Catholics and Herbal Remedies

I guess I just don't quite understand the link. It seems that there is quite a sub-culture of orthodox Catholic families out there who are adopting herbal and other "natural" remedies and foods as part of their Catholic family life. There even seems to be a distrust of such scientific products as pharmaceuticals, vaccines and pasteurization. I am not passing judgment on this movement – I do not yet know enough to judge is good or evil. I am just opening the question.

Secularists often accuse the Church of being anti-science. However, even a cursory look at history and Church teaching belies the claim. The Church has been a champion of science. True science always serves the human being in entirety – body and spirit. The Church stands against scientific enquiry and products of technology that treat human beings as machines or objects rather than as persons. The Church has always supported science and technology that improves the human condition. In fact, it sees such human activity as contributing to the fulfillment of the human call to cooperate with God’s creative power to perfect the world for human use.

Typically, the (secular) herbal movement stems from a paranoid distrust of scientific and technological activity. Such distrust is a misunderstanding of the proper balance of human progress. It is also a bit deceiving. There is an assumption that natural herbal remedies somehow work with the body’s natural functioning to restore it to its proper state of health, while human-made drugs force the body into unnatural states. The fact is that many herbal remedies function in the same way as “drugs,” but are unregulated and unrefined. Science and technology can take natural substances and make them work more powerfully and more safely. It can also create new substances based on the blueprint of nature that can create cures and treatments not available in nature. Depending on the means that these drugs are developed, such a use of science and technology is authentic and good.

The Catholic families that I know who distrust vaccines, buy unpasteurized milk, grow their own food, and seek natural remedies for illnesses or mood swings take this route out of concern for heath. I have not heard much philosophical or theological reasoning behind their choices. They fear the claims that certain vaccines can contribute to disorders such as autism or that pasteurized milk may cause learning disabilities. I have no problem with a concern for health. I admire the families who work together to grow their own food and live closer to Creation. It is a goal I share with them.

My problem is that there is very little evidence that fears about vaccines, drugs and pasteurized milk are well founded. There are claims, but very few studies. Yet, the “movement” is fairly widespread. So, I wonder – is there something else driving the movement? Is there a mistaken (or legitimate) philosophy or theology behind it? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.