Christmas!!!! It’s one of my family’s favorites times of the year. Actually, it’s probably THE most favorite time; I think Easter is a close second, if not first, for me. I love Resurrection Sunday!!! This month we’re savoring the beauty and busy-ness of the Christmas season as we celebrate and say “Thank You” to God for the great gift of his son, Jesus.
In the midst of the celebrations I’m always very mindful of those fighting battles. I remember a few short years ago when our world fell apart, twice, with my cancer diagnoses. If you’re in the battle may the Lord of peace and joy surround you and yours today.
There is a trend on social media that I want to talk about briefly, and then to provide suggestions to counter this trend. Basically there seems to be censorship happening to pages currently on Pinterest that promote knowledge about healing from chronic disease (AKA, cancer) using natural or “alternative” strategies.
I get that we don’t want people flinging around irresponsible information.
Who decides what is irresponsible, and what is not?
If you aren’t open to understanding nutrition, does that mean nutrition is quackery?
If you aren’t open to medicine, does that mean medicine is evil?
I’m a pretty fair and balanced person so I give a nod to both sides of these cultural views. The problem becomes that medicine is deemed untouchable, unquestionable, and king of all treatment information.
I will agree that medicine was crucial for me – in crisis.
Nutrition was crucial for me in the healing of the physical crisis that encouraged the growth of cancer in my body.
And now people who promote nutrition for healing (with, or without, medicine) are being shut down on social media platforms. Whether you agree with their views or not, I find this alarming. Even if you don’t agree with my choices on dealing with cancer using both medicine and nutrition, are these choices and the information that helped me make them really that threatening?
Yesterday Chris Wark of www.chrisbeatcancer.com shared live on his Facebook page that Pinterest deleted his Chris Beat Cancer Pinterest page. Here is the text from the letter Pinterest sent to Chris about their actions:
“We removed your Pinterest account because it or your linked website violated our disinformation policy. This policy includes things like promotion of false cures for terminal or chronic illnesses and anti-vaccination advice.”
Other sites including www.greenmedinfo.com and regular folks sharing tips on natural health and healing were also shut down.
I want people to make their own decisions on the cancer or chronic illness journey, like I did, armed with information and the science and impact of both nutrition and medicine. Each of us has a right to choose, even when it comes to medicine and nutrition. But this censorship is a bit of a wake up call to me.
Facebook or YouTube or Instagram could choose to delete Chris and others at any time. (Me? I’m small potatoes and don’t have a big following, but this could very well happen to me, too.) We have no control over the actions of social media giants, but, I do have a suggestion. You and I can stay in touch with these websites by going directly sites such as www.chrisbeatcancer.com and subscribing to their email newsletters.
Here are sites that I value as a cancer survivor on the healing journey. You can head over to these websites and sign up for their newsletters if you so choose. Ah, “choice”. The valuable commodity of a free thinking society… unless, apparently, you’re on Pinterest.
I almost forgot!
I am doing a monthly Facebook class on wellness strategies that I find helpful. I may be small-potatoes-with-a-side-of-carrot-juice, but I’m passionate about sharing information that helps me along the way. Currently these classes will be primarily on essential oils and supplements. That’s where I’m at right now and I LOVE them. If you’d like to join in and follow along, you can find the most recent class from 12/18/18 right here (the content is still available to scroll through and view): Ningxia Red Antioxidant Support
What do you think about the actions of Pinterest to censor sites that are promoting choices in healing by incorporating the science of nutrition?
Speaking of newsletters… if you’d like to join my mailing list, click right here to get the best small potatoes encouraging info quietly in your email inbox! [ Join the Cancer Smarts Email List ]
Sharon O’Connor is a wife, mom, and stage 4 colon cancer survivor who has been NED (“no evidence of disease”) since 2013. She loves coffee, writing, and taking walks with her husband, Tom, and their adopted Pug-Maltese mix, Ace. Sharon is grateful for wellness support strategies that work and that have helped support her personal journey with cancer.