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: " All in all, the ambiguities that permeate the ACC's statements on subluxation render it inadequate as a guide to clinical research ...

Whether the ACC's subluxation claims have succeeded as a political statement is beyond our concern here.

These assertions were published as a priori truths ( what many chiropractors have traditionally referred to as " principle "), and are exemplary of scientifically unjustified assertions made in many corners of the profession.

It matters not whether unsubstantiated assertions are offered for clinical, political, scientific, educational, marketing or other purposes ; when offered without acknowledgment of their tentative character, they amount to dogmatism.

We contend that attempts to foster unity ( among the schools or in the wider profession ) at the expense of scientific integrity is ultimately self-defeating.

To be sure, the profession's lack of cultural authority is based in part upon our characteristic disunity.

However, attempts to generate unity by adoption of a common dogma can only bring scorn and continued alienation from the wider health care community and the public we all serve.