When I was a kid, some of my Mormon friends came from homes that were anti-fluoridation and anti-vaccine. These opinions were promoted by the John Birch Society to which the families belonged, but other members were sympathetic to their concerns.

Do members nowadays have any general tendency to be pro- and anti-vaccination? Does the right-wing, anti-science, pro-conspiracy mindset still hold sway? Any full-throated, vein-popping discussions at church on the topic? Or is Obama and the Global Warming Conspiracy that now give members nightmares?

Ironically, while Americans were manning the barricades to prevent "poisoning" from flouride, we were happy to breath in tons of lead courtesy of the oil companies. The elimination of lead from gasoline seems to have contributed to better mental health around the world. Odd that the John Birch Society and the Prophet didn't warn us about that one.

I wasn't vaccinated as a kid, and yes, I got the measles when I was about 10. I didn't really process this information until it was time to go on a mission, then suddenly when the church required it, it was imperitive that I get vaccinated. I am sure if the church wanted my penis tattoed like a candy cane my parents would have done that too.

...between far right fundies (of all stripes) and far left crunchy moms. Both are neglectful, moronic parents IMNSHO.

Be careful with the far righty thing the media wants you 2 believe... I know more organic type that dont vaccine than rightys and I am arround both. Some time back Oprah spread this anti vaccine stuff... Infact durring the primaries in 08 I believe O and Hil had a question about this on a panel and neither one shot it down, they both stated we needed to look in to it. The fact is the far right and left go overboard in the same direction some times. I don't know for sure t I believe you will find more Lefty's d that don't vaccine, although it's close.

You should spend some time here in the Corners. It's the far right fundies who are refusing to vaccinate their kids. It comes from BOTH SIDES.

Yep, my dad's a chiropractor, listens to Alex Jones, and makes ne confused about vaccines, fluoridation, health and medicine.

For example, he compares health and illness to light and darkness, saying disease is just the lack of health.

Well...
What the hell is a virus, then?!

Oh, being a teenager is greeaatt.....

Actually, in your dads thinking, isn't it more that health is an absence of disease, rather than disease being the absence of health?

pianoforte Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yep, my dad's a chiropractor, listens to Alex
> Jones, and makes ne confused about vaccines,
> fluoridation, health and medicine.
>
> For example, he compares health and illness to
> light and darkness, saying disease is just the
> lack of health.
>
> Well...
> What the hell is a virus, then?!
>
> Oh, being a teenager is greeaatt.....




My dad is a doctor, while generally a respectful person and respectful of others in the medical field, thinks chiropractors are frauds and has a general disrespect for them cause of the prevailing view among them that vaccines cause autisms, they diseases they supposedly prevent, etc.

Their was a chiropractor in our ward who had a baby, didn't vaccinate hear. Suprise suprise, she got the measles. Anti-vaxxers are responsible for endangering competent parents who vaccinate their children and for outbreaks all over the US. Diseases that are preventable and have been gone now for decades are creeping up again cause of these idiots. I do not respect these people's beliefs.

Hate to break it to you pianoforte but your dad's occupation doesn't have a lot of science behind it. Hope you are going to choose another line of work and please dear god, not a naturopath.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2015 09:18PM by annieg.

You can be sure that those who refuse to vaccinate their kids will be the first to sue if their unprotected kids catch a serious but preventable disease at school.

Anti-vaccine movements are where both the far left and far right have managed to attain bi partisanship. A few interesting articles are below. Anti-vaxers is just the latest in any number of trendy anti-scientific fashions, ranging from being anti-GMO food, anti-organic, and now anti-vaccine.

It may be tempting to claim that anti-vaxer is far left or far right, depending on which side of the political aisle you're on. The reality is that it's a combination of both, though in terms of sheer quantity (according to Mother Jones article above), it's primarily wealthy non-conservative types not vaccinating, which is why the epicenter of most preventable epidemics is richer southern California neighborhoods than, say, backwater Utah.

Aforementioned articles:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/mapping-measles-vaccine-coverage-around-the-country

www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/los-angeles-vaccination-rates/

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/wealthy-la-schools-vaccination-rates-are-as-low-as-south-sudans/380252/

Alpiner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It may be tempting to claim that anti-vaxer is far
> left or far right, depending on which side of the
> political aisle you're on. The reality is that
> it's a combination of both...

Yep. In any case, it's far-stupid.

I'm about as liberal as they come, and originally from Southern California. and I am ABSOLUTELY pro-vaccination. Fortunately, my kids are pro-vaxxers too, so I don't have to worry about my grandchildren being protected.

I'm wondering if what is behind the liberal concern about vaccination is not with the process itself, but with any level of government trying to FORCE it on anybody. Aren't liberals generally concerned with individual freedoms?

But I'm afraid that there are times when personal choice and freedom has to be overridden, for the person's own well-being. And that of the community.

