Response to an Email on Freedom and Absolutes

When I posted on this blog on December 14, I got an interesting and thoughtful email from a chiropractor. He quoted an East Indian philosopher who said “Religious…Organizations of thought inevitably become hindrances to thought.” The chiropractor went on to say that “chiropractic philosophy is like religion in that it adheres to absolute principles and that tends to create suffering because inflexibility, in an ever-changing dynamic environment, is incongruent with self-development. Can we be sure our 33 principles are indisputable laws?”

It’s a good question and I’m not sure it can be answered in a few lines or even a few paragraphs but there are a few ideas we can explore. While it is true that we live in an “ever-changing and dynamic environment,” our ability to adapt to that environment is because of absolutes, principles, and concepts that do not change. Imagine if as the environment changed we could not count on our innate intelligence always doing what was best for the body. We count on that ability to adapt as far as the production of chemicals, the heart rate and every other function, even the ability to handle stress. The principle that makes us alive is the principle that enables us to adapt.

First, we need to understand that absolutes and principles are something we all live with. How we come to accept those absolutes is varied. Some use one or more of the three methods of perception: empiricism, faith (authority), or reason. Absolutes are important. They gave us a foundation without which the human race could not survive. If there were no law or principle of gravity we would all float off into space. But not only is this absolute important but our knowledge, and as a result, our application, is important. If we were not aware of the law of gravity we could be in trouble every time we come to the edge of a precipice or a flight of steps.

There are a number of ways in which we can respond to absolutes:

We can ignore them. Eventually, that will catch up to us. We can ignore the laws of health and human function. We see people every day in the office who have done that. Most of us do not give thought to the law of gravity and we really do not need to…most of the time. But eventually we need to make a decision.

We can continue to investigate them, continue to accept them and go from there. We do that with the principles of chiropractic, i.e., accept them, investigate them further and expand our understanding of them. The more you understand them the more application they have to your life.

We can just follow them and not get involved with them at all. Never think about them, never question them, and never try to understand their deeper meaning. Most people take this option; never understand the law of gravity or what impact it has on their life. Some people live their lives never even understanding that there is a law of gravity, but they are just as grounded by it as anyone else. Some people, on the other hand, understand it and even are able to put another law (aerodynamics) into effect that they can overrule it temporarily.

Absolutes tend to promote freedom. Knowledge of the laws of gravity and aerodynamics enabled men to have the freedom to travel greater distance than the primitive tribesmen in a primitive environment. As chiropractors, having an absolute gives us the freedom to focus on one thing, i.e. correcting vertebral subluxations. We do not have to diagnose or treat medical conditions because our absolute says that a person with vertebral subluxations is better off with them corrected.

There is a principle that says that good decisions increase our options whereas bad decisions limit our options. Good investment decisions increase your options. People who make poor investment decisions limit their options, sometimes down to zero – it’s called bankruptcy. I think the same thing can be said about principles. True principles give you more freedom. Beliefs that are not principles limit your options and in that sense “inhibit growth.” The chiropractic principle, the idea of correcting vertebral subluxations is necessary in an ever-changing dynamic because of its stability.

While the truth is “individual not congregational,” as the writer states, we are always alone, in the sense of accepting truth. We have been created with a soul, which no other person can see into unless we allow them to. That is where the ultimate decision regarding right and wrong, truth and error, absolute and relative, occurs.