Thoughts on a certain teaching

In Britain the medical fraternity would like to ban and drive our what are called alternative medicine.

In particular there is an ongoing campaign to stop anything about this subject being taught in Universities.

Many feel otherwise

Here is one point of view

Of course the practice and principles of alternative medicine should be taught at universities. 

What sort of Big Brother nanny state are we living in when people who don't want to study certain subjects which they abhor, seek to thwart others from teaching them?

This is not even whether alternative medicine 'works', although it most certainly does. 

This is an issue of liberty, democracy and freedom of thought. 

The last thing we need in this increasingly authoritarian society is trumped-up intellectuals 'doing society a service' by getting rid of teachers and university departments that teach things with which they 'disagree'. 

If alternative medicine is a target of these people today, what will be their targets in universities tomorrow? Classics? Theology? Literature?

The people who provided us - or at least the Chinese - with the cultural revolution thought like this. 

The Nazis too were fond of banning art and literature which was not in resonance with their 'philosophy'. 

This is actually quite an important vote which goes further than just being about 'alternative' medicine. 

It is about freedom, choice, liberty and democracy. 

Even if you prefer not to use any form of alternative medicine, but do consider yourself a libertarian, you should vote YES in this vote.

And yes I know I'm speaking about universities rather than medical schools but YES alternative medicine should be taught in medical school. 

Some medical students will be sceptical and not pay much attention - as is their right. 

Others will learn that there is indeed an alternative to deterministic mechanistic medicine in many non-critical situations. 

There is a philosophy of holism that plays a part in medicine too and it always has.