Foreword by Robert S. Mendelsohn, MD to Slaughter of the Innocent, 1982, by Hans Ruesch

In the Religion of Modern Medicine the rite of vivisection is central.

The medical student-acolyte, early in his pre-clinical years in the seminary called medical school, learns live animal dissection in physiology and pharmacology classes. The religious significance of this practice is implanted deeply into his unconscious by his teachers, who train him, at the end of each experiment, not to kill the animal, but to "sacrifice" it. 

Although never explicitly spelled out, the purpose of that "sacrifice" is tacitly shared by the student-acolyte and his doctor-priest teacher. That word "sacrifice" - and the positive image it evokes - obviates any serious deliberation of the pros and cons of vivisection. Thus the highly-charged, human emotion inevitably roused by vivisection, carried out in its sacred precincts, far from public view, blessed by its priests and bishops and archbishops, becomes incorporated , subliminally, almost instinctively, into the belief system of every medical student. 

Without any perceived need for reflection, thought, debate or evidence, the medical student, in his formative years, is indoctrinated with the value of vivisection in teaching, testing and experimenting. If pressed, he /she may defend its use in highly limited circumstances; but in accord with a basic ethic of the Religion of Modern Medicine- "the extreme becomes the mean" - he/she will soon sanction vivisection on a large, indeed massive, scale. How else can penicillin, a wonderful drug for meningitis and severe pneumonia, be applied to the common cold? How else can cortisone, a miracle for life-threatening Addison's disease, be prescribed for sunburn? 

The payoff of this early religiously-sanctioned blood-letting in seminary training is an insatiable blood-lust - or tolerance for the spilling of blood - during the student's later tenure as a lifetime physician-priest. How else can the doctor be trained to do the big operations (e.g., radical mastectomy) when smaller ones (lumpectomy) are scientifically demonstrated over and over again, to kill fewer and cure more. How else can he accept, indeed defend, the ever-increasing epidemic (now 25% of all births) of Caesarian sections? How else can he learn to mouth the catechism of surgery - "When in doubt, cut it out." "Big surgeon, big incision; little surgeon, little incision." "Your uterus is just a sack for cancer." "Your husband loves you for your self, not your breasts." And the all-powerful "Just trust me." 

It is that litany that proves that Modern Medicine is not a science but a religion. The physician's bloodlust demands laboratory tests on patients to the point of exsanguination. The risk of excessive blood tests to little babies is so well recognized that a special diagnostic category now exists - "iatrogenic anemia" - anemia caused by the doctor. 

Other religions also have their blood-rituals. The American Indians require a drop of blood from the fingertip. We Jews demand several drops from circumcision ("bris"). But the Religion of Modern Medicine, in its bloodbank drives, calls for pints and quarts and gallons. There is never enough blood in the hospital-temples of Modern Medicine to satisfy the surgeon's desire as he seduces his victims - primarily women - virgin and otherwise - to mount the holy alter so he can carry out his ritual mutilations. This wild blood-lust, starting with animal vivisection and proceeding to human mutilation, stamps Modern Medicine as the most primitive religion this world has ever seen. 

Like other false religions, Modern Medicine is now exposed as death-oriented. The antibiotics kill more than they cure. When studied statistically, surgical mortality is twice as high as the surgeons verbally claim. The body-count from vaccine-induced encephalopathy is now reaching the public view. The hatred of doctors for a normal birth is reflected in their automatic response to women complaining about dangers of The Pill - "It's safer than a pregnancy." While the death-rate from pregnancy drops, that from doctor-sanctioned contraception (oral contraceptive, IUD, vasectomy, tubal ligation, hysterectomy, multiple abortions) skyrockets. 

Of course not all doctors carry out the death-oriented atrocities of the Church of Modern Medicine. Some do. The rest, by condoning and protecting the actions of their colleagues, are equally as guilty. 

Modern Medicine mocks religion. Readers of the Old and New Testament will remember the many restrictions surrounding animal sacrifices - animals brought by the citizen, sacrificed in the public view, by a member of a hereditary caste (the priestly class) who did not later become a surgeon. Contrast this careful ritual with the secret vivisection by students and doctors of the Religion of Modern Medicine. 

Regarding human sacrifice, the Jewish patriarch, Abraham was prohibited from sacrificing his own son to his god. Contrast this to the surgical slaughter and mayhem - the millions of deaths from unnecessary operations - permitted, indeed required, by the god of the Religion of Modern Medicine. No wonder the surgeon is masked! 

Modern Medicine tries to replace the 8th day "bris" with the dangerous hospital circumcision right after birth. In sharp contrast to Jewish ethics, the Religion of Modern Medicine sanctions, indeed, delights in, abortion-on-demand. 

I have made my choice. I have rejected as idolatrous the Religion of Modern Medicine and its fundamental sacrament - vivisection. For years I have encouraged my medical students to surreptitiously photograph animal conditions in their laboratories, to keep diaries, to leak the truth to the media. This sabotage serves not only to inform the public, but also helps save the integrity - indeed, the souls - of the students. 

For myself, I cling to the Sabbath commandment prohibiting even animals from being worked seven days a week. Every human being whose religion is derived from the Old Testament (and Eastern religions as well) knows the laws protecting animals. Only Modern Medicine, in its arrogant idolatry, sanctions cruelty to animals as the norm. 

Hans Ruesch's magnificent book washes away the thin excuses of doctor-apologists for animal testing. Comprehensively and carefully documented, objective, yet emotionally compelling, it serves as the steel battering ram that can dislodge the cornerstone of Modern Medicine - vivisection. All of us - including future generations - are in his debt.