# Scripture Reading=Cure for PMS??? FUCK OFF! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 19, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935 "2002-10-19T03:06:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Magickly\_Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magickly\_Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magickly_Delicious)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/21 "2002-10-19T17:34:12Z")
Great. So next time one of my eyestrain headaches kick in, I’ll just pull out my trusty Bible, the one with the 1/8th-inch-tall font. _That’ll_ fix my problems. Thanks Dr. Hager. Praise be! ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/22 "2002-10-19T18:04:59Z")
I **have** read the book. First of all, it is not geared to anyone who doesn’t already consider themselves (for all intents and purposes) an evangelical Christian and in agreement with general ideals common to most evangelical denominations. Second, it does not reject modern medicine at all. Dr. Hager is a professor medicine! Why would he write a book which rejects modern medicine? What it suggests is that headaches, PMS and other emotionally tied ailments are worsened by stress. This is pretty much a given. Hager points out, however, that Christians are availed of spiritual benefits in addition to the medical approaches towards dealing with these problems. He recommends that someone suffering from these conditions can take advantage of prayer and scriptural encouragement to help lessen stress, thereby reducing or even eliminating the problems. If you don’t believe in the basic premise, that’s fine. But it should be noted that it doesn’t put Hager any further out on the spectrum than the majority of Christian teachers/authors, especially in the area of a Christian response to stress and similar issues. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/23 "2002-10-19T19:18:34Z")
If it gives you any indication of just how “part-time” his position is, I did two months of OB/GYN at UK, and I have no idea who he is. I do know that they send one intern at a time over to Central Baptist, but they mostly work with the private docs, so I’m not sure what his UK connection is. From what I’ve read, he’s a good doctor, but he’s a real idealogue when it comes to his beliefs. Someone in that position should be able to evaluate drugs and evidence based on the science alone, and I’m not convinced this guy is the one. You’ll see how much my opinion matters, though. Dr. J (UKCOM, Class of 2002) ---
**Author:** ![JDM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90db22/32.png) [@JDM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDM)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/24 "2002-10-19T19:24:34Z")
If we are going to discuss medical qualifications, the final paragraph in the Time article is interesting: > [@](#): > > Hager was chosen for the post by FDA senior associate commissioner Linda Arey Skladany, a former drug-industry lobbyist with longstanding ties to the Bush family. Skladany rejected at least two nominees proposed by FDA staff members: Donald R. Mattison, former dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, and Michael F. Greene, director of maternal- fetal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. These two seem quite highly qualified. Dr. Mattison’s bio, [here,](http://www.parenting.com/parenting/special_needs/experts.html#mattison_bio) is quite impressive. I also got a lot of hits googling Dr. Greene- I was unable to find a published CV, but he seems very influential. Either of them would seem a better choice than Hager, so you have to ask “what’s Hager got that they ain’t got?” JDM ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/25 "2002-10-19T19:37:56Z")
Note that Hagar hasn’t even been nominated, although a campaign against him has already begun. What’s Hagar got? I guess he’s sop to the fundies who also is a well-qualified MD. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/26 "2002-10-19T21:35:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > \*\*Jeez **Guin** , sounds like you’re a bit pissy. Is it that time of month? Maybe a little prayer is in order, hm? > [sub]d&r[/sub] \*\* LOL, this made me smile! The fact that he refuses to perscribe birth control for unmarried women, for one. As for him being a “man”-you’re right-that IS uncalled for, and I appologize. I take that back. Now, there is some backing that meditation and prayer can be helpful to one-it is a calming influence. HOWEVER, when one has a headache, the last thing one should be doing is reading small print-that’s only going to make it worse. Because birth control pills are one of the more frequent treatments for severe mentrual difficulties, and he won’t perscribe them to unmarried women-that alarms me, to say the least. I’m an unmarried woman. I have rather severe PMS-though I’m not on birth control. And the idea that someone would not allow one avenue of treatment based on my marital status-and nothing else-is frightening. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/27 "2002-10-19T23:18:28Z")
> [@](#): > > HOWEVER, when one has a headache, the last thing one should be doing is reading small print-that’s only going to make it worse. There are large print Bibles readily available in most secular and christian bookstores. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/28 "2002-10-19T23:30:31Z")
\*\*tlw wrote: What it suggests is that headaches, PMS and other emotionally tied ailments are worsened by stress. This is pretty much a given. Hager points out, however, that Christians are availed of spiritual benefits in addition to the medical approaches towards dealing with these problems. He recommends that someone suffering from these conditions can take advantage of prayer and scriptural encouragement to help lessen stress, thereby reducing or even eliminating the problems. \*\* I’ve read some of the efficacy of faith healing and am interested in more research. My question is; what if a patient happens to an Atheist or a Non-Christian? How does this method of treating the illness handle that? ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/29 "2002-10-19T23:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > My question is; what if a patient happens to an Atheist or a Non-Christian? How does this method of treating the illness handle that? I would think that the patient would read or focus on something personally calming and uplifting to them. Or maybe something funny. Laughter is the best medicine, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/30 "2002-10-19T23:56:30Z")
Would this be a bad time to bring up a certain scene in _The Exorcist_? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/31 "2002-10-20T00:02:51Z")
