Rick Warren’s “Woo” doctors
Published March 28th, 2011 by Marsha West in Alternative Medicine, Holistic Health, New Age, Occultism, Rick Warren
The “Woo” Factor is part 3 of an ongoing series which is being written by Berit Kjos and Sarah Leslie on Rick Warren’s 52 week health plan.

One doesn’t have to Google very long to discover that the three doctors assisting Rick Warren in his Daniel Plan for healthcare reform in the church have been the subject of ongoing controversies in the public medical arena for the past several years. The controversies are serious enough to make one wonder if he hasn’t enlisted the support of some super snake oil salesmen.

What is Woo?

The three doctors working with Rick Warren’s healthcare reform plan are deeply connected with “alternative medicine.” Before we proceed it is important to briefly define “alternative medicine” because this is their context.

“In Western culture, alternative medicine is any healing practice ‘that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine’,[1] or ‘that which has not been shown consistently to be effective.’[2] In some instances, it is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than a scientific (e.g. evidence-based) basis….”

“Alternative medicine” brings in the spiritual aspect, which sometimes gets pretty bizarre. This is why it is sometimes called Woo – this is a reference to “woo-woo-woo” (think of the Twilight Zone TV show). This spiritual aspect is why Woo so appealing to Christians. Many mistakenly think that if something is “spiritual” then it must be okay. But that is naďve and not exercising biblical discernment. Alternative medicine, by definition, includes the spiritual aspect:

“on individualizing treatments, treating the whole person, promoting self-care and self-healing, and recognizing the spiritual nature of each individual.”


Rick Warren’s “Woo” doctors at Christian Research Net