#divine administration

This time Cody and Garth take a crack at setting the story straight in regards to a fairly controversial topic. This'll be a divisive one involving: a ghost, murder, cults, conspiracies, legal precedence, strange technologies, lawsuits, severe bodily injury, a whole lot of money, and just maybe some "medicine". So have a good stretch, get comfortable, and buckle up! This is a wild ride.

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Daniel David Palmer, aka "D.D." (1845-1913) "Inventor" of Chiropractic Medicine. He tried his hands at many different careers early in his life, including as a "Magnetic Healer" and Osteopath. In 1895, he claimed that the spirit of deceased physician named Dr. Jim Atkinson told him how to cure people of illness and malady through the use of his hands, and manipulating the spine. After claiming to cure a man of his deftness (he did not) by striking him in the back of the neck, per the spiritual instructions from the ghost doctor, D.D. had an idea: What if 95% of all health problems can be solved by cracking a person's back or joints?

The skills taught to D.D. by the ghost of Atkinson was given a name, Chiropractic. From the Greek for "Hand Practice". He used the story of curing the deaf man, who for the record was never deaf, as a way to advertise his skills. With his son B.J. he opened The Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport Iowa. The College would teach other people how to be chiropractors and spread the word of D.D.'s miracle skill. (Note the radio tower in the background of this postcard. The College owned two radio stations, WHO and WOC on which they broadcasted pro chiropractic advertising and media along with music, news, and sports.)

B.J. Palmer (1882-1967). Son of D.D., and his first student. It was BJ who really saw the financial potential of Chiropractic. He viewed it as strictly a business. D.D. however, maintained that it was a spiritual and almost religious thing. This disagreement on how Chiropractic would be handled caused a split between father and son...

The "sacred" text of the Palmer School, Philosophy of Chiropractic.

A classroom of Chiropractic students. ca. Early 1900's. The college was turning out thousands of chiropractors a year. They would then go out into the world to practice and in turn inspire others to come to Davenport Iowa and become chiropractors themselves. Business was good.

Soon Chiropractors came under fire from the American Medical Association, state, and federal regulation. Chiropractic was not recognized as actual medicine, or at least that chiropractors were not doctors. Also, they were practicing medicine without a license. D.D. himself was arrested and spent 17 days in jail before paying a fine and being released. At this time D.D. began writing about organizing chiropractic as a religion in order to acquire a religious exemption to the requirement for a medical license.

"... we must have a religious head, one who is the founder, as did Christ, Muhammad, Jo. Smith, Mrs. Eddy, Martin Luther and other who have founded religions. I am the fountain head. I am the founder of chiropractic in its science, in its art, in its philosophy and in its religious phase" -D.D. Palmer

It seems that Chiropractic was heading in a very culty direction.

In 1913, during a homecoming parade for the chiropractic college, D.D. Palmer was struck by a car which was driven by his son B.J. D.D. survived the incident, but died a few weeks later. His cause of death was listed as "Typhoid Fever" but on his death bed D.D. made it clear that he blamed his son. Going so far as to say, "It was D.D. who did this to me."

B.J. sued in court against an associate of his father's who repeated the claim that B.J. had intentionally struck his father with the car in order to murder him and seize control of the chiropractic empire. There was conflicting testimonies. Some said that B.J. struck his father with a car, while B.J.'s supporters claimed that there never was a car involved at all, and that D.D. had merely tripped and stumbled. But now, B.J. was in control of the family business. And what a business it was!

Devices were invented and patented for use in chiropractic medicine. Including this little doo-hickey. It claims to measure the subluxation (misalignment) of the spine. In reality it is a thermometer and the needle is moving due to temperature variations.

By the 1930's the issue with the American Medical Association had only gotten worse. Chiropractors across the united states were getting arrested as an act of protest. They had the battle cry, "Go To Jail For Chiropractic!"

One chiropractor of note who was also a science fiction author and inventor, was Volney Mathison (1897-1965).