Actually, Ellen Goodman in today’s Washington Post has a take on the confirmation battle that’s coming up. It doesn’t make him sound all that worthy of the vitriol here. Do I disagree with him on several issues? Yes. Is it right that Time magazine pillories the guy? No. Here’s the op-ed piece: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49815-2002Oct18.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49815-2002Oct18.html) ---
**Author:** ![Henry\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Henry\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henry_B)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/32 "2002-10-20T01:22:18Z")
I almost menstruated in my pants, for the first time in my life, reading that You, yes YOU!!!, was questioning this wise decision! (We know who You are!!) What on earth are You so angry about??? **Fortune-tellers are complitely OUT!** They are just for commies, hippies and ex-presidents! **Medicine men are IN!** Suitable for anyone that believes in Him! (I do not mean JC nor Muhammed here). A medicine man of a tribe does only need good mantras\* and a powerful and holy magic wand, a RPB. \*Mantras can be ordered from the same place where You get Your RPB. If You are in lack of mantras, You can use my posts (they are maybe not so powerful even if they change radically the blood pressure of some readers). Even more effective than the Republican Party Book, is dito from John Birch Society (JBS). Just check that Med.m. W. David Hager has both and sing: _“…don’t worry, be happy…”_ Choir: \*“PMS go away, let RPB make my day, birth control not needed here, Believe in GB and do not fear, just a finger and a fluff, thus no need for that stuff.” “…don’t worry, be happy…”\* ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/33 "2002-10-20T01:43:30Z")
😕 Huh? ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/34 "2002-10-20T02:45:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Actually, Ellen Goodman in today’s Washington Post has a take on the confirmation battle that’s coming up. It doesn’t make him sound all that worthy of the vitriol here. > > Do I disagree with him on several issues? Yes. Is it right that Time magazine pillories the guy? No. > > Here’s the op-ed piece: > > [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49815-2002Oct18.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49815-2002Oct18.html) \*\* Interesting piece. Except I don’t get her last statement… > [@](#): > > Hager isn’t a victim of religious profiling. He was picked because of his profile. Huh? Of course it appears that he was picked…to a certain extent…because of his political/philosophical views. (What, Jocelyn Elders wasn’t?). Goodman is trying to suggest that because he **was** picked because of his apparent conservative background, that he therefore can’t be a “victim” of religious profiling. But yet she says… > [@](#): > > Did some of this go over the top? Absolutely. Nobody pored over the research that Hager has done on such reader-grabbing subjects as Group B strep infections. But the excerpts of out-of-print books he wrote with his wife – “As Jesus Cared for Women” and “Stress and the Woman’s Body” – made Hager sound as if he used the Bible as his Physicians’ Desk Reference. > > Yes, Hager and his wife advised Romans and Corinthians for PMS. But they also advised exercise and anti-depressants. Yes, they collected and offered their favorite scriptures for meditation against stress. But Oprah magazine has promoted candles, aromatherapy and rounds of “om.” Different strokes for different spiritual folks She says that … > [@](#): > > Time magazine described him as a “scantily credentialed” abortion opponent who treated PMS with prayer. So Goodman admits that he was being misrepresented about his beliefs and treatment approaches…but that this misrepresentation has nothing to do with his religious background? OK… Like I said earlier, I don’t know a whole lot about this guy. I certainly don’t know enough about him to know whether he is qualified for the position being discussed. However it sure does sound like some folks are playing loose with the facts in their description of him, and it sure does seem like it has at least something to do with his religious beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/35 "2002-10-21T00:26:53Z")
Well, that’s the nature of the game with the Senate divided as it is. I do agree that Goodman wandered from her point there. What? Is it worse to cream the guy for his beliefs or to choose him for them? ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/36 "2002-10-21T01:23:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* What? Is it worse to cream the guy for his beliefs or to choose him for them? \*\* Is it worse to cream an appointee for his race or to choose him for it? The former, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/37 "2002-10-21T01:57:23Z")
I’m not certain of that. I think both show that the actor (creamer or appointer) views people in terms of their group rather than the individual. And I find that to be outrageous regardless of the situation. People are far more than members of their groups. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/38 "2002-10-21T02:31:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*I’m not certain of that [it’s worse to cream an appointee for his race than to choose him for it.] \*\* Yes, you are. Compare these two scenarios (#1 is real; #2 is hypthetical) 1. Clinton decides to appoint a black as Surgeon General. 2. Trent Lott decides to prevent the comfirmation of any black for the position. Substitute for _black_ some other minority: Jewish, gay, Asian, Irish. Same answer. Getting representatives of various ethnic groups into one’s administration has a long and honorable history. Rejecting someone because of his/her ethnic group has a long and dishonorable history. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/39 "2002-10-21T02:43:23Z")
[quote] 1. Clinton decides to appoint a black as Surgeon General. \*\* **december** , did he appoint said person because he or she was black? (I’m assuming you’re speaking of Jocelyn Elders?) PPOR. (Post Proof or Retract-I got that from [theforce.net](http://theforce.net) boards!) ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935/40 "2002-10-21T02:57:58Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* \*\* > [@](#): > > 1. Clinton decides to appoint a black as Surgeon General. > \*\* > > **december** , did he appoint said person because he or she was black? (I’m assuming you’re speaking of Jocelyn Elders?) > > PPOR. (Post Proof or Retract-I got that from [theforce.net](http://theforce.net) boards!) \*\* Oh, I don’t mind retracting it. My point is that _if_ Clinton had looked for a black SG, that would have been normal politics. But, _if_ Trent Lott had prevented her confirmation because she was black, that would have been unthinkable racism. I assume you would agree with me on this point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripture-reading-cure-for-pms-fuck-off/132935.md?page=3)