Useless Procedures

One of my pet peeves in the field of medicine is useless procedures in which 1) there is minimal to no clinical research backing it up and 2) there is no need for insurance to pay for said procedure so the family eventually gets stuck paying 100% of the bill for a useless intervention. I never understand the dynamics between the physician who who may / may not realize they are grifting (financial benefits can cloud thinking), a patient / family frantically searching for a cure for symptoms (for which there may be no cure while unnecessary procedures come with risks), and the possible contribution of a super placebo.

This American Academy of Pediatrics just released these guidelines regarding tongue tie surgery. They are excellent and point to a the issue for a very problematic procedure that is typically not covered insurance and which can be a temptation for a revenue stream for a medical provider.

Of note the New York Times had a recent article discussing the financial incentives of doing such a procedure. Overall, this is yucky issue with medical ethics at risk.

Dr. Oord excommunicated

Dr. Oord was my dissertation advisor, and this is a very sad story about how his denomination treated him for supporting LGBTQ+ people.

I’ve known Dr. Oord for several years. He is a giant of 21st century Christian theology. He is kind. He is unbelievably intelligent in both theology and philosophy. He believes that the point of the Christian is to express love at all times (I agree).

So many U.S. denominations are dying with huge declines in membership. Getting rid of the intellectuals in churches is not the answer and only hastens the decline.

I have included the link to the Center for Process Studies at Northwind Theological Seminary where Dr. Oord in the director. He does great work.

Home
https://ctr4process.org/
Church of the Nazarene expels LGBTQ-affirming theologian
https://religionnews.com/2024/07/28/church-of-the-nazarene-expels-queer-affirming-theologian/

Outrage Porn

Outrage porn — I hate it whether it is from the left or right politically. So gross.

Many Christians (typically American) are very upset about the Olympics opening ceremony.

First of all, I don’t watch the Olympics simply due to the fact that it is corrupt, and there is a long history of abuse that has occurred in women’s gymnastics and ice skating. I hate that. Also, I find the Olympics kind of boring.

Anyway, I friend of mine (a dear friend from elementary school) posted about the concern that the Olympics opening ceremony made fun of the Lord’s supper / communion / Eucharist. I missed that part of the ceremony; however, I guess this spectacle may have been a more of a reference to a Bacchus festival. Who knows? And more importantly, who cares? Our world has so many problems, and our stressing over a television event compared to what is occurring in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan is just ridiculous.

For better or for worse, here was my comment to her:

“The funny thing is that Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and Mormons (and probably others) all look at the “Lord’s Supper” completely differently in regards to meaning and praxis. If we, as Christians, can’t even agree on what communion is and how it should be practiced, then we shouldn’t be so judgmental to the outside world. As Jesus said, “Physician, heal thyself…” Jesus probably rolls his eyes at his flock on a daily basis. I swear, we Christians seem to harm the Gospel far more than some stupid Olympics ceremony.”

I have received my DThM degree!

Some news from this blog:

  1. I have now made this blog public. Not much is on it for sure but I hope to add more. However and in my defense, I have been busy with clinical work and getting my dissertation ready to be published in book form via SacraSage Press! It is super exciting.
  2. My publisher wants me to advertise my work on this site. We shall see how successful this endeavor will become. I am not used to blogging. My book cover is below.
  3. Anyway, I plan to post various thoughts on science (mostly medicine) as most of my academic career has been in this location of the world. I also will post on theology (now that I think I have some training) and overlapping philosophical ideas.

My “first” post

I am just figuring out WordPress. I guess WordPress decided to put an advertisement in place of my first post. Thanks a lot, guys…

I’ll do something different. My favorite band of all time is Rush (Triumph is 2nd). I must have a thing about Canadian Rock Bands.

Such an awesome band. I am delusional enough to think that someday they will be up there with the giants like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis, etc.

So, I am going to try to remove all the advertisements on this “first” post.

Anyway, take a look at my “Thank you for visiting my page!” section to learn about me.

I will be posting about science (mainly clinical medicine), theology, and philosophy — all based on my training and career.

GET IN TOUCH!