Congregation of Universal Wisdom

{{religion}}
{{cquote|Laying on of hands to the vertebrae shall be the sole means of maintaining the LIFE FORCE through Universal Wisdom|||Congregation of Universal Wisdom<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081011220627/http://www.cuwisdom.org/purpose.php Purpose.] cuwisdom.org.</ref>}}
The '''Congregation of Universal Wisdom''' is a [[quack]] [[religious]] organization founded by [[chiropractor]] Walter P. Schilling {{lived|c. 1944<ref>[https://www.deseret.com/2015/2/7/20558025/religious-objections-to-vaccinations-there-really-aren-t-any#pediatrician-charles-goodman-talks-with-patient-carmen-lopez-37-holding-her-18-month-old-son-daniel-after-being-vaccinated-with-the-measles-mumps-rubella-vaccine-or-mmr-at-his-practice-in-northridge-calif-thursday-jan-29-2015-some-doctors-are-adamant-about-not-accepting-patients-who-dont-believe-in-vaccinations-with-some-saying-they-dont-want-to-be-responsible-for-someones-death-from-an-illness-that-was-preventable-others-warn-that-refusing-treatment-to-such-people-will-just-send-them-into-the-arms-of-quacks-ap-photo-damian-dovarganes 'Religious' objections to vaccinations? There really aren't any] by Mark A. Kellner (Feb 7, 2015, 1:35pm MST) ''Deseret News''.</ref>}}. The group's beliefs are a hash of chiropractic philosophy and [[New Thought]] beliefs, with a strong dose of [[Anti-vaccination movement|anti-vaccination]] [[bullshit]] tossed in.<ref>Douglas G McNeil Jr., [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/science/worship-optional-joining-a-church-to-avoid-vaccines.html Worship Optional: Joining a Church To Avoid Vaccines.] ''[[The New York Times]],'' 14 January 2003.{{blockquote|In New Jersey, where Dr. Schilling says he has 2,988 members, this certificate guarantees a waiver from the state's requirement for vaccinations against polio, measles and a dozen other childhood diseases, no questions asked.}}</ref> There are no real chapels and no requirement for members to meet. Prospective ministers need only to submit a dissertation that is examined by five other ministers. An essay cited by the United States National Institutes of Health calls the organization a "sham religion" used by thousands of parents to avoid getting their children vaccinated.<ref>Anthony Ciolli, [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2553651/ Mandatory School Vaccinations: The Role of Tort Law.] National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institutes of Health, September 2008. {{blockquote|In fact, thousands of parents have joined mail-order or sham religions, such as the “Congregation of Universal Wisdom,” so they can qualify for religious exemptions and not have to go to the trouble of vaccinating their children.}}</ref>

The organization believes in a universal intelligence similar to New Thought [[Christianity]], and they believe that the only way someone can be [[Healing|healed]] is through the manipulation of the spine. The primary purpose of the "congregation," however, is to allow members to claim a religious exemption from vaccination laws.<ref>This sometimes ends up in court, e.g., [https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/186/187/2411018/ Turner v. Liverpool Cent. School, 186 F. Supp. 2d 187 (N.D.N.Y 2002)] where a mother sued her local school district claiming a religious exemption from mandatory vaccination because of membership in the organization.</ref><ref>Jann Bellamy, [https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/vaccination-mandate-exemptions-gimme-that-ol-time-philosophy/ Vaccination mandate exemptions: gimme that ol’ time philosophy.] sciencebasedmedicine.org, 15 December 2011. {{blockquote|The ease with which parents can transform anti-vaccination sentiment into a religious belief is demonstrated in ''Turner v. Liverpool Central School District,'' in which the court upheld a claim of religious exemption based on membership in the Congregation of Universal Wisdom, a church whose principles were founded on chiropractic philosophy and which held no regular meetings. The court found that “the one consistent aspect of plaintiff’s testimony was that she believed in a universal life force or wisdom and that immunization would be violating that life force.” This was sufficient to meet the state’s statutory religious exemption requirements.}}</ref> They define vaccination as sacrilegious:

{{cquote|It shall be sacrilege to depart from the precepts of the Congregation by the following:

a. The ingestion of [[Medicine|medication]] or other chemical substances that defy [[natural law]].

b. The injection into the body of medication or other matter of substances that defy natural law.

c. The application of medication, [[Chemophobia|chemicals]] or other foreign matter or substances unharmonious to the laws of nature.

d. The inhalation of medication, chemicals or other foreign substances in disharmony with the laws of nature.|||Congregation of Universal Wisdom<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081011220632/http://www.cuwisdom.org/sacrilege.php Sacrilege.] cuwisdom.org</ref>}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081011220600/http://www.cuwisdom.org/index.php Official website]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Alternative medicine promoters]]
[[Category:Anti-vaccination movement]]
[[Category:New Age]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoting organizations]]

Categories: Alternative medicine promoters, Anti-vaccination movement, New Age, Pseudoscience promoting organizations