The medicine of a life lived well - apparently cause for alarm

It is safe to say that millions of relationships and families have been destroyed as a result of alcohol consumption, drug addiction and emotional abuse. We can write that without even having to look up the stats. This state of affairs is so entrenched in our society that it goes largely unexamined, and sadly, it has become an accepted fact of life.

But present that perhaps we can live a lifestyle free of these kinds of things and a fascinating study of human behaviour ensues.

• Present that alcohol is harming to you and your loved ones, that you can eat healthy foods and go to bed early, and actually feel more vital as a result, and expect to be painted as a dangerous profiteering cult leader by the press, so it seems.
• Present that you can bring a greater love and responsibility to relationships (and be relatively successful doing it, as a result of the high demand for it), and expect that the irresponsible are going to want to throw some mud.

When around two thousand people choose to live a lifestyle that challenges the norms, you can bet that there will be those who are going to react.

Indeed, come home from a weekend workshop, as one Brisbane woman has experienced, after enjoying great company, great food and some rejuvenating treatments and you may feel so good that your husband accuses you of  ‘acting like you are on drugs.’ What does that say about the state of general wellness in the community, if feeling great is seen as cause for alarm?

The latest in the press is that allegedly 42 families have broken down as a result of Universal Medicine’s activities. Incredibly, accompanying this highly charged accusation is very little supporting evidence. Apart from the above inference to drugs, the paper also saw fit to print the alarming piece of news that women who receive Esoteric Breast Massages also ask that their partners only touch their breasts with their permission! When last we heard, consensual advances, whether in a relationship or not, are a pretty standard ask, or did we just revert back to the 50’s and beyond, where a woman was expected to lie back and ‘think of the queen’, whether she was feeling up to her husband’s advances or not? This is the second time this comment has been made in the mainstream print media. What can we surmise from this? That it points to an alarming infringement of a man's right to sexually advance without consent? Last we checked there were laws against this. That a comment like this can appear in print, and in the mainstream news no less, not once but twice, defies belief. What is going on in the press that this kind of treatment of women can be so casually reported on?

And what’s the real story here? Why wasn’t anyone properly interviewed who has experienced an apparent UniMed instigated family break-down? Well actually, they were.

Two women were interviewed at the UniMed clinic yesterday. One of these women has recently separated from her husband and the other has a father who has accused UniMed of ruining his marriage. In both cases, the men involved have a lot to answer for in regards to their own behaviour in their relationships, but this of course goes unexamined when you form a hate group and cry ‘cult’ loud enough. Indeed, crying 'cult' is a great way to shift responsibility -- it means your ex-wife gets painted as weak and pathetic and any right she has to speak the facts of what happened in the relationship can easily be debased as the silly ramblings of a woman who is unfit to make her own decisions. The fact that the press has rallied in support of this backward treatment of the fairer sex is an affront and an outrage to women everywhere.

We spoke with one of the women interviewed who had this to say about the process of speaking with the press:

“I shared how my father and mother had marriage issues well before my mother attended a UniMed course, and I told him how my father has had problems with alcoholism that have affected my family for many years. This fact went unreported, instead the interviewer seemed a lot more interested in how good looking I was and the fact that I was a woman! His first question was:

‘Now, what I have noticed is … how many beautiful young women are around here, like yourselves – now what’s up with that?’ (I am in my early 30s and the woman I was being interviewed with is in her early 40s).

And that was the opening question(?) – was this an interview or a speed dating session? Considering the length of the interview (5 mins) and his opening question, I could have easily been mistaken. As far as dates go, this wasn’t to be the greatest. It soon became apparent that the Interviewer was definitely not interested in hearing what we had to say, he did not engage in any way with our responses to his questions– it was a case of “yep, right” – and on to the next question. Asking for our side of the story was obviously a mere formality, a pretence/feeble attempt to appear objective – as it was very obvious that his mind was already made up.

His focus on the number of women versus men who attend UniMed events was couched like an accusation, as if there is something obviously wrong with an organisation with a higher proportion of women to men. What is actually being implied here? That women are easily lead, not capable of making intelligent decisions? I find this quite insulting. Why is gender an issue? I work in an office where the ratio of women to men is probably 8 to 3. If anyone raised this as cause for concern in my workplace, I am pretty sure they would be referred to our discrimination and sexism policy.

While we were chatting after our ‘speed date’, and after being told that we both seemed so young, good looking, happy and healthy (again I am in my early 30s and the woman I was being interviewed with is in her 40s) the interviewer asked if we wanted to hear his view. Suddenly his eyes went narrow and his voice conspiratorial, which may have been comical if it wasn’t so offensive:

“I want to say to you, that if you choose to leave here and not have anything to do with these people, just remember that you are not alone … I just want you guys to know that you are not alone.”

At which point I laughed and replied that whether I went to the occasional weekend course or not, I would not live any differently with or without UniMed, because the great lifestyle I lead as a result is something that works well for me. So it begs the question, what exactly was the reporter's concern? That I live a drug and alcohol free lifestyle or that I appear happy, healthy and younger than my years … Hmmm, I can only suppose, that like my father, here is a man that might be a bit threatened by people choosing to live a bit differently.”