Combining Religion and Science: Hallelujah Acres and the Quest for Healing

By Annie Blazer

Hallelujah Acres is a health ministry and social movement aimed at evangelical Christians in the United States. The organization encourages an alternative to conventional medicine and to the standard American diet (which they call “SAD”). Hallelujah Acres advocates a vegan, raw foods diet (food is not heated above 115°F) as God’s plan for perfect eating and as a curative treatment for most illnesses and diseases. My research shows that, for the most part, believers turn to Hallelujah Acres when conventional medicine fails to cure their ailments and that belonging to the Hallelujah Acres community affirms a sense of distinction and moral superiority that resembles evangelical ideology generally.[i]  This essay explores how the group demonizes and criminalizes conventional medicine in order to present the Hallelujah Diet as medically and scientifically superior.

Challenging Operations: Medical Reform and Resistance in Surgery

By Fabio Rojas

Challenging Operations: Medical Reform and Resistance in Surgery
by Kate C. Kellogg, The University of Chicago Press, 2011.

“Good evening, everyone. My name is Captain Fred Jones. I’ll be your pilot today. It’s my pleasure to take you from Chicago to Miami. We’ll be departing in a few minutes, once we complete our pre-flight checklist and get some fresh pretzels.”

“The flight should be uneventful , except for Hurricane Peggy, which is now hitting Miami. Even though I haven’t slept in forty-eight hours, I’m fully confident that I can fly this sucker through 100 mph winds and rain. You see, flying without sleep is part of my training. Every pilot is required to go through an extensive training program where we will go days without sleep and get wild and crazy. Just this morning, I helped someone fly a helicopter onto an oil rig in a snowstorm.”

“Yes, you may have heard about the new regulations that limit work shifts for trainees. You might also be aware of the massive amount of research showing that sleep deprivation undermines nearly all cognitive skills. But those ignorant folks have never piloted a plane themselves. They don’t know that flying a Boeing 737 requires super tough hombres who’ve been through the hardest training. Getting you all killed this evening is an integral part of our education. It builds character.”

“The pretzels are here! Thanks for flying. Enjoy your trip to Miami.”