In 1950, he attended a lecture given by another science fiction author and friend. The Speaker was lecturing about his new scientific religion and how humans have a spiritual energy within themselves. This made sense to Mathison since as a chiropractor he believed in the power of D.D. Palmer and the spiritual aspects of chiropractic. He was inspired to build a device that could detect this energy, and maybe use it in his chiropractic practice.

This was the E-Meter. And the speaker who was giving the talk that inspired him?

L. Ron Hubbard! And that scientific religion? That's right! Scientology and Dianetics.

Mathison shared his invention with Hubbard who quickly made it a core componant of his new religion. For the record, the E-Meter itself was not a new invention at all. Mathison just stole the earlier Wheatsone Bridge, which was invented in 1833, and is merely a circuit that detects electrical resistance. Volney Mathison, chiropractor, inventor- would be an early convert into the church of scientology. And this would not by any means be the end of the connection between chiropractic and scientology…

In 1976 chiropractor Dr. Chester A. Wilk filed a lawsuit against the American Medical Association under the auspices of The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

In the early 1970's The Church of Scientology carried out Operation Snow White which to date is the largest infiltration of government agencies by a non government organization. Scientologists were placed in all levels of employment in various US Government agencies to spy and collect information about the government that could be used for the benefit of the church. One such sub operation was Operation: AMA Doom. In Operation: AMA Doom, scientologists gained access to the headquarters of The American Medical Association as secretaries, data clerks, and cleaning staff. They stole and or copied private documents about the workings of the association as well as medical files of individuals. They uncovered that until 1974 The AMA had a committee on "Quackery" that was actively monitoring Chiropractic with the addressed goal of "hindering or destroying it."

This information was given to Dr. Wilk by an operative codenamed: Sore Throat. Wilk lost the trial. The jury felt they could not decide if legally chiropractic was legitimate or not.

In 1983, Wilk appealed. And in 1987 he won in the seventh circuit court of appeals.

It was decided by the judge that as the law is written, yes, the American Medical Association had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by conspiring to stifle competition in the form of Chiropractic Medicine. This court case is why today most insurance plans will cover Chiropractic. But what was in it for The Church of Scientology? Precedent. By using chiropractors to bring this suit, it set legal precedent that could in turn protect The Church of Scientology. This was their plan all along. To use chiropractic as a pawn in their own chess game against regulation.

Today Chiropractic is the third largest branch of the American Healthcare Industry. In fact Chiropractic is a very powerful political lobby that makes significant political donations.

In an AARP article on medical insurance fraud within the Chiropractic field, it was found that, "Health insurance fraud costs the U.S. economy an estimated $36.3 billion annually, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, an advocacy group comprising government agencies, insurance organizations, district attorneys, consumers and others. " The largest source of this fraud? Chiropractic.

And yes, people have died from Chiropractic. It is actually a very dangerous thing to try and manipulate a person's spine. A quick internet search will easily reveal a long list of documented deaths directly caused by chiropractic procedures.

In Summation: Chiropractic makes dubious claims that medical science cannot corroborate or support. Scientific evidence has shown that the results of chiropractic intervention can be explained through placebo effect, or the positive effects of massage that is part of the treatments. However sublaxation of the spine has never been medically documented in the way that Chiroractic claims. Also, it came from a conman talking to ghost, starting a pseudo cult of personality, who then was possibly murdered by his son. It then became inexplicably intertwined with The Church of Scientology, has killed people, has caused irreparable physical harm to people, and is one of the leading causes of medical insurance fraud. In short, it ain't all it's cracked up to be.

GARTH'S CORNER!! GARTH'S CORNER!! GARTH'S CORNER!!

On example of cult owned and operated radio stations is KVAN from Arizona. It is owned and operated by the Global Community Communications Alliance. The founder of the cult and radio station and originator of CosmoPop, Gabriel of Urantia, died in August 2025 and in this interview author Joseph L. Flatley talks about his book on Gabriel and the impact he had on Arizona.