Christopher Morrill said:

>Those who obsess about the RISKS of the charismatic gurus...run risks
of >their own...

Rightly or wrongly, I think I was given some credit for starting this
terse thread to do with whether we should damn the gurus or praise
them.  As I remember it, I mentioned that Tom Billings' comments about
him buying the extremes of such as Arnold Ehret, and then turning 180
degrees, was oh so similar to Jack Raso's tale in "Mystical Diets."

I say God bless the gurus.  I listen to what they have to say and take
what I need.  More than likely, the majority of their extreme positions
formed as defense when they became important enough to attract the
attention of the powers that be, such as the AMA.  It would be silly to
dismiss their entire teachings because of a few far out positions.  For
instance, I have heard people say Dr. Herbert Shelton's fasting tenants
should go off the table because he had a faster expire (there was an
$800,000+ judgment against Shelton).  That seems absolutely ridiculous
viewed against the tens of thousands who regained their health under his
methodology.  Why not similarly dismiss *all* of the AMA for their
billion dollar losses in the malpractice courts.

BTW, I don't dismiss Jack Raso, even though I consider him a simpleton
Quackwatch hack for the AMA.  I actually have 3 copies of his book.
It's a treasure trove of background information on alternative healing
systems.  My thought is that he just served as a front for another
rehash of Stephen Barrett's files.

Regards,
Rex Harrill