Is it Science or Religion?: The History of Punishing Dissenting Scientists

True science requires questioning and inquiry. Can inquiry be honest when profit motives and reputations are involved? Can the public be protected if the “science” can be bought for a price? What happens when the medical establishment has been proven to have engaged in practices that cause harm, not heal? If science cannot be questioned, then we must stop calling it science. It’s a belief system. It’s a religion.

A courageous Russian Physicist by the name of Valery Legasov defied his government to shed light on his scientific findings regarding the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. He was censored, tortured and the KGB threatened his life. He famously stated:

Semmelweiss Reflex

In America, many esteemed and published scientists and medical professionals have had their careers ruined by the American medical establishment for reporting research that differed from mainstream medical and Big Pharma narratives. This persecution has a name for it, “Semmelweiss Reflex.” In short, this is the tendency of the medical establishment to reject new discoveries that contradict commonly accepted establishment paradigms. We have to go back to 1847 for this bit of history.

Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss discovered a connection between birth bed fever, which was killing many women, and poor sanitation. Doctors were not washing their hands regularly and transferring germs to laboring women. This practice was causing infection and killing them. After publishing these findings the medical community turned against him, persecuted him and smeared him as insane.

He died in a mental institution. However, accounts of how he got there vary. Some say he had lost his mind, others that he was tricked into visiting and then kept there. He died mysteriously after being in the institution only two weeks. Here is a summary of the doctor’s discovery. It leaves out his intense persecution and eventual demise.

The same sort of persecution has existed throughout medical history. Indeed, throughout the history of science. Just ask Galileo. Ironically, this propensity to blame the scientist is quite contrary to scientific principles which are rooted in skepticism and the never ending quest for new discoveries.

In the twentieth century, the medical establishment, under the new system of Rockefeller medicine, which favored profits over people, silenced many professionals in similar ways as Semmelwiess. Usually, by ruining their careers and putting out propaganda against them if they refuse to keep quiet about their discoveries. In the process, some scientist were destroyed and many citizens were harmed. Though a few of the truths these scientists reported found their way into the mainstream by necessity.

Challenging Chemical Giants

The environmental movement, (long ago coopted by industry), was born as the offspring of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring. Carson shed light on the detrimental effects of DDT and called into question scientific ethics and accountability, especially in relation to environmental degradation and public health.

A Biologist and ecologist, Carson suffered severe condemnations and character assassinations by her colleagues in the science community, as well as, America’s mainstream press including Time and Life Magazines who had previously published articles supporting DDT. Carson was called a hysterical female and a communist.

“The major claims in Miss Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring are gross distortions of the actual facts completely unsupported by scientific experimental evidence and general practical experience in the field. If men were to faithfully follow the teachings of Miss Carson we would return to the dark ages and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth.”

— Dr. Robert White Stevens, scientist for the chemical industry

Her research revelations regarding the harms of chemicals, especially DDT, shook the towers of industrial chemical power. Monsanto and DOW had extensive propaganda in circulation about the benefits of DDT. You can still find commercials on YouTube

which show it being sprayed all over homes and throughout neighborhoods.

In modern times Carson has been vilified for allowing DDT to be banned. They claim millions are dying of malaria due to the banning of DDT. The problem with this short sighted and inaccurate view is that it is provably wrong. In the West African country of Burkina Faso, DDT was never banned but people are still getting sick and dying of Malaria. They discovered the reason why is that mosquitos have built up a resistance to DDT.

Meanwhile, the assertion that DDT causes harm are provably correct, DDT causes cancer, reproductive damage and other health problems according to numerous studies.

An interesting side note is that in a brilliant public relations move Monsanto had an elaborate display in Disneyland with the House of the Future in Tomorrowland which existed from 1957–1967.

