptist church and I know the preacher is on blood pressure and possibly diabetes medicine. He is about as conservative as you can get. but I can say one thing for the man, he may have a few minor things I don't agree with, He is a man of God and puts his trust in God. All basic doctrinal theologies that are not spelled out in the Bible and added by man in denominations are ignored, but if its in the Bible it is followed strictly by Him. I have no problem with the man and He is a STRONG preacher who tends his flock.

 

Wow...this almost gets funny after a while.

OK...basis statistical analysis here: you cannot honestly talk about "deaths from medicine" unless you consider the flip side--and that is, "who would have died without the medicine?Of course, that is not even addressed in your post. Surprise, surprise. But if statistics are on your side, then you shouldn't fear them. So try again...but this time, let's be intellectually honest. You must ask the remainder of the question..."compared to what?" So maybe some do die because of side effects. But what if those deaths were due to side-effects of experimental cancer drugs on a terminal patient? Let's be real in this process here.

Now, secondly...Is this the best you have to prove the "evils" of pharmaceutical drugs?

Wow. A couple of out-of-context verses? Come on...you can do better than that, can't you?

Does that include providing incomplete or out-of-context information?

Wow. So taking medicine for illnesses and injury is "evil?"

Interesting viewpoint. Nutty, but interesting.

And many others have successfully managed their diabetes thanks to medications that in recent years have been a godsend for millions of people.

Don't get me wrong...I'm all for good exercise, nutrition, etc. But if you've really got a medical background, you know that there are millions of people in this country who (even after taking care of themselves physically & nutritioinally), without pharmaceutical help for diabetes, will have serious (if not fatal) consequences. Let's be intellectually honest here. Your grandmother's sister notwithstanding.

 

In my lifetime, I have never heard of a person cured of diabetes. There are basically three types of diabetes: Type 1 from birth; type 2 onset, and : type 2 that develops temporarily by pregnancy. The latter is often finished with the pregnancy.

The former two stem from a deficiency in the pancreas, which cannot convert naturally and allows sugar imbalance. We control this with insulin shots, or drugs in the case of type 2. Some type 2 patients have brought their diabetes under control by weight loss, proper diet and exercise, so they no longer need either insulin shots or pills.......the diabetes is still there, but is under natural control.

Prior to insulin, the only treatment was direct dissolved sugar injections,,,,,,,sometimes it worked, but many died early on.

Further, many of the deaths reported from the reactions to drugs, have so many health problems that it would take a miracle in the first place to heal them. Some people will go to several doctors and not tells them what drugs they have tried.poor doctors are left in the cold.

My one daughter is a forensics pathologist. You should ask her about drugs, abuse and the people who died. Amazing how the statistics change.

Also, the drug companies spend millions developing drugs, testing them and trial runs before they earn a penny from sales.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I agree with my friend's remarks above.

 

I still have 20 years and 3 children on you.

Do paxil, lisonipril, etc cause disease? Of course not. As Ann has stated we have disease as a result of the fall. Medicine can only attempt to alieve the suffering.

Vaccines have saved thousands of lives, eradicated small pox from the face of the earth (good for me since I am immune to the vaccine), nearly eradicated polio. There are two sides to every story.

Yes, in my opinion, we give our very young children way to many vaccines, way to early. If you're wife is going to be a stay at home, homeschooling woman, then your baby has no need for certain of the vaccines they push on parents nowdays. But if your child is going to go to public school, you better reconsider. They will be exposed to a whole host of contagions.

You should take a walk through an older cemetary. One that has graves going back to around 1900. You will be amazed at the number of childrens graves you find. Vaccines are to blame for the dramatic drop in the childhood death rate from those years to now. Terrible thing that. We should just let all those kids die, because we fear an unproven side effect.

That's not to say that pharmaseudical companies couldn't improve on their products so that parents didn't have to fear even the chance that their child's body couldn't handle the effects of an element that is toxic in certain amounts to human beings. But, don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

Decisions as to which vaccines are beneficial to your child and which aren't are why God made you the parent! But to preach that I shouldn't give one oversteps your authority.

