If B.J. Palmer was not the autocratic, dictatorial, strong, unbending personality he was we would probably not have had the Howards and Janses of his day or the Wintersteins and Donohues of today. On the other hand, if not for those character traits in B.J., would we have a profession today?
Joe,
I see BJs personality as having little to do in the long run with fractionation in chiropractic along philosophical lines. It is in my opinion more a matter of human nature. I would imagine most all of the characters you name here knew what chiropractic represented when that got into school themselves, but once entering the field, they were not able to handle the emotional risk of confronting the medical mindset of the average patient. So they took chiropractic and bent it into a shape they felt more comfortable selling while attempting to cop some of the prestige associated with the medics. Efforts to change the original intent of chiropractic, of course, go on to this day as new individuals enter the field with the same lack of confrontational tolerance.
Incidentally, how is this any different than your efforts to change the intent of the original chiropractic terminology that creates a theological starting point for chiropractic philosophy?
Interesting perspective Eric. Actually I would say quite the opposite. 99 % of chiropractors had little or no idea what chiropractic was when they enrolled. I would love to hear from other readers as to what they knew of chiropractic when the got into chiropractic school. I was referred in by an uncle who was a chiropractor and I was blown away by my first lecture in philosophy class. Since every chiropractor in the world has or had the “Palmer Philosophy gene” in them, there is no excuse for not knowing the philosophy. Look at our history, every chiropractor heard it directly or indirectly from DD or BJ. However, dozens of faculty left to start their own schools, hundreds of graduates started schools after graduating, specifically to compete with the Palmer Philosophy. And… are you ready for this, (to answer your question) some of them even started schools because they rejected the religious overtones of the Palmer Philosophy. In fact many still reject chiropractic because of that. That’s why people like the late Reggie Gold divorced chiropractic from religion and God. Granted, many who rejected the Palmer theology ended up in medipractic, but many of us have stayed faithful to the chiropractic objective that BJ espoused. I might add that chiropractors like Bill Bahan who embraced the religious approach that marked some of BJ’s philosophy ended up, like you, morphing chiropractic into religion. So it worked both ways. But I would really like to hear from others on your point that “most all… knew what chiropractic represented when that got into school themselves,..”. Was that true in their case?
Joe,
Go figure…you and I differing!
I’m not sure which of us is more stubborn…but at least I am stubbornly adherent to telling the truth. The truth is that I am transparently reporting on the original position that theology was given in the laying down of the original chiropractic principles. I am NOT trying to morph chiropractic into a religion, and for you to say so is a very careless fabrication. You, on the other hand, are trying to morph-out the theological underpinnings of our philosophy by changing the meaning behind critical bits of terminology, and in so doing, serve up a “mongrel philosophy” that really does not work.
If you want to divorce chiropractic from its theological foundation then leave expressions like ui and ii to those of us who are not shy of expressing what they actually represent. Stick with brain cells and nerve impulses, and have some proper respect for the historical foundations of our profession.
We are all OIBU as children, a clean slate. ADIO is a level of mental maturity not all are able to achieve or willing to shoulder. We have all seen that guy at the seminar or in school that just did not get it. L Ron Hubbard said he could detect the level at which people had stopped maturing after a 15 min. conversation. Chiropractic is part of an ADIO philosophy that some people (Chiros. and patients) can not grasp. If DD and BJ had not laid the foundation, who knows when or where it would have come up again?
As a second generation DC I heard ADIO from dad (Palmer “69” grad.), learned more at DE and more yet at Life Chiro. College. I got deeper while reading the Greenbooks and embraced OSC because the approach made so much sense. In fact I sometimes have a hard time understanding why people don’t get it.
Like the child that can not let go of an argument or must learn the same lesson over and over, some are inflexible and or unable to see a wider view. There is less responsibility in the OIBU world. As Claude might say, “Stinkin Thinkin”
Steve, thanks for your input. You were one of the rare and fortunate ones, having a father who got the big idea and was able to convey it to you. I can think of one college president who had both a father and grandfather who tenaciously held to the philosophy…and he still missed the big idea. I have every confidence that you will be as faithful to your offspring as was your Dad. I think the key was that while you learned what you were taught, you did not stop thinking, learning and questioning as some do and that you were willing to stand on the shoulders of your Father and strain for a farther vision. I hope he is still enjoying the pleasure of seeing what his faithfulness to the philosophy has produced.
I entered Chiro/college as a result of a field Dr. from Columbia Chiro/college, his brand of Chiro was “Back ache fixer”.I went to Life Ga. And learned “get sick people well Chiro”. I practiced 6 months as an “All things fixed for everyone Chiro ” If you Fix them your great, their gone, If you don”t fix them you stink, their gone. Lose Lose.. Then I met members of the GSCS, Reggie Gold, members Of the FSCO. I became exposed to and took hold of OSC. I’m with Joe on this one. OSC was not part of my pre Chiro/college or Chiro/College education.As I reflect back none in my grad class had any OSC insight either. It was always about getting sick people well. Life class of 6/86.