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"An outbreak of measles tied to a Texas megachurch where ministers have questioned vaccination has sickened at least 21 people, including a 4-month-old infant -- and it’s expected to grow, state and federal health officials said."
The ill people were all linked to the church that is a division of Kenneth Copeland Ministries. That group advocates faith-healing and has made anti-vaccination statements in the past. Is that why so many of the anti-vaxers are of the religious persuasion? Because they think that god would protect or heal them from such a thing? Not only did god not protect them, it appears that he was angry at them for putting the rest of the public at risk. Why do we let these groups get away with putting the public's lives at risk due to their "religious beliefs" when vaccines are required for everyone else (in order to enter school, etc).? Where do these people get their faulty information from regarding vaccines anyway? The pulpit?
Well, Copeland is a charismatic / healer / name-it-claim-it variety of fundamentalist, so the idea that god will heal you or protect you would be front and center for them, yes. I am sure that they also take advantage of arguably more legitimate concerns about vaccines overloading immune systems and/or containing dangerous additives which possibly are instrumental in expressing the genes for autism spectrum disorders -- and there are plenty of people who are hesitant about some or all vaccines based upon a combination of minority scientific opinion, pseudo-science, and conspiracy theory. The opposition of those folks has nothing, necessarily, to do with religion. And I suppose both groups are emboldened by a sense that it doesn't matter as much anyway because these diseases are pretty rare; in fact, one could rationalize that the risks now outweigh the advantages (so long as vaccine abstainers remain a smallish percentage of the populace).
Not that I endorse any of these notions, I'm simply saying, it's not 100% driven by religion and it's not even 100% crackpot.
This isn't Christianity. It's a big business making money off of fleecing the sheep. The "Senior Pastor" is Copeland's daughter. I find this stuff shameful.
Well, Copeland is a charismatic / healer / name-it-claim-it variety of fundamentalist, so the idea that god will heal you or protect you would be front and center for them, yes. I am sure that they also take advantage of arguably more legitimate concerns about vaccines overloading immune systems and/or containing dangerous additives which possibly are instrumental in expressing the genes for autism spectrum disorders -- and there are plenty of people who are hesitant about some or all vaccines based upon a combination of minority scientific opinion, pseudo-science, and conspiracy theory. The opposition of those folks has nothing, necessarily, to do with religion. And I suppose both groups are emboldened by a sense that it doesn't matter as much anyway because these diseases are pretty rare; in fact, one could rationalize that the risks now outweigh the advantages (so long as vaccine abstainers remain a smallish percentage of the populace).
Not that I endorse any of these notions, I'm simply saying, it's not 100% driven by religion and it's not even 100% crackpot.
They are only rare BECAUSE a high percentage of the population gets vaccinated.
This isn't Christianity. It's a big business making money off of fleecing the sheep. The "Senior Pastor" is Copeland's daughter. I find this stuff shameful.
I scrolled through 3 pages of the religious and spirituality board for this topic and didn't see one....which is why I posted. What is the title of the thread?
They are only rare BECAUSE a high percentage of the population gets vaccinated.
I know; it's kind of like someone not taking all their antibiotics because they fell better after a couple of days. Unless a disease is eradicated you can't stop vaccinating for it, and even then you better not be in a situation where you have no vaccines in stock in the event of a new outbreak, however unlikely. I think though that it's useful to recognize that the very success of vaccines is apt to make humans more apt to think its not that important to be vaccinated. It's just human nature. If very many people start thinking that way, it's a failure of public communication on the matter.
There has been a lot of question about these vaccines and the harm they have done. I had the measles and German measles as a child as did all the other children back, remember when autism was rare, during that time.
There has been a lot of question about these vaccines and the harm they have done. I had the measles and German measles as a child as did all the other children back, remember when autism was rare, during that time.
Autism was no more rare than it is today...It was just not diagnosed as autism.
There has been a lot of question about these vaccines and the harm they have done. I had the measles and German measles as a child as did all the other children back, remember when autism was rare, during that time.
I know some people are convinced that the preservatives in vaccines cause or at least exacerbate autism spectrum disorders. I have mixed feelings about it; there doesn't appear to be a general scientific agreement on any such associations, much less cause, yet there is a vaccine industry with a huge vested interest involved, and palpable resistance to the mere suggestion of a possible association.
The truth is we don't really know why autism spectrum disorders are on the rise. I am not disinterested in the topic; my son and stepson both have mild Asperger's Syndrome and one of my grandsons is tentatively diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. In the case of my son at least I tend to think it's more genetic than vaccine-mediated because I home schooled him back in my theist days and delayed his vaccinations until I sent him to public school starting in the 5th grade, and his personality and thought patterns were already well established by then. We were also living on a pretty organic / healthy diet during those early years.
I do believe that at least some of the perceived rise in these disorders is because we are better at recognizing and diagnosing them. There have always been odd / shy / different kids, we simply assumed they were being difficult. Now we have a more nuanced understanding of these things.
There has been a lot of question about these vaccines and the harm they have done. I had the measles and German measles as a child as did all the other children back, remember when autism was rare, during that time.
There is NO scientific evidence that vaccines are unsafe. Any medicine does have risks. Vaccines have very small risks compared to their benefits in eradicating serious diseases.
Autism, as someone else has said, has not increased in prevalence, but was not diagnosed years ago. We have a better understanding of autism today.
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I scrolled through 3 pages of the religious and spirituality board for this topic and didn't see one....which is why I posted. What is the title of the thread?