Now please don't tell me that you are one of those who denies that our bodies can fail to produce the proper chemistry to keep our brains running properly and that you believe that all mental illness is spiritual in nature. We don't live in the dark ages where epilepsy was considered demon possession, don't take us back there.

 

Even the psalmist wrote: "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if my reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." Psalm 90:10..oh, KJV.

Where goeth the 900 some odd years now, and it didn't take modernity and drugs, did it.

Cheers,

Jim

 

There is certainly room for debate over modern medicine. certainly many have side effects that you might think are as bad as the problem.
But to preach this stuff from the pulpit is most inapropriate.

The church is to proclaim the gospel, not social or political agendas.

 

We may be giving this more att'n than it's worth but here goes...

You mentioned Lisinopril, I'll defend it. It has helped me lower my blood pressure. I also lost 60 lbs BUT when I attempted to go off the pill, my blood pressure shot straight up again. I watch what I eat and keep my doctor happy with my weight, but without the medicine, I'd be in the danger range simply because of a fallen world and high blood pressure family history.

 

I am a medical student who is very open to natural alternatives to medications and has a close friend who is a naturopath who I respect greatly. One of the reasons for this is because of her recognition of the limitations of naturopathic medicine as well as her scientific background that acknowledges that modern western medicine with all its flaws still does a great deal of good. I would have no problems referring my patients to her.

However, I am very wary of naturopaths who paint a broad brush about the evil of modern medicine and claim to be able to cure difficult diseases like diabetes and cancer. They are dangerous and should be avoided like snake-oil salesmen for selling false hope among other things. Additionally, they taint the good reputation of legitimate naturopaths.

Of course, there are extremes in every profession, including the medical profession itself. The difficulty with professions like naturopathic medicine is the looser licencing requirements which in some places are non-existent.

 

In the early days, before national health in England, we couldn't afford health care and we went to the gypsies. One of the most popular medicines was vinegar. Amazing, innit. Vinegar, inhaled, is still one of the best "medicines" for sore throats, cuts and a few other things. Now don't for get the daily spoon of cod liver oil!

It is interesting that vinegar is one of the first "drugs" mentioned in the Old Testament.

As Gold Dragon mentioned, there is room for both kinds of treatments. Let common sense prevail. Not many years ago, the average general practioner didn't have a clue about diabetes. I think one doctor said that their whole learning about diabetes was just a few hours in a lecture out of the whole of their medical training.

So, let's find the balance we live our lives, and as some have said, It doesn't belong in the pulpit.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Ann, good responses.

Because your responses were reasonable, measured, and factual...and because you annhialated the goofy viewpoint of the OP...I fully expect one of two responses:

1. Silence; or
2. A post that registers a 10 on the paranoid-ridiculous-o-meter.

 

Ultimately everyone is responsible for his own health care. Doctors are fallible and sinful men just like everyone else, and there are very few good doctors. I have rejected a doctor's advice on more than one occasion after doing independent research, and was glad I did.

Here's the thing with pills, most of the time you're simply exchanging one set of symptoms for a new set. Yeah, your fibromyalgia might not hurt as much, but watch out heart and kidneys!

Unless a condition can truly be corrected, a minimalist approach is usually the best approach.

 

I knew a fireman who worked with my dad. Sadly, he was killed when a 7 story building wall crashed on him. But, before this, I would often go to the fire-station where I would stay the night and dad would take me to school before he went to his other job fixing two-way radios for the city.

We were eating breakfast, which at the firestation meals are always a big deal and good conversation.

The fireman who was later killed was an Indian and he told me about his grandmother who had chronic headaches.

The other indians put her in a smokehouse and put herbs in pots in the corner and burned them. Her headaches miraculously went away and she would feel great.

He said it was not until the police demonstrated the smell of Marijuana (which you never forget) did he recognize the smell of the herbs being burned to remove his mother's headaches. Obviously, it worked and no wonder she liked it. :laugh: