“changing the world” seems to be the objective of many and varied groups today. Religious and pseudo-religious groups emphasize that the changes are necessary in the individual and in doing that they can affect a change in the world as a whole (even if that individual change comes by threat of death). The environmentalists believe that problems arise from the conditions of our environment and in changing that environment, mankind will benefit. There are also a number of individuals and groups, although not organized, which can be referred to as the “human potential movement.” Unlike the environmentalists who feel that changing our environment is of utmost importance, the human potential movement believes that in changing man, that will have its greatest effect upon planet Earth, its resources, and its inhabitants. In actuality trying to change man’s external world (environment) or internal world (physiology) makes very little difference. Both are seeking to affect change by the use of the educated brain. Each of these movements has specific objectives.
This article is not an attempt to determine the efficacy, validity, or value of each of these organized efforts. It is therefore not necessary to describe or understand the programs. objectives and weaknesses of each of these individual groups but it is only necessary to clarify and isolate our understanding of the objective of non-therapeutic straight chiropractic. Objective chiropractic, non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is the location and correction of vertebral subluxation to enable the human organism as an individual to function closer to his or her potential. Straight chiropractic recognizes the human organism is an interrelated, interdependent organism and seeks to enable all of those 25 to 30 quadrillion cells, or however many there are, to express themselves individually and collectively as perfectly as possible. However, straight chiropractic limits its objective to the expression of that organism as an individual. It is not the objective of the chiropractor to go any further than maintaining that expression on an individual basis. For the objective straight chiropractor that is enough. Whether the collective expression of the individual organisms contributes to a better society or better world is not within the objective of the non therapeutic chiropractor. Any attempt to hypothesize this area is not philosophy but theory. Philosophy deals with deductive reasoning based upon present knowledge. Theory is a supporting conjecture, or hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument.
The innate intelligence of the body, while a part of the intelligence of the universe, confines its activities to the maintenance of those tissues in which it resides. It does not concern itself withthe well-being of another organism or the species in general, except in such situations in which another organism may pose a threat to the tissues in which it resides. Example: the action of the innate intelligence of the body upon microorganisms which may threaten the well-being of that body.
The purpose of chiropractic is not to change anything. Whether it be the internal environment of the human body, the external environment of the human body, or the world as a whole.
The purpose of the practice of medicine is to effect physical and chemical changes within the human body. For a chiropractor to attempt to effect changes within the human organism through mechanical means, physical means, heat, cold, ultrasonic waves or the manipulation of the vertebral column is impinging upon the practice of medicine. In non-therapeutic chiropractic we call that “mixing”.
Enabling the body to function at a greater potential by correcting vertebral subluxations is non-therapeutic chiropractic, changing bodily functions is the concern of the innate intelligence of the practice member’s body. There are many other factors that will affect bodily function, in addition to the integrity of the nervous system. Factors such as the external environment, limitations of time, and limitations of matter all play a role in whatever changes may or may not take place. The chiropractor does not assume to have the ability to control or affect those external forces and the limitations of time and matter, hence, he cannot attempt to affect any physiological change within the body.
There are many causes of a disease such as cancer, like the quality of the air that is breathed and the condition of the lung tissue. For this reason a chiropractor does not attempt to treat or cure any disease including cancer. For he has no control over the air breathed nor the quality or quantity of the lung tissue (except to remove mental impulse interference at the vertebral level). The chiropractor’s sole concern is to maintain the integrity of the nervous system, allowing the cancerous lung (in this case), with whatever abilities and capacities it has for repair and normal function, to be presented with a good supply of mental impulses from the brain. The treatment of cancer and all diseases for that matter is the practice of medicine. To attempt to affect a change within the body necessitates knowing what is normal for that particular body. One must also have the capacity and ability to influence all the factors noted above. The chiropractor can do neither. Similarly, to attempt to change the world necessitates not only knowing what the conditions of the world should be but also having the ability to affect all the factors involved.
History is replete with individuals, governments, and groups, who believe that they know what the world needs. I’m sure none of us would agree with Hitler’s concept of a super race and how he thought to achieve it. Very few of us would agree with Alexander the Great’s viewpoint of what the world should be like. Most of us would disagree with Soviet Russia’s concept of a communistic society. It is presumptuous therefore for anyone, including and especially a chiropractor, to pretend to have knowledge of what the world needs to cure all of its ills and then to claim the ability to effect that change. Those who would see chiropractic as part of the human potential movement might argue that they are not attempting to change the world through chiropractic, but, allowing chiropractic play a small part in that movement in order to effect a change within the world. They would argue that chiropractic can play its part whether small or large in that greater movement.
Chiropractic cannot be aligned with the eco-geneticists objectives. To mix chiropractic with the ecology movement, religion, the human potential movement, or any other philosophy is just as dangerous to the future and the preservation of this principle as is mixing medical or therapeutic procedures with chiropractic. For the sake of the preservation of our principal, chiropractic must never be mixed with anything or anything mixed with it.
Chiropractic cannot become a part of any movement, philosophy or religion without losing its separate and distinct identity. It may be a very glorious aspiration in life to change the world, but then it is also a very glorious aspiration to relieve suffering, reduce pain and treat symptoms (at least some people think so. None of these goals are the objective of the chiropractor. We in chiropractic must understand our objectives, the limitations of our practice, and most important we must accept the value of the procedure that we perform. We must recognize the inherent worth of correcting vertebral subluxations because they in and of themselves are detrimental to the well-being of the human organism. We must stop attaching any greater ramifications to that act as the mixers have done, that would be to lessen the importance of that act. We must also stop theorizing and conjecturing the ramifications of that act whether they be on a physiological or sociological basis or on a futuristic level.