I can still remember seeing people in iron lungs. We don't need to go back there again.

While Gayle Ruzicka does not officially speak for TSCC, she often uses LDS positions on issues to support her arguments. TSCC has never publicly questioned or rebuked her, which lends tacit support to Gayle And The Flying Monkeys. Nearly all of the Utah Eagle Forum leadership is LDS.

The question of whether Gayle's sizable litter was vaccinated is not known, but they were home schooled and thus likely immune (pun intended) to the vaccination laws.

I can't blame the church for not engaging Ms. Ruzicka. Who wants to get into a poo-slinging match with that shrill harpy?

What troubles me is that the media continues to talk to her, as though she represents the opinion of anything more than a handful of nutjobs. The Eagle Forum is not that big, but everybody (KSL and Deseret News inclded) knows they can get page views by citing Ruzicka's bizarre utterances, so they cite her all the time.

They also neglected to warn us about asbestos that thousands are now dying from.

My TBM cousin is one of those crazy far right fundy types. They keep their kids out of school, don't vaccinate them, don't practice veganism correctly, have them absolutely brainwashed. They have have 6 kids now, & will probably have more.

If the far left and far right nuts refuse vaccines long enough, they may diminish in numbers. That is, if their nuttiness is genetic or learned at home. In the vernacular of my day, that would be far out.

A TBM friend of mine is anti-vaccine. (She recently gave birth to her fifth child.) A couple of years ago, when we were discussing her choice not to vaccinate, I told her she was being selfish by relying on other people's vaccinated children to protect hers. She agreed, but then added the following:

"...but no one gets those diseases in the US anymore."

I. Swear. To. God...that is what she said!

Wow, what an idiot. Of course we still get those diseases. Not to mention that people travel from the US to other countries that still have these diseases and then come back to the US.

This moron also doesn't realize that people can get chicken pox by being exposed to shingles, which is still very much in evidence in this country.

Don't you think that Mormons have their own take on health and disease that predisposes them one way or the other? The WOW and the laying on of hands (presumably a spiritual solution for a spiritual problem that manifests itself as ill-health) frame Mormon thinking that is unique to the Mormon world. Is illness seen as a sign of moral weakness? Or perhaps only if it happens to other people. When TBMs get sick, it is a test..

they believe that if you keep your thinking positive and correctly aligned with "true principles," you will not get sick. And indeed, many of the true believers seemed incredibly upbeat and healthy.

The problem with that is, if you DO get sick, it raises the (unspoken) question of whether you are keeping your thoughts properly aligned. If you are lacking in belief, is it possible that you have brought this ailment upon yourself?

Blame the victim.

Although there was a lot of good to be said about this church, I left when I realized that it was operating on this agenda.

A neighbor kid wasn't vaccinated about 40 years ago and suffered profound hearing loss and some cognitive deficits as a result of measles. And we have a large Calvinist Dutch community here in S. Alberta who are anti-vax and have their own schools and have had more than one major measles outbreak (as a direct result of travel to Holland) which has spread. Children have died. So far there is no legislation to mandate vaccines. My children were vaccinated as are my grandchildren. Their mother is a public health nurse who administers vaccinations in schools and who will debate, at length anyone who challenges the efficacy of vaccinations.

Ron Burr

Mormon fall for stuff...like phony religions made up by sexual predators. That said...wow! Its all that I can do to moan through some of the moronic comments on this post. It makes me ashamed to be an atheist who believes in science. And I am ant vaccine because I lost a child within fifteen minutes of receiving one. I also know n awful lot about both sides of the issue. I am pro vaccine only when they are made safely. And not throwing some children under the bus while saying they do"no harm" in protection of others. And over multiple and common childhood illness used to fear monger parents. Good grief!

American Amish don't vaccinate, and they have no autism among them.

Sure the Amish have kids that have symptoms that meet the DSM V standard for a diagnosis of autism.

My dad, born in 1908 to a farm family had an older brother who never attended school but just worked around the farm, fed the chickens and shovelled out the barn. He was never diagnosed with anything but was just too slow to attend school. I have a picture of my dad and his family in my picture gallery. Dad's brother obviously had Down syndrome. So just not getting a diagnosis doesn't mean you don't have a condition. Kids on the autism spectrum don't have a lot of physical health problems so could well go through their entire childhood with no medical attention and living the same life my uncle did.

In Toronto, the Davisville school for the deaf was pretty much filled with kids whose mom got rubella (German measles) when pregnant with the child. Once the rubella vaccine came in, the school gradually ran out of children and closed down. Too bad the antivaxxers are ignorant of history.

American Amish don't interact with medical professionals who diagnose autism.

More on the topic of Amish and autism:

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050321-115921-9566r.htm

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050417-052541-5549r.htm

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/05/04/amish-autism-part-one.aspx