X-rays on Pregnant women

British epidemiologist Alice Stewart’s most important discovery was detrimental to her future. Her research connected cancer in children to the practice of performing X-Rays on pregnant women. The U.S. and U.K. medical establishments, which had embraced X-Ray technology, joined forces with their governments and the nuclear industry to launch relentless attacks against Dr. Stewart. This documentary describes her demise as the result of the actions of one colleague. In this narrative he takes the fall for what others describe as a coordinated assault. Tellingly, it took twenty five years after her findings before they ended the practice of X-Rays on pregnant women!

Lead in paint

Dr. Herbert Needleman would experience similar persecution for his discovery of the harms regarding lead in paint. After publishing these findings in the New England Journal of medicine the lead and oil industries hired a PR firm to discredit the doctor. Over time Dr. Needleman recovered his reputation and was able to reclaim his career. This time with the help of his university and the government.

GMOs

The controversy over genetically modified organisms or GMOs has largely been won by the industry profiting from them. The majority of Americans side with Monsanto on this issue. A policy of self regulation allowed their use to flourish before the health effects could be fully studied.

Researchers not paid off by Monsanto found a whole host of health issues associated with them including infertility. They found that after eating GMOs as a regular diet lab rats became infertile. As a baby boomer I can remember when no one I knew had trouble conceiving. Now, I know many people who are having trouble starting their families due to fertility issues. Coincidence? I think not. I believe the use of GMOs was part of the eugenic plan of the ruling class to reduce the population. I will discuss GMOs in more detail in part three of this series and address claims that they lead to higher yields.

It is taboo to question GMOs, especially when a doctor has the courage to do so on public airwaves. Dr Mehmet Oz, or Dr. Oz, has been on TV for the better part of two decades. He began his career on the Oprah Winfrey show before securing his own show which appeared in syndication for thirteen seasons. Over the past couple of years Dr. Oz has found himself under fire for his vocal opposition to GMOs, as well as, his criticism of Covid19 policies. As a result his fourteenth season has been cancelled.

Inoculations

Va##ine safety is such a highly charged issue that I’m unable to correctly spell the word without being marked for censorship by algorithms programmed to pick up this word. The profiteers have successfully claimed control of the narrative by taking control of our media. However, it’s no secret that in 1986, under Ronald Reagan, legislation was passed that provided immunity to those who profit from these products. Now any claims of injury have to go through a special court that only hears a small portion.

The taxpayers have since paid out more than four billion to claimants. Considering only a small portion of those who file claims are heard, the actual liability and incidence of injury is much higher and to date, unknown. For the record, I am not anti-vaxx. I and my children have all been inoculated. However, I am a proponent of safety, and the maintenance of our own biological integrity as part of our personal sovereignty. I also believe we should exercise our first amendment rights to free speech and discuss this issue. Especially since those of us who know our history understand that our government has harmed us before. How do we know they won’t do it again?

Bernice Eddy and SV40

The most controversial discoveries that illicited backlash from the medical establishment are related to va##ines. The scientists of these controversial discoveries suffered tremendous backlash. Among them was award winning virologist Dr. Bernice Eddy. In 1954, Eddy’s lab received inactivated polio vaccine that had never been made before and they were going to use it right away.

The scientists worked hard to test the product and found it was unsafe and causing paralysis. William Sebrell, the director of the NIH, went ahead with the vaccine, even offering it to Eddy’s and her coworker’s children, which they declined.

In early 1961, Dr. Eddy discovered that when she injected hamsters with a polio vaccine culture (SV40) they developed tumors. She presented her findings at a cancer conference in New York. The National Institute of Health responded by banning her from research, barring her from making public health statements, (also known as issuing a gag order), and refused to allow her to publish her research findings.

In 1996, government researchers reported that SV40 was in 23% of blood specimens and 45% of sperm specimens. In their report they advised that;

“In total, 98 million Americans received shots containing the cancer producing virus, which is now part of the human genome.”

Here is part the story of Bernice Eddy.

