Bruce's comparison to the vaccine controversy hits home for me. I'm a conventional kind of guy who more-or-less trusts the American food supply and medical system, but I'm married to a chiropractor who is tied to the natural-food, natural-medicine culture. I think my approach to medicine is very rational and scientific - but my wife may disagree with my self-assessment of my position ;-)

My 18-yr-old stepson is somewhat of a crusader, and one of the causes he espouses is the campaign against vaccines. If I want to get him going, all I have to do is mention the word "vaccine"; and he'll pull out a dogeared anti-vaccine treatise that's full of anti-vaccine factoids that he's memorized. The opposition to vaccines is almost religious in its fervor - but since it's generally NOT religious in its roots, it seems acceptable to people who condemn those who base their medical decisions partly (or completely) on religious beliefs.

So, is it OK to base medical decisions on factoids, but not if the factoids are religious?

(My personal opinion of vaccines is "cautious acceptance").

-Joe-