An Email from a Hater & GMO advocate - and My Response

This morning I was greeted with this lovely email from a fellow by the name of Ken Schauer:
 
 "Almost all the foods we eat both plant and animal have been genetically engineered at one point since we started agriculture. I have no interest in any company. In fact I am a 56 year old with a genetic condition known as hfASD (look it up bitch) The fact that you spread lies about them appalls me to no end. You are nothing more than a vulture that preys upon the fears of others. I hope your life is miserable and short lived. I shall report you to quack watch and see how you fair after that. I have researched genetics and epigenetics extensively and know for fact you have zero scientific backing for your claims. I wish there was a hell for you to burn in for eternity but unfortunately there is no proof heaven or hell exist beyond the plain we now occupy. I will tell everyone I know to avoid you and your bullshit like the plague. No need to respond as I know you will only lie.
 
 Piss Off,
 
 Ken Schauer"
 
 Lovely, huh? Here is the response I wrote to Ken:
 
 "Ken -
 
 Thank you for your warm words! Sorry to hear about your condition. I did look it up and from what I read I suppose that it is better than outright autism in that you are higher functioning, as evidenced from your message - although the angry tone of the message gives a bit of concern about the reported overlap with Asperger's. I have learned to try not to get into any debates or arguments with people who have Asperger's, since they have a very strong tendency to become quite nasty and refuse to consider any facts or opinions that are contray to their own. If such is the case with you, then my apologies for bothering to respond - albeit with truth and not the lies as you predicted.
 
 Quackwatch? Are you kidding me, Ken? Quackwatch? Oh my! Thanks for the laugh - it's great to start the week out with some humor. Have you bothered to look into the notorious de-licensed ex-doctor and mainstream medicine tool who runs that and other similar organizations? I suggest taking a look at these:
 
 http://www.truthwiki.org/stephen-barrett-quackwatch/
 
 http://www.quackpotwatch.org/quackpots/quackpots/barrett.htm
 
 You are quite correct when you say that most of the foods that we eat today have been genetically engineered. However, many of us would point out that selective breeding/cross breeding and hybridization, which can occur in nature, is quite different than actual gene-splicing and DNA modification which can only occur in a lab. Is it concerning to you that such artificial genetic manipulation has created such Frankenfoods as plants that create their own pesticides or plants that are able to withstand large amounts of horrific glyphosates such as Roundup which are then consumed by an unwitting public?
 
 Having extensively studied genetics and epigenetics, I would think that you would be aware that genetically modified plants are causing changes in human DNA that have been found to persist for at least three generations? Speaking of heaven and hell and such - do you think that man is somehow superior to our creator, or nature if you prefer, in playing God with our plants and animals? Does it not concern you that just one mistake, just one unforeseen consequences of genetic modification might have devastating effects for human and other life on this planet? Once such a mistake is made, it might be impossible for man to ever put that genie back in the bottle, and we are already seeing GMO crops widely "infect" natural ones.
 
 When it comes to my own articles and writings, I don't claim to be infallible. Far from it. But I do try to thoroughly research my articles. "Zero scientific backing"? I wonder, did you bother to read the research quoted in my articles and references? Surely there are lots of quacks in the natural/alternative medicine universe spewing unsupported misinformation. Almost as many as in mainstream medicine.
 
 "A vulture who preys on the fears of others"? Thousands of people around the world might beg to disagree and tell you that they are alive today, or living healthier lives today thanks to what I actually try to do, which is help open people's eyes to the dangers of mainstream medicine, genetically modified foods, herbicides, pesticides, plastics and other toxins and provide them with the information to address their own private health issues naturally so that they may live longer, healthier and happier lives.
 
 Would it surprise you to know that a few decades ago, when I began my journey of discovering the truth about health and healing, I too was quite skeptical of alternatives to mainstream medicine and quite the fan of modern science? I believed that real medicine came in a brown bottle with Rx on it and that real healers had smocks and stethoscopes and medical degrees posted on their walls - and that alternatives ranged from quaint and mildly effective at best to downright dangerous.
 
 I bet it would really surprise you to find out that I risked my very life working with the authorities to help expose the health scam of a three-time felon who sent hired goons to find and silence me. I don't like quacks and scammers any more than you do, Ken - but I am not one.
 
 I began my journey after father time and perhaps some bad dietary and lifestyle choices led to the inevitable conclusion that I was not destined to be young and immortal forever and I thought that it might be a good idea to search for ways to perhaps add a few healthy years back to my life which otherwise might have been taken away. What an eye-opening journey it has been! Being a journalist by training, I was taught to be objective (outdated as that is in today's media world). Even so, it took a lot of convincing for me to finally realize that most of what I had been told about medicine and health was wrong - that it was still nature which healed and for the most part all that mainstream medicine was doing was managing symptoms with highly profitable, unnatural manmade side-effect laden compounds which led to more and more health conditions and more and more pharmaceuticals and doctor visits. It's a great model for making profits, Ken, but a horrible one for healing and humanity.
 
 Are you aware that over 95% of the FDA approved prescribed and over-the-counter medications have side effects? Or that perhaps not coincidentally that by mainstream medicine's own admisiion, in any given year over 100,000 people die from the side effects of their medications even when they are properly prescribed and administered? Or that by comparison, in any given year exactly 0 people die from vitamins, minerals, herbal and other supplements?
 
 It is much the same with food. Trust me, Ken, I had much rather be able to buy the packaged items on grocers shelve and less expensive non-organic packaged items, meats and produce than the ones that are far safer and healthier. But having learned the truth, I cannot do that to my body or recommend that anyone else do so. Did you know that 80% of the food items on our grocers' shelves contain one or more items banned in other countries? And that does not even include GMO foods which are also banned, and increasingly so, in other countries.
 
 I began my journey simply looking for information which would help my own health - but I realized that the information I was finding could be of tremendous benefit to others and that it would be a natural thing for me, a writer of modest ability, to share that information. Perhaps it might even enable me to put down some positive footsteps in the sand alongside the river of time which I had disturbed in the past. Which is what I have been doing, Ken - not preying on other people's fears, Ken.
 
 I too wish there was a Hell. If so, I firmly believe there is a place there in the deepest, hottest depths for the likes of the owners and managers of Merck and Monsanto who know the real truth about the deadly wares they profit from. I'm thinking it would be even deeper and hotter than the politicians and televangelist levels. 
 
 So here I am Ken. It's now been decades and many tens of thousands of hours of research and writing about natural health and it has long since become my mission in life. And I even make a few hundred dollars a month - and ONLY a few hundred dollars a month - along the way.
 
 You know, Ken, if it is possible for you to take an objective look, you might consider taking your own journey into the truth about natural health versus mainstream medicine and mainstream science. You are still a relative youngster compared to me. There's still time, and as the saying go "And the truth shall set you free". A good place to begin might be my modest website.
 
 On the other hand, if you choose to keep your mind closed and if you choose to condemn me and believe what you wrote, then that is surely your right. But you could not be farther from the truth.
 
 Live long, healthy and happy, Ken.
 
 Tony Isaacs
 Natural health author and advocate"
 http://www.tbyil.com