The Swine Flu

Dr. John Anthony Morris and Dr. Michael Hattwick warned superiors at the National Institute of health during the Swine Flu outbreak of the 1970s, that the flu va##ine was dangerous and could induce neurological injuries. Both doctors were smeared. Dr. Morris had his career deliberately ruined, his lab and research confiscated and pension forfeited after nearly a forty year career. How did they sell the Swine Flu shot? See this public service announcement for the vaccine.

In this 60 minutes segment from 1976 Dr. Hattwick explains how the government knew this inoculation would cause harm.

Chicken Pox

In the mid 90s Gary Goldman PhD performed an extensive study on the chicken pox va##ine. His research revealed that it led to dangerous outbreaks of shingles in adults and children. He was ordered by the CDC to hide his findings. They also forbade him from publishing his data. In 2002, Dr. Goldman resigned. In his resignation letter he stated:

“I refuse to participate in research fraud.”

These are only a few examples of Semmelweis Reflex inaction.

The documentary Profiteers of Fear, looks at the Swine Flu outbreak of 2009 from a European perspective. This video is heavily censored on the internet. It has been deleted from YouTube and other platforms numerous times.

During the current crisis you can see that every doctor who has deviated from the mainstream narrative has had their character and reputations smeared relentlessly. For example, over 40,000 bipartisan doctors from many prestigious institutions who signed the Great Barrington Declaration

were smeared as being funded by the Koch brothers. The Great Barrington Declaration (GBD) is a bipartisan statement written by infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists from Stanford, Harvard and Oxford universities who disagree with the Covid19 policies adopted by many western governments. The document has been signed by nearly 50,000 scientists and medical practitioners, as well as, over 600,000 concerned citizens. The GBD proposes a strategy of what they call ‘focused prevention.’

It’s possible that some of the scientists listed have accepted funding from dubious sources because that’s how the system is set up to work. However, what motive do they have for a bipartisan letter addressing the harms of lockdown? It seems to me the damage they open themselves up for is far greater than any benefit they will receive. This smear was leveled by Med Page Today. Who funds Med Page Today? Dr. Robert Stern. Who funds him? The National Institute of Health, with one grant worth 16 million dollars. Government scientists are allowed to hold patents on things they discover on the taxpayer dime, and profit from them.

The irony is that the funding which is shaping the mainstream narrative is not widely known and leads back to the Gates Foundation.

Citizens throughout the world must come to realize that the old way of “trusting” a source to analyze inforation in place of their own objective research are gone. In this new era of disinformation, corporations fund the fact checkers In addition to funding the media, both mainstream and much of the alternative media. Since there isn’t enough time in the day to research we are left with healthy skepticism as a way of existing. Whose “truth” do you believe? Follow the money.

It’s a fact that much of the “science,” as well as, “scientists” have been co-opted by industry. The orientation has shifted from what is in the public interest to what narrative fits the private interests and profits of individual scientists and corporations. Therefore, the public has every right, even a responsibility, to remain skeptical of the “research” findings of such individuals and entities. And even if these conditions did not exist, scientists should always be free to question the establishment narrative, without condemnation.

The demand from society for every professional to adhere to a group think around anything as important as public health is an anti-intellectual mindset. The fact that this must be spelled out for some people is an indication of the Orwellian times we are living in.

Part three of this series examines the current state of basic life necessities, like clean air, water and pure food. It wraps up the series with a reflection on the need for knowledge of public health history in the body politic.

Part 1: Public Health and Natural Rights

Part 3: Protecting Life, Liberty and Health

Note to the reader: Many of the links provided in this series will likely disappear. That has been an ongoing and troublesome phenomenon as censorship in the West has increased over the past decade. As an educator I have been confronted with “disappeared knowledge” every single semester. Julian Assange warned in his 2010 speech at the Oslo Freedom Forum that history was being erased. The world must heed his warnings and free this truth teller, before it’s too late for us all.