I'm going to be taking a sabbatical from the message boards for a while. The last few days, I have received some pretty strongly worded mail, some of it polite, some of it downright nasty. I need a break from all this, to lick my wounds and to get back on track with writing the core information in the site. It would seem that the postings that I have put up lately have offended instead of helped

Hi Brian, Boy you must have gotten an earful from folks who are passionate on the subject of faith in healing! I too consider myself a person of faith and I put a lot of stock in prayers - they in fact have helped me get through some very rough times as a caregiver to someone with oral cancer. But I do know too that medical care is absolutely essential for recovery. Why even Pope John Paul II when he got shot some years ago - who obviously is a very spiritual and holy man, relied on medical care to help heal his wounds. My point being that I believe that if a person is one who only believes in the power of science - then so be it, but I personally believe that faith and medical science can work hand in hand and I believe God gave us some great medical professionals who truly can be our "Angels" on earth! Keep your chin up and take care always.

Donnajean

Brian and every member of the OCF board. I have also bit my tongue on this subject. When I read the post from Jonah my first thought was that it doesn't belong on this board. If you have ever gone to other message boards, some have alternative treatment routines every other message. That is why I DON'T go to those boards.
My problem with Jonah's message is that it puts in question a persons faith. If two people have cancer and they both pray and pray and pray and one gets better and the other doesn't , well that poor person is thinking he didn't pray enough or believe enough. That is UNFAIR!!
Dan received many (very surprised at this too) "How to treat cancer books". You will never hear from the people that used the advice and didn't make it!!
I guess I am still at a loss for words that they are attacking you. Makes me incredibly angry. This site is for info, not for Jonah or others to tell us we are not believers because we choose to treat the cancer traditionally.
Why didn't these people leave a message instead of writing you personally? I would have loved to have responded, but I am also don't want to get into a religious tug of war either. Dan and I are both spiritual and we believe god helped him find his cancer before it was too late.
Thanks for listening.
Sherrie

Brian,
It is because of your dedication and the depth of your caring about people suffering from cancer, that you take to heart every serious word that is written on this board. I so appreciate what you have done for me and all of the other people who come to this board looking for answers to our life threatening problems. I am contiunally impressed by the breadth of your knowledge and the time that you spend to communicate what you know to others.
I hope, therefore , that you are able to withstand a few slings and arrows from the well meaning religious and alternative medicine zealots that are inevitably drawn in to a debate about surviving cancer. My own dear older brother believes in all kinds of forms of alternative medicines and used to constantly refer me to web-sites, usually the typical kind with an 800 number , glowing recommendations and an expensive product that some quack is selling. I mostly ignore them. Then every now and then he will make a health food suggestion that I think is legitimate.
Anyway, my point is this: hang in there Brian. You are our leader and this community needs your input and the benefit of your knowledge and experience with oral cancer. Please don't let a few zealots silence your very necessary voice.

Thank you,
Danny G.

I appreciate these words of support. I wish to reiterate that I do not have a problem with individuals who put their trust in a supreme being, or religions in general. I think it is difficult for some people to understand that you can have strong religious beliefs and still believe in science. Extremism in all forms does not indicate a balanced view of our world or lives. Belief in one idea to the exclusion of all other ideas is potentially dangerous, and you can turn that statement around and put God or science at either end of it. If as some writers have suggested, my beliefs will end me up in a very hot place when all this is said and done, so be it

Brian, keeping faith healing information off a forum dedicated to the discussion of medical procedures is not censorship -- it is just keeping on topic. We don't offer items for sale here either. Although I didn't respond, the post in question upset me because I was afraid some desperate person would see this as a cure. We are best without that kind of distraction, particularly when we are in a vulnerable state. You will be doing all of us a favor to keep this forum to its original purpose.
Joanna

Hi Brian,
I am a person of faith and have many people praying for me, for the wisdom of my doctors and my caregivers. I believe in miracles and I also believe that doctors also receive wisdom from God to effect a cure for us. One thing in the world that is obvious is the extremes of religious belief that exist out there. It is very easy to be a radical and be at one extreme or the other - it is much more difficult to be balanced and in the middle and that what "extreme Christianity" really is about - not the extreme at all, but being in the middle. One only has to read the Sermon on the Mount to discover what a true spiritual program (notice I didn't use the word religious) should look like. I would look on it as an affirmation, that you are under attack, of the good you and the OCF site are doing. Satan wants us all dead! Keep up the good work and don't be discouraged. People who do good are almost always persecuted - so wear your new badge with honor! Thank you for your sensitive and eloquent response. Have a nice vacation and I hope that you are back soon.

We have a home altar, which holds a picture of his Holiness the Dalai Lama, a Buddha statue, a statue of Mother Theresa, incense, sage, several pictures of Jesus, we honor and pray to them all.............we are equal opportunity believers.............it`s all just the universe, man......we take any help we can get.......whatever we want to call it, we`re in it together............we accept all prayers, and pray for all............that`s all we need to do.............know how you feel Brian.........Packer 66

Hi Brian I too got upset at one time because the truth hurts and thought that we were being critisized for the way we thought my husband should deal with surgery and such. After I wrote it I felt bad and I go to this web sight everyday and I can not tell you enough how your answers to questions people ask is important to all of us. It helped me as a caregiver and my husband cope and come to terms with many different treatments for my daughters sake, Daddy's Girl and my grandchildren. Your responses has made him think and has helped us through the hard times make a lot of decisions. Please do not go off the boards because your responses mean a great deal to us. These people that have a problem putting religion in perspective is dealing with a lot of denial and need to talk to a pastor or Bishiop of there faith. I am sure they would not want them medically untreated but that is something they have to be willing to do. I want to Thank you for all the help you have given me and my family and thank the other board members as well. As I said in one of my posts "The World is a stage,and the people merely actors'. If this is true,consider this: wouldn't life be better represented as a comedy rather than a sad drama." Thank you for reading this and I hope this helps.

Brian,

I couldn't agree with you more about keeping these boards where they were meant to be, helping people; with information and caring.
In my case this place is the boat that was sent when I was on the roof. (interesting way to look at it, huh)

I also have to tell you, when I read the post from Jonah I thought it was an interesting twist to "selling" something. Without the website link I might have thought it was a serious person. I'd seen similar on other boards, and truthfully blew it off. I was hoping you would delete it (although I should have known you were too open minded for that) before some scared person that came here for facts and a shoulder read it.

Some people are masters at knowing if they bring religion into something it will be hard to attack, example is the emails you received. This unfortunately takes advavtage of the true believers in this world and gets them on a "crusade". And here they are defending a web site that is trying to sell things.

Well enough said. I wish you would change your mind about not posting for a while, although I understand. I, for one believe you have helped many more people than you have pissed off.

Dinah