Love Your Neighbor. Get Your Vaccines.
A few days ago, my 4-year-old got three injections in his suntanned, still baby-dimpled arms. I read over the warnings, signed my approval, and held him as he set his little face, determined to be brave, then cried when he felt the pinch. Yesterday, my husband and I bared our own arms to get tetanus boosters and the first in a series of three hepatitis A/B vaccines.
I'm one of the moms you might expect to oppose vaccines. We try to eat local and organic, don't watch television, homeschool our kids, and wear natural fibers. My son was born into a birthing tub with a midwife present. But in November we're also moving to Malawi, where diseases like polio, typhoid, tetanus, and cholera are not theoretical. We need those vaccines.
When I type "vaccines" into Google's search engine, it auto-completes with "vaccines and autism," thus summing up what more than a fifth of Americans believe, despite the fact that study after study shows no link between vaccines and autism. More and more educated, middle-class parents are choosing not to vaccinate. As the New York Times Motherlode blog recently noted:
"in one Washington State county, 72 percent of kindergartners and 89 percent of sixth graders are either not compliant with or exempt from vaccination requirements for school entry, and at a Bay Area Waldorf school … only 23 percent of the incoming kindergarten class had been fully vaccinated."
An acquaintance once confided to me that she had chosen not to allow her daughter (who was then in first grade) to be vaccinated. "Since everyone else is vaccinated," she said, "my daughter doesn't really need to be."
And actually, that's kind of true. Vaccinations work on the theory of "herd immunity": As long as most people in a given population are immune, the risk of susceptible people getting sick is very small. So people who can't be immunized because they are too young (newborn babies), too old, too sick (people with immune system problems), and people for whom immunizations simply didn't "take," are protected by the immunity of the "herd," namely, those of us who got our shots.
As with any medical treatment, vaccination carries a level of risk that is, for most people, justified by the benefit that such vaccines provide (my great-grandmother spent more than a year recovering from influenza in 1918). One NPR reporter suggested that vaccine suspicion is a function of their success: If the threat of death or permanent damage from polio, influenza, diphtheria, mumps, or whooping cough seems more remote than the possibility of an adverse reaction from a vaccine, that's proof positive that vaccines have done their job. Those old enough to remember getting a drop of polio vaccine on a sugar cube also remember that polio was (and is) not merely theoretical.
Auditing America's Political Integrity
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Tim
No one is asking anyone here to put a smile on your face and say everything is ok. If you want to say everything is not ok, that's fine. It's how it's done that can be a problem. Jesus said we are known as his by our love for one another. That's the point of Sam's comment (I think) and mine earlier. I don't think anyone outside the body of Christ can read a comment equating Rachel's efforts as supporting lies from the pit of hell as a show of love for her. You may think her position is not well-founded, but you don't have to be mean about it. That's the point here. Some commenters been mean to Rachel and they should stop. If a point can't be made in a way that shows love for fellow Christians, then perhaps it shouldn't be made. Blessings, Tim
Laura
Hey, guess what? We don't vaccinate and are missionaries in Africa. Developing Africa. I posted some details of our evolution to not vaxxing above. After we stopped vaccinating (background above), our children became MUCH healthier than they had been until that point. And, they remain some of the healthiest expat children I see here. They are among the healthiest children I see anywhere. Almost every expat, vaxxing family I know here has at least one family member, often more, with a serious autoimmune disorder. They see that every time they get another shot, it gets worse...they just refuse to believe there could be a connection. Also, I notice that European and Asian expats, who follow much less rigorous vaccine schedules, are also healthier than Americans who follow the schedule. I was nervous about bringing young children to developing Africa without vaccinating them...having been here for years, I realize just what a campaign of fear (and what a big lie it is) we have been force-fed in America about our health depending on vaccines.
Ann
and Knew not New! Wished we could edit here... I have to be more careful!
Ann
I also should have said where I said "I could never ever use something to my advantage that caused someone great suffering, that was immorally wrong, and should never have happened." I should have added. ESPECIALLY when alternatives are EASILY found and can be used. There is no reason why aborted baby cells should be used - just because they see them as being more "fresh" than an adults or animals.
Ann
New I should have proof read! Sorry Karen