It might be unexpected, at first, to find that those who support a Christian theocracy for the United States also often support allowing medical grifters to victimize some of the most vulnerable among us. Why? what could be the connection? And what is going on right now in the United States Senate to make medical scams easier?

How to unpack all of that? Let’s start with the connection to the far right.

Anti-science is part of the far right control structure

The first and easiest connection to see is the same reason that the far right is linked to anti-vaxxers, flat-earthers, climate denialists, and so on. It’s because these are all anti-science. Science gives people the tools of critical thinking, and makes people much harder to control, because they can now think for themselves and see through the methods that far right politicians use to control them. Science gives people evidence-based answers to the questions that religion has used for millennia to control people, and hence can help people escape religious control, which is a major way that far right politicians control people.

Modern Medicine is Scientific
Because modern medicine is evidence-based, and highly scientific, it’s a common target for anti-science movements. We’ve already mentioned perhaps the biggest example of this with anti-vaxxers, but it of course extends to other examples too, such as the huge range of “alternative” cancer cures, anti-fluoridation, drinking urine, and so many more. With all of those, of course this will include far right promotion of homeopathy, a pseudoscience that is already a cash cow for many grifters. Which leads directly to another reason that the far right is in bed with those peddling homeopathic products.

Grifters Allowing more Grifting
Politicians make a lot of money by allowing scams. This can be through bribes, lobbying, investments, connections, etc. By making these scams easier for con men to pull off, politicians often directly make money.

Some Homoeopathy Background
My mom was into homeopathy. The reasons for that are beyond the scope of this post, but it means that I’m pretty familiar with the basis of homeopathy, and have had homeopathic “treatment” for a wide range of ailments over my childhood. Homeopathy was developed in 1796 (how do you “develop” a whole therapeutic practice in a year?) by German physician Samuel Hahnemann. He was a real doctor of the time, but in the 1700’s that really isn’t saying much. He was shocked by the harsh and often ineffective medical practices of the 1700s (who wouldn’t be?). As a response, he formulated his system around wishful thinking – specifically, he made up the “Law of Similars” and the “Law of Minimum Dose”. The “Law of Similars” is simply the idea that “Like Cures Like”: The idea that a substance causing specific symptoms in a healthy person can *cure* similar symptoms in a sick person. There is of course no reason to think this aside from our normal human tendency to think that similar things are the same – but when one isn’t going by evidence anyway, gut feelings take over.
The “Law of Minimum Dose” is the principle that medications become more effective the more they are diluted. It’s easy to see how silly this is with a little math. A common homeopathic method is to put a small amount of a poison into a bucket of water, take one drop of that mixture and add that to another bucket of water, mix, and do this again many times. With one drop (which is 0.05 ML) in a 10 liter bucket, a single dilution reduces the % by ~5 X 10^-6, and just 4 dilutions (5 X 10^-6 then raised to the 4th power) means that there isn’t even a single molecule of the original material left in the “remedy”.
So the “Law of Minimum Dose” too of course is not supported by any evidence (there have been tons of studies since then showing that homeopathy doesn’t work), instead being again just wishful thinking, but that didn’t stop Hahnemann from compiled his delusions into a book called the Organon of Rational Therapeutics in 1810. From there, he worked to promote his ideas, and easily convinced people (because after all, these ideas exploit the standard magical thinking that we all have, as detailed in the book “The Seven Laws of Magical Thinking“), making tons of money. He died as a wealthy man in 1843. Yet again we see that some people can do a ton a harm to literally billions of people (by now), make a lot of money from it, and never face any consequences. As Humanists, we know that if there is going to be more justice, we have to make it ourselves in this world.

What’s the Harm?

There’s a lot of harm caused by homeopathy. It preys on those who are very vulnerable. By selling a “cure” for something, the buyer is of course suffering from something. The con man is taking their money (often from the poorest people, who can’t afford actual medical treatment), leaving them now both still suffering, and poorer to boot. Sadly, the less educated are easier to fool, so homeopathy extensively takes money from those who are both poor and in a harder position in their life. Perhaps worse, it delays treatment using actual medicine, and hence makes many conditions worse (many of course get better over time anyway). Many homeopathy “practitioners” sell “cures” for things that are very serious, like cancer. So the victim delays actual cancer treatment and often dies as a result, and the person peddling the fake “medicine” has literally killed someone and taken their money. Here are literally hundreds of people who have died because a homeopath convinced them to take a homeopathic “remedy” instead of real medicine. We need to remember that we can’t expected everyday people to have medical expertise. Each of these deaths is very substantially the fault of the government for a lack of regulation, and the fault of everyone who allow grifters to spread lies. Even worse than a placebo, quality control is bad enough in some homeopathic products, that they can be actively harmful, and again people die – and laws that homeopathic supporters have gotten past often shield the people who did this harm from any legal consequences. Here are many examples.


