On Violence and Ignorance

On 8th October, 2012, journalist Tory Shepherd contacted Homeopathy Plus to say we had upset the skeptic groups with a two-sentence “shock and horror” piece. You may remember it and you can read it here.

The next day, 9th October, a number of stories critical of this short piece appeared in Australian news services under Tory’s name. One of the more sensational and inaccurate ones can be accessed at the following link: ICB: Homeopathy – don’t try this at home. (Oh, and please note, homeopaths love the M&W sketch from this article too.)

A slightly more moderate article, though still with many inaccuracies, is accessed here: Claims that homeopathy treats domestic violence must be stopped, experts say.

The comments section of the first, published in The Punch section of news.com, quickly filled with anti-homeopathy sentiments. It was as if pro-homeopathy comments had been filtered.

The second article from news.com itself, presented a more balanced response. It was wonderful to see stories and thoughts from those who had actually used homeopathy and were happy to tell of their positive experiences.

So what can we say about the words that flowed from Tory’s keyboard. Do they hurt homeopathy? Not at all. They just draw more attention to it as people wonder what the fuss is about.

Those who ultimately go on to try homeopathy are usually pleasantly surprised … and often amazed. Those whose minds are already made up miss out on its benefits.

While homeopaths smile quietly about known homeopathic remedies for “bury your head in the sand” behaviours, those who suffer from them are unlikely to benefit. Sadly, we don’t think any will be darkening the door of a homeopath soon.