UB-AANP, DI Parallels: Coding the Supernatural, Supernaturalizing Science:

Some parallels come to mind as regards groups that a) typically are not transparent when it comes to communicating what they're main context is; b) seek to inject into science a whole bunch of belief-stuff that, by definition, lacks an evidence basis. The groups I'm thinking about are the DI and the UBCNM-AANP consortia:

01. in the Center For Inquiry's position paper "Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement, Its True Nature and Goals"(2007), author Barbara Forrest (PhD{philosophy} Tulane), "a key expert witness for the plaintiffs in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial" [according to Wikipedia], states:

01.a. regarding the Discovery Institute's coding of the supernatural, religious, and theistic:

"intelligent design theory' [...is] essentially [a] code for the religious belief in a supernatural creator [p.001]."

Note: the DI has deliberately coded / camouflaged specific beliefs / articles of faith -- the sectic supernatural, the sectic theistic -- so as not to reveal an essential 'faith' context.

01.b. regarding the DI's supernaturalizing of science [and how wrong that is]:

"science requires testable hypotheses [...while] conjectures about the actions of 'designers' or other supernatural agents are not testable [...] the methodology of science, sometimes called 'methodological naturalism,' limits scientists to the search for natural explanations of natural phenomena. Despite the historical fact that, several centuries ago, scientists abandoned as unworkable the attempt to explain natural phenomena by appeals to the supernatural, ID proponents argue, like earlier creationists, that modern science’s exclusion of the supernatural as a scientific explanation is arbitrary [...the DI employs] an unworkable, pre-modern definition of science that requires appeals to the supernatural [p.005]."

Note: the DI has attempted to devolve science to permit supernaturalism / to supernaturalize science. This is obviously anachronistic; it is an 'any old explanation will do' approach to knowledge that refuses to recognize the 'naturalistic methodology and context' of modern science, and ignores the testability requirements expected of modern scientific hypotheses.

02. similar University of Bridgeport & AANP coding of the supernatural-vitalistic, religious, autoentheistic:

02.a. naturopathy's central premise is coded at UB in their 2006-2008 catalog [and wrongly claimed as science / able to survive scientific scrutiny]:

"[UB's] Division of Health Sciences [...includes] naturopathic medicine [p.055...our] AANP principles and practice [...these] principles are continually reexamined in the light of scientific advances [...#1, the primary principle] the healing power of nature (vis medicatrix naturae) [HPN-VMN]: naturopathic medicine recognizes an inherent self-healing process in the person which is ordered and intelligent. Naturopathic physicians act to identify and remove obstacles to healing and recovery, and to facilitate and augment this inherent self-healing process [p.071]."

Note: science as an overarching label is placed upon naturopathy and its principles, and the central / essential premise is described in terms which are naturalistic.

02.b. compare UB's coded catalog language describing naturopathy's central premise to the AANP's Oregon Board of Naturopathic Examiners' language (see this 2008-01-06 archived page) [again, wrongly claimed as able to surivive scientific scrutiny]:

"[the AANP] principles are based on the objective observation of the nature of health and disease, and are continually reexamined in light of scientific analysis. It is these [AANP] principles that distinguish the profession from other medical approaches: [#1, the primary principle] the healing power of nature. Vis medicatrix naturae. The body has the inherent ability to establish, maintain, and restore health. The healing process is ordered and intelligent; nature heals through the response of the life force [...] methods of treatments are chosen to work with the patient’s vital force, respecting the intelligence of the natural healing process [...] illness is a purposeful process of the organism. The process of healing includes the generation of symptoms, which are, in fact, an expression of the life force attempting to heal itself."

Note: again, science as a label is placed upon naturopathy, but herein is explicit language that the HPN is the vitalistic conception of a "life force" bioagency figmentation ['purposeful life spirit']. UB's catalog, comparatively, hasn't provided such partial transparency, and as such, is coded.

03. the AANP's vitalistic "self-healing process" aka HPN-VMN aka "life force" aka "vital force" concepts are themselves codings for even deeper / more explicit supernatural conceptions -- spiritism and autoentheism. To fully appreciate the supernatural context of the AANP's "healing power of nature," see:

03.a. the AANP's HSNP's document "What is Naturopathic Medicine" (see this 2006-10-22 archived page) :

"our practice us guided by the following principles: [#1, the primary principle] use the healing power of nature. The body has the ability to maintain and restore health. Healing occurs as a result of the revival of our 'vital force' - qi, prana, spirit."

Note: specifically, healing power of nature=vital force=qi=prana=spirit.

03.b. the AANP's Pizzorno, J.E. (ND NCNM 1975)'s book "Total Wellness" (ISBN 076151094X;1997), the AANP's Physician of the Year 2002:

"the healing power of nature (vis medicatrix naturae). Our bodies have a tremendous ability to heal [...] natural healers refer to this inherent drive as 'the healing power of nature' or the vis medicatrix naturae [p.003...there are] seven underlying, health-sustaining systems of our body must function effectively to ensure our well-being, prevent disease, and allow a full life [...including the] life-force (or spirit) [p.024...] the psychosocial/spiritual/life-force [p.317...] the life-force within each of us, which naturopathic physicians call the vis medicatrix naturae [...] it is increased awareness of and access to this teleological force, the healer within, that is the essence of each of us [p.333...for] life force. See spiritual system [p.410]."

Note: Pizzorno and the institution he founded, Bastyr University, call this vitalistic, figment based, 'supernatural / spiritistic healing' context "science based natural medicine."

03.c. and as regards naturopathy's 'primary principle' and the theistic: while at UB as an ND student, the HPN-VMN was taught to me by first AANP President & UBCNM founding dean Sensenig as the sectarian "fixed principle" of "god power within" oneself. I have termed this 'animatistic autoentheism,' the belief that 'god / the divine as a life force' is within oneself. All the while, the University claims to be nonsectarian.

04. what to take away from this little exercise:

04.a. just as the Discovery Institute codes nonscientific and specifically religious / supernatural concepts in misleading naturalistic language, and insists that science must contain the supernatural & theistic, so does naturopathy. Likewise, in the sense of sectic articles of faith: naturopathy's vitalism has been science-ejected for several decades, and naturopathy's supernaturalism (the spiritistic, their autoentheistic theism type) has been science-ejected for at least a few centuries.

04.b. both the DI and AANP naturopathy merely [falsely] decree the scientific status of concepts ['science by fiat']; they don't do actual science and don't abide by the boundaries of 'the scientific.'