Vaccination and religion.

[Arkacia]

I was surfing the net the other day and stumbled over a "religious" site (and considering the nature of it, I do use the term lightly) which had, among other stories full of misinformation and lies, a rant against vaccination...

Reformation online (http://www.reformation.org/vaccine.html).

This is not a reputable site, in any sense of the word and most of what is said here is total crap, but it did get me wondering if there really was a religious movement against vaccination.

After a little more digging I found a site that is a lot more reputable and explains both sides of the story...

Acts of faith (http://www.parkridgecenter.org/Page398.html).

It came as a total surprise to me that there is so much opposition to vaccination of children on religious grounds, and that such opposition is growing. I'm not having a go at people for their beliefs here, but surely whats best for the kids should come before a parents religious beliefs and protection from sometimes very nasty or deadly diseases should definetly be considered best for the kids, unless there is something in the families medical history that says different.

We are currently seeing an upsurge of diptheria and whooping cough in Australia with several deaths from both over the last couple of years. The deaths were all very young babies who caught the disease from older unvaccinated kids before they were old enough to be vaccinated themselves.

In my opinion it is very selfish of parents to refuse to get their children vaccinated for purely religious reasons. They are not only putting their own kids at risk, but other peoples kids as well.

[yarnellcg17]

I agree with your opinion on their selfishness..I think we'd be all criminal if we did not do right by our child to protect them.. also we know too.. that we wouldn't be living long on this planet.. as it were to those.. back when they had plagues..part of the reason why we came up with immunizations to rid of them and to protect the future and our society from being wiped out..

They to were immunized..funny had they not been..they wouldn't have been around to even protest it :rolleyes:

[JsWoman]

Immunization is a necessary thing if we don't want diseases like, yes, the plague, or small pox, or whooping cough, or any of those other nasty diseases out there that have the cure/anti-bodies to prevent it from going to epidemic levels. To say that you have religious reasons against having your child(ren) vaccinated is crazy. I mean, I bet most of the people that are saying this type of thing are, they themselves, vaccinated.

[yarnellcg17]

It makes ya wonder..and it too makes you wonder what this world is coming to..have we gone this far to the right to want to put our society in harms way..because that is what would happen..and to me..I do not think God would want us to practice that type method..God gave us more then they were ever taught..he wants us to overcome and move forward..not the opposite..

[JsWoman]

I mean, eventually he'll take us, all, but if you believe in God, he will take you when he's ready for you. If we don't immunize then he'll be taking us a lot sooner.

If you don't believe in God, it all holds true, but instead of God, it's just your time, as you would see it.

[Freakums]

I';m not goign to personally comment on this, but I have a friend who said this to me, the other day, about this issue:
"Just another one of god's ways to asort out the stupi . . . I mean, religious ones."
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:D

[JsWoman]

Just because someone believes in religion doesn't make a person stupid.

I know you were just saying what your friend said, Freakums, but maybe you should pass that onto your friend.

[Mick]

I'm not a religious person but I don't think they are stupid for believing, everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs. I think it is impossible to prove whether God exists or doesn't exist so really either belief could be right.
To me that statement is very similar to the post someone did here the other saying americans are dumb, it's just a careless insult aimed at someone with a different opinion, lifestyle, beliefs, country, etc...anyway, that's just my opinion:p

PS - Just had a thought, there is some religious people I do think are....ummm... how do I say this...not very smart... and annoying..... they are the ones who come knocking on my door on a weekend and start telling me about God. That is not so bad I know, but when I say "I'm not interested thanks" and they continue to tell me about God, my opinion of them changes for the worse very quickly. If they don't listen to me when I say i'm not interested, do they really expect me to listen to them?

[Freakums]

ummm . . . Js, that was a joke. :angel1:
GOD's way of sortign out the . . . RELIGIOUS ones" ;)
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didn;t measn to sound mean or anythign . . . . . :(
i thought you guys would see it was a joke immediatly . . .
ah well . . .

[the_dude3]

I can see where some people are coming from with refusing the vaccinations on behalf of religious beliefs. The reason being because God wants you to depend on him for safety not the things of the world. I guess it just shows Him that you have faith in him in certain cases. I would get my kids vaccinated unless He told me not to in order to prove to Him that I believed. I know that sounds crazy to some people here, but when you believe it's a whole other world and I suggest you explore it.

[Arkacia]

I do respect your beliefs dude3 (believe it or not :D).

It is hard for me to fathom how any loving parent could put their kids at risk on the basis of religion though. I have a religous friend who constantly calls her daughter a gift from God. Shouldn't this mother do anything and everything in her power to protect that gift and keep her safe?

[kornrockgod]

well i think that people can be a bit protective of thier children but putting them in danger is not the way

[Ninva]

Hm, I wouldn't call this selfish. You believe what you believe. If you believe in turning into dust you turn into dust. If you believe in a God that will take care of you, you will.

I ride the fence on this one. I believe that it's not wrong or right.