Many other impacts of homeopathy, such as the resulting difficulty in getting actual herbal remedies to those who could benefit from them are described in this earlier post here.

How You Can Help
Unfortunately, Americans voted Republicans into power, giving them control of the House, the Senate Here are both a spell to focus you intention, and how to contact you Senate, and the presidency. So it’s not a surprise that a bill (Senate Bill 4692) has been introduced to allow homeopathic scam products to be placed in stores alongside actual medicines, with no label indicating that they don’t actually do anything. While homeopathy already scams Americans out of around 3 billion dollars a year and causes countless deaths (see links given earlier for examples), both of those impacts will be much greater if this bill becomes law. CFI has a good write up describing the impacts, here. Below, you will find both a spell to focus you intentions, and instructions for writing your Senator, which is of course needed to make a real world impact. From the CFI article:

S. 4692 would codify the standards of the secretive Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States—essentially leaving it to the homeopathy industry to set its own standards. The Pharmacopoeia is shrouded in secrecy; CFI has even had to sue the Department of Health and Human Services to access its contents.

Making it even clearer that homeopathy is junk science, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) declared in a 2016 policy statement that homeopathic products can only be legally marketed in the United States if they communicate clearly to consumers that there is no scientific evidence the products work. S. 4692 would reverse that guidance.

Additionally, the bill exempts homeopathic drug products from lab testing requirements that establish the potency of each active ingredient. 

A Spell to Focus your Real World Action
We Naturalistic Pagans know better than to expect supernatural effects, so this spell can get you focused and committed to next doing real world action, such as writing your federal senators, and especially sharing with friends so that they can write to their senators too.

Items Needed

• Symbol of the bill: A printed copy of the bill’s summary or its reference number (e.g., “S.B. 4692”) written on a piece of parchment.
• String or twine: Used for binding and limiting the bill’s progress.
• Black or orange candle: Black is traditionally used for banishing or stopping energy, while orange represents action and leadership.
• Fireproof bowl: A cauldron or dish to safely burn the paper.
• Purifying incense: Sage, frankincense, or incense of your choice to clear the space.

Instructions

1. Cleanse the space: Burn your incense and cleanse your altar or ritual area.
2. State your intent: Speak your magical goal aloud, clearly declaring that you want the bill to stall and be defeated. Focus on the text of the bill rather than targeting specific senators.
3. Bind the bill: Take the printed bill or paper and fold it inward four times, visualizing the legislation shrinking and losing its ability to pass. Tie the string or twine tightly around the folded paper, imagining its progress being restricted.
4. Light the candle: Light your candle. Pass the bound paper through the smoke of the incense.
5. Chant your petition: Hold the bound paper safely above the fireproof bowl and repeat three times:
   • “Let this bill stall and fade,
   • Let harmful laws be unmade.
   • Bind the passage, block the way,
   • Defeat this bill without delay.”
6. Release the energy: Safely ignite the paper with the candle and let it burn to ash in the fireproof bowl. Visualize the smoke carrying your intention to the Senate floor, dissolving the support for the bill.
7. Ground and dismiss: Touch the ground or your altar to release any remaining energy. Thank any ideas or metaphors you called upon for assistance and conclude your ritual.
8. Act: Now use your focus to make sure that you write to (or call) your senators.

To Contact your two Senators

You can find contact information for both of your two U. S. Senators by using the  U.S. Senate Directory. At the top of the webpage, there is a drop down menu for the state.  Select your state, and go to your Senators’ webpages.  Their webpages usually have contact info prominently displayed.  A backup method is to enter your address at Congress.gov.

Here is an example letter. You can use this letter as a guide to structure your own letter or webpage posting.

Subject: Vote NO on S. 4692, the Homeopathic Drug Product Safety, Quality, and Transparency Act 

Dear Senator [Senator’s Last Name],

I live in [Your location], and I am writing to urge you to vote NO on Senate Bill S. 4692. This legislation would severely restrict the FDA’s ability to protect consumers from misleading health claims.  S. 4692 seeks to codify standards set by the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, effectively allowing the industry to self-regulate.

Homeopathic products lack rigorous scientific validation and do not undergo the same safety and efficacy testing as conventional medicines. By bypassing standard FDA review processes, this bill would allow potentially harmful or ineffective products to remain on the market, endangering medical consumers who rely on evidence-based treatments.  The FDA needs robust authority to regulate all medical products in the interest of public safety. I respectfully ask that you protect public health and reject this bill.

Thank you for your time, and for considering my position. I look forward to hearing about your stance on this important issue.

Sincerely,   _______

Thanks for doing this, and may your spiritual practices empower you and help our world.