Alright, before a mob gathers to burn me at the stake, let me present my arguments. The Green Books are not holy writ. No one had gotten together and canonized them. In fact, historically, there has been very little academic criticism of them. Virtually none was done at the time of their writing. Most of that which was written at the time was merely personal ad hominem attacks of the writers (particularly B.J. Palmer) by men who were jealous more of what he was accomplishing rather than disagreeing with what he was teaching/saying.
The majority of the writers of the Green Books were ordinary men, some who later repudiated B.J. and his philosophy. Many of the Green Books were written on subjects that have no relationship to chiropractic philosophy. Has anyone besides me really ever read Chiropractic Gynecology? I’m not suggesting that volumes written by someone other than B.J. should not be read. I do not have to. With the exception of
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Chiropractic Textbook,
no one ever thinks of reading them. It’s the writings of B.J.Palmer that are in view when we discuss the value and the relationship of the Green Books to modern day chiropractic: straight, non therapeutic , traditional, mixing or chiropractic medicine. (I think that covers all approaches!)
The Green Books cover a period of time from 1906 to 1961. That’s 55 years, folks. In that time BJ went from advocating Meric adjusting to HIO. B.J.’s thinking changed drastically over that period in numerous areas. I’m sure in the last 50 years, he would have changed but we do not have the privilege of reading those changes. Some of us think that by 1961 B.J. had said it all and was somehow carried up to heaven on a cloud. He thought and articulated some great things during the first 50 years. He has added nothing in the last 50. Some people think we should ignore entirely that which has been written since BJ’s death. That’s not a philosophy, that’s a cult.
When BJ left us with that sacred trust and said to “guard it well,” I don’t believe he meant to bury it in the ground. He meant for us to do what he did. Continue to examine it, rethink it, make changes, remove the excess baggage, refine what he left us, and take it to the next level without destroying his original intent. That’s why it’s so important to maintain our chiropractic objective (original intent) but at the same time expand our philosophy. I’ve often said that I can’t understand why chiropractors do not write more. With the popularity of the internet, I’ve come to realize why. Unless you regurgitate BJ’s words, (even the poor grammar and misspellings) your writings will be castigated, ignored or ridiculed by the very people who should be embracing them, and critiquing them constructively. Instead we are doing to the few people who suggest anything new in chiropractic philosophy exactly what members of the profession did to B.J. when he put forth new ideas.
Jesus tells the parable of the nobleman who left for a far off country and gave 10 of his servants money to invest. The first two invested the money and gained interest. The third hid it and gained nothing. In this, the 50th anniversary year of B.J.’s death, I hope that the sacred trust he gave us to guard would have gained “interest.” If he returned today would we say “This is what we did with the philosophy you gave us, B.J. We have developed it over the past 50 years as you did in the first 50”? Or would we be like the third servant and say, “I took the philosophy, B.J., and did nothing with it. There it is exactly as you left it, not worth anymore than it was in 1961”? Would we hear “well done, good and faithful servant” as those did who gained interest for their master’s investment?
We hear a good deal these days about losing chiropractic, it being taken over by medicine, physical therapy, massage therapy and even spinology. You know what happened to the servant who hid his master’s investment and it gained nothing? He was judged as a “worthless servant” and what he had left was taken from him. Frankly, we should all be developing the philosophy that B.J. left us. Some efforts will produce nothing of value but some will make that philosophy more valuable than it was when B.J. left it to us. That is the greatest honor we could bestow upon him.
Don’t stop reading the Green Books. But don’t just read them. Question them, analyze them, challenge them, read other peoples’ critiques and then as Reggie says “Think, D*****T, Think.” If you conclude that B.J. was correct in 90% of what he said as I have, that’s great, but don’t sit on that 90%. Examine, evaluate and think about the other 10%. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll come up with some new aspect of this philosophy and make the old man proud.
Agreed! I think it’s important to portray chiropractic as a lifestyle. When people embrace having their spines checked as part of a healthy, productive lifestyle, regardless of symptoms or medical status/condition, they will naturally embrace the philosophy of chiropractic.
Joseph,
It important to evolve as an individual chiropractor. Yes, we will continue to read the Green Books and find out what’s going on in light of today’s information. The evolutionary process ALWAYS involves the WHO and not the WHAT. The WHO is you and me and everyone else. The WHAT is chiropractic, discovered, developed and established. A job well done!
Now, regarding the evolution of WHO, it is necessary to critique our own understanding of chiropractic. For that to occur, it important to go deeper into the philosophy and emerge from INSIDE-OUT and not from outside-in. We have developed our chiropractic lexicon for the purpose of making the distinction of WHAT chiropractic is “in the core” of its existence.
If we do emerge from INSIDE-OUT, we may find out that very little need to be “said”…. rather we may “mirror” its truth and be a light to a needy world out there.
We love reading your shares in this new format Joe. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do. We appreciate you. Thanks.
Thank you, Todd. Yesterday 142 chiropractors read that post. We are getting more and more interest in TIC. We appreciate all you do to help us spread the word.
Joe, you have improved my quality of life with your books. We have a chiropractic school being planned in Adelaide Australia. I would like to see a vitalistic one. Do you think this is possible to do and maintain? I see all schools struggle not to slip and all have. I would love to connect and get insight if you have time for me. There are key factors that we need to ascertain to determine the right outcome. Thank you
I have enjoyed reading this courageous article. the worse thing that could happen to our profession would be to make BJ some kind of a god and his books some kind of a bible. His legacy goes much beyond as far as i am concerned. We inherited first Courage, to go against the trends of his era, second Freedom of thinking, third getting access to and applying the Big Idea. We are the children but so many years later Bj would not be happy to see us still walking around in nappies, sucking our thumb and unable to make his heritage grow. Thank you Joe.
Thank you Dr. Strauss,
I am going to re-post this. I thought it very timely and well put. I know I will get some heat just form the topic when I post it, but at times that is the point, refined by fire….right?
Keep on keeping on.
Thanks Dr. Strauss. You are a blessing to the profession of chiropractic and the world. Your books and have impacted my life and therefore the lives of the people I serve.
ADIO y ADIOS,
Liam
I absolutely agree with you Dr. Strauss when it comes to the Green Books. I personally don’t look at them in detail, but really try to embrace the overall message of Philosophy. Are the Green Books necessary? Yes, because every Chiropractor should be connected with not only our history, but with our Philosophy. Many have fought for our right to practice Chiropractic and we should always honor them by understanding our past.
Rock On Dr. Strauss…
This article is spot on. It also explains why there is a dirth of new and original thinking in chiropractic.
This has been one of my issues with some “principled” chiropractors over the past few years. It seems like many of them have one or two favorite Green Books and ignore everything else. There have been numerous times when I’ve found myself disengaging from conversations with these individuals because they would rather hear unexamined agreement with their pet philosophy rather than putting in the effort required to discuss things intelligently.
Part of this problem comes from the fact that our education system, from kindergarten through to our chiropractic schools, no longer encourages the individual to do anything more than memorize and regurgitate data. Few people these days have developed the rhetorical, logical, or philosophical skills necessary to create and defend an argument of complicated concepts. Likewise, most of our chiropractic schools teach only a rudimentary philosophy curriculum which doesn’t even prepare students to hold philosophical discussion with correct use of our lexicon.
I think that some of the Green Books should be required reading, but many of them are mind-numbing free association and highly repetitive. I recognize the importance of the work being done by Dr. Strauss, Dr. Sinnott, an Dr. Koch to develop new textbooks in clear modern language and style.