Religion and accupuncture 

For every practice or thought, there is an opposite viewpoint. This is true with religious beliefs, political beliefs, and even opinions and studies of the environment. As humans, we both consciously and unconsciously choose to believe a side. There are many, many individuals who can see the reasoning on both sides of the proverbial fence, but there are also those that are staunchly devoted and will see no side other than their own. Medical treatments are no exception to this rule.

Those who hold religious beliefs tend to scrutinize actions and results to decide whether a certain practice falls within acceptability when compared to the encouraged restrictions of their religion. For instance, some religions encourage abstaining from sexual relations or eating certain foods, whether those actions are only carried out at certain periods in one's life or certain times of the year. Religions usually hold opinions and sets of limitations to different areas of people's lives, from the very mild to the extreme, and the medical field is certainly one such area.

Religion, of most any kind, gives people a set of moral beliefs and limitations to encourage them to follow a certain way of life. While some individuals, even those who have firm religious beliefs, can see both the pros and cons of choosing to uphold a suggested action and will ultimately decide for themselves, there are many people who follow their religion's stricture to the letter, applying it to many areas of their lives. Medicine and health is one area that is constantly scrutinized to see whether it meets the approval of one religion or another's set of values.

There are religious groups through out the world, including some who believe that a transfusion of blood is sacrilegious and would never take someone else's blood into their body, as it makes them "impure". There are some who do not believe in modern medicine and still, to this day, practice holistic medicine. However, most religions do not have a prejudice against Western medicine in whole, but may be against particular things, such as prescriptions for depression. Many Eastern religions have given birth to medical practices of their own. An example of this would be Taoism. Taoism believes in studying nature and its influences upon man. From this belief and observation rose the practice of acupuncture, which has to do with the flow of energy, Qi (pronounced chee), and how those affect areas of the body.

It is this outside energy that some religions believe is hocus-pocus and fundamentally against their religious beliefs. They discount the medical community's recent studies on the effectiveness of acupuncture. It is the thought of these religions that studies can be manipulated to show any desired result. They show passages within their spiritual material that support the belief that practicing acupuncture is against their moral rules.

Passages from bibles, scriptures and a religion's written word tend to be used by devout followers to discount the possibility of acupuncture as being a good thing. Many people will manipulate subjective - and even not so subjective - text from their spiritual writings to show that certain procedures and actions are nothing more than hocus-pocus or the "Devil's work." Certainly, once someone has taken a side and holds a firm opinion, they tend to feel that they have basis for their views and feel that others who argue with them have the wrong set of beliefs, no matter which religion they consider themselves a part of.

Many religions consider that believing in outside energies is a farce and their followers will spurn procedures using such magic and mystery. Others discount the studies of researchers, considering the strength of acupuncture to lie in the possibility of something intangible, such as Qi. Bibles and scriptures of all types warn against the "Devil's work" and mysticism, which leaves some individuals to believe that acupuncture is evil or wrong.

However, for the most part, acupuncture is receiving a positive welcome in communities around the globe. Perhaps this is because of exercise programs, such as Yoga and Pilates, which have become so popular. Asian culture has exploded into the main stream in fashion, thought, spirituality, technology, and medicine. Years ago, such things as acupuncture and Yoga were only for the "beatniks". The regular Joe did not practice such things and would not have heard the positive benefits, but nowadays, people around the globe want different choices when it comes to their bodies. Many individuals want to try to live a life with minimal medication and invasive procedures, turning to nature to help with illness and pain. Acupuncture is a good alternative.

Acupuncture, as mentioned before, has to do with the flow of energy in the body. The energy flows along pathways, fourteen to be precise, which are called meridians. All along the meridian, there are points within that can become blocked. Acupuncture is used to unblock the meridian and allow the energy to flow. This is done with the use of long, thin, solid needles, but most people report that the procedure is painless, so do not worry.

As with all things though, choice and beliefs play a big part in what type of life we lead, and this is no different in medicine. Some people will choose to go with what they know in the form of standard treatments and medication, while others will seek new ways to enhance the quality of their lives.

Every action we carry out in our lives and every decision we choose to take is based on our own, personal set of moral values and beliefs. A large percentage of people tend to stick with what they recognize as being familiar, some lean to letting spiritual documentation and religious beliefs steer their opinion, and others are of the mindset that you don't have to like everything, but you should try everything. Whether acupuncture is a procedure that is acceptable and has merit should be yours alone.

The medical field and the health-care services we choose to receive fall into our set of values and beliefs, be they moral or religious. Certainly, the ultimate decision to accept acupuncture or consider it nothing more than psychological smoke and mirrors remains yours alone, depending much on your personal group of beliefs and your opinion.