Here is an excerpt from the book Healing Hands by Joseph Maynard. I personally love this particular story. Enjoy!
Many Chiropractors were arrested on the charge of “practicing medicine without a license.” Among them were Jo and Esther Strand of Forsythe, MO. B.J. was at the trial with Tom Morris, senior national counsel for the Universal Chiropractors Association. B.J. was the president of the Association and was called to act as expert witness for the defense.
At the time of the trial, two evangelists, Curry and Meyers, were holding meetings in a tent nearby. They preached love of Christ and implored the people who listened to them to “sacrifice of yourself and give your heart to Jesus.”
On the night before the trial, B.J., along with the Strands and attorney Morris was invited to dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Shores, two of the most prominent citizens in Forsythe. When they arrived at the house, they found the two evangelists had also been invited over.
During the course of the dinner, evangelist Curry suddenly snapped at the Strands, “I don’t have any sympathy for people like you. You’ve broken the law and you’ll have to pay the penalty.” The other evangelist also insulted Jo and Esther. “People like you are a disgrace to our society,” he said. “You should be locked in jail and made to suffer for your crime.”
The insults continued through dinner and finally, B.J. was no longer able to restrain himself. “Mr. Curry,” he said, “I haven’t said anything up till now and my two friends here have endured your slanders in silence, because they do not wish to create a scene at the home of our host. But I can’t sit still anymore. You and your associate here are evangelists. Night after night, you hold meetings in your tent. At your meetings, you urge your listeners to come up and give their hearts to Jesus. You talk about love and charity and the fellowship of man, don’t you?”
“Why yes,” said Curry, “we do that.”
“Have you men who preach the love of Jesus ever stopped to think that Jesus was a lawbreaker?” B.J. said. “He broke the official laws established by both Romans and rulers of the Hebrews. You men, of all people, should know there are occasionally laws made by men which are morally and ethically indecent and which a man of honor and goodwill has to break? You preach love of Jesus, who broke certain laws, yet you slander and attack these people here who have similarly broken laws that are immoral and unfair. How dare you disparage these people? How do you know but what they too are making history? You are narrow in your concepts, limited in your horizon and prejudiced in your views. You should be ashamed of yourselves!”
After this outburst, the two evangelists sat still and stared at the floor. Governor Morris then congratulated B.J. for having the courage to rebuke Curry and Meyers.
“I think they’ve learned their lesson now,” he said. “I think they’ll be better Christians from this time on.”
I don’t know if Curry and Meyers did become better Christians, but I do know that B.J. Palmer was a shining example of standing up for what you believe in, no matter the consequences.
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And what happened to those on trial???
This book is so interesting! I love the moral here.
You know what? It never says in the book what happened to the Strands.
From the looks of this article it looks like they might have parted ways
and fought over the name Strand and Strand Chiropractic. http://books.google.com/books?id=7w08AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA568&lpg=PA568&dq=strand+chiropractic+minneapolis&source=bl&ots=dpQ_029NFJ&sig=08eObm7_sP_LCO6fZT3nO9OA9y0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qMX8TtiyJZK2tweo3bTQBg&sqi=2&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=strand%20chiropractic%20minneapolis&f=false