James R. Coggins (coggins.ca) is a writer, editor, and historian living in British Columbia.A recent television documentary reminded me that in the middle of the twentieth century, many doctors were recommending the health benefits of smoking tobacco, while evangelical churches campaigned strongly against smoking.For me, this has once again raised the issue of the debate/conflict between faith and science. Advocates of science often seem to assert that science is right because it is based on evidence and reason, while religion is wrong because it is based on nothing but blind faith. These advocates tell us to “trust the science.”.TOKEN LEFTY: The UCP manufactured teacher’s strike.However, the history of medicine is littered with examples of remedies championed by doctors and other experts that either didn’t work or had disastrous side effects. A couple mentioned in the recent documentary were coffee enemas and transfusions of cow’s milk. More recent examples include thalidomide (a drug to ease morning sickness and other symptoms in pregnant women that led to deformed babies) and opioids (pain relievers that have produced an addiction crisis). These disastrous effects are more common in new and experimental treatments.The issue that has most brought this question into modern focus is the COVID-19 epidemic. In the early stages, politicians, government health bodies, and doctors offered advice that was later proven wrong (“wear gloves, don’t wear masks”). Later on, they advocated for the newly developed COVID-19 vaccines, declaring that they were “safe and effective.” Anyone who disagreed (including some doctors and nurses) was dismissed (sometimes literally from their jobs), and people were told to “trust the science.” This campaign backfired. .In the first place, politicians should never make pronouncements on medicine, science, and other fields where they are not experts. They politicized what should have been a medical issue. In the second place, the COVID-19 vaccines were presented using false information. They were never vaccines (made from dead strains of the virus in question) but a gene manipulation technique that has never been explained in terms that laypeople such as myself have been able to understand. As well, the vaccines were declared to be “safe and effective,” when in reality they were “relatively safe and relatively effective.” Because they are afraid of admitting that they could have been wrong, governments and health authorities have been slow to recognize and treat those suffering adverse consequences from these “safe and effective vaccines.” .THOMSON: Canada’s silent war: Losing to terrorists without a fight.The result has been that trust in governments and in the medical system has declined. Because of disillusionment with the COVID-19 vaccines, more people are refusing to have themselves and their children inoculated with other vaccines, which over a long period of time have proven to be safer and more effective than the COVID-19 vaccines. This has led to an increase in preventable diseases such as measles, chickenpox, and polio. Rather than criticize such people as ignorant and foolish, governments and public health authorities should perhaps take a long look in the mirror to see what role they have played in this undermining of trust in the public health system.This is not one of those columns that complains about government conspiracies and big pharma. I am not an anti-vaxxer. My wife and I received the first three COVID-19 shots but stopped after she experienced serious side effects from the last two. Nor am I an advocate for “alternative medical treatments.” .On the whole, faith healers, herbal remedies, holy water, traditional medicine, pyramids, magic crystals, magic mushrooms, marijuana, and other street drugs have proved far less safe and far less effective than modern medical treatments. I also believe in the power of faith and prayer. There are divine healings that take place through modern medical treatments and divine healings that take place outside of modern medical treatments that the experts cannot explain. But those healings are unique miracles of God without the agency of magic devices and objects and beyond the power of human beings to control.My greatest objection is with the use of the phrase “trust the science.” Trust is a synonym for “faith.” “Trust the science” calls for the same type of blind faith that the scientific and medical communities ridicule in the religious realm. .EDITORIAL: A pipeline to prosperity: Eby’s narrow vision stifles Canada’s potential.Medical theories and treatments, even modern ones, are not infallible. Many have been proven to be wrong. But it is continued scientific testing that has discredited some treatments and improved others. Rather than “Trust the science,” our motto should be “Test the science.” That testing should include listening to the critics and dissenters rather than silencing them. Any scientific or medical theory that cannot withstand rigorous debate and examination cannot and should not be trusted.James R. Coggins (coggins.ca) is a writer, editor, and historian living in British Columbia..Due to a high level of spam content being posted in our comment section below, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
