The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
Today’s USA Today had a front-page headline which said, “50 years ago, war declared on cancer.” That pronouncement was made by President Richard M. Nixon. However, it was a fact in 1971, as it is in 2021, that a declaration of war against “cancer” is a war the medical warriors are bound to lose.
Seeking a “cure for cancer” is a fool’s errand. That is because there is not one kind of cancer, but hundreds of varieties. Therefore there is not one cause of cancer, but many kinds. Cancer has hundreds of very specific types. Cancer therefore has many causes, and many singular cures. For this reason it is almost certain there shall never be a “cure for cancer,” because each type of cancer has its own cure, if indeed there might ever be cures for all types. That almost certainly will never happen.
This is not to say medical researchers should give up their quest for means of curing every type of cancer or putting all types into remission. They perform an incalculable service to humanity through their efforts. But they do not deceive themselves of the ultimate outcome, nor should we deceive ourselves regarding their capabilities.
Declaring war on cancer is truly as misleading as declaring “war on disease.” Those two wars will go on forever, and “unconditional victory” shall never be achieved. Diseases of many kinds will always plague humanity, as will cancers of many kinds. It is morally indefensible to give people a false hope for victory over all diseases, including all varieties of cancer. Nobody should ever give credence to such an impossible promise.
I well remember when President Nixon made what turned out to be his preposterous pronouncement. Half a century ago, most ordinary people, and even a strong majority of medically trained professionals, may have thought there might be one cure for every sort of cancer. In subsequent decades, however, it has become increasingly apparent that a “one size fits all” approach is a pipedream.
By now it is painfully apparent that certain activities promote certain kinds of cancer. For example, smoking causes particular kinds of lung cancers, but not all lung cancers are caused by smoking. Exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma, which is a type of lung cancer, but not all mesothelioma results from exposure to asbestos.
It is cruel to lead a naïve public into supposing that there is one as-yet-unknown medical procedure that will overcome every form of cancer. It won’t happen, and therefore such a claim should never be made.
The attitude of most people toward COVID is comparable to their attitude toward cancer. They imagine that if they are sufficiently careful, they shall avoid both types of illness altogether. In other words, they are subconsciously unwilling to admit that they shall die of something, and they kid themselves into thinking they will not die of COVID. In yet other words, too many human beings are too afraid of dying for them ever to experience fear-free living because they are consumed by their omnipresent fear of dying.
Every one of us will die. Everyone must die. If cures are found for every disease, including every form of cancer, the earth will become utterly uninhabitable. Too many people will be living on our limited planet to sustain all of them, or even most of them.
“Cures for cancers” (plural) is a valid enterprise. A war against cancer is a war that shall with certainty be lost. Cancer is too versatile ever to be totally defeated. – December 23, 2021
John Miller is Pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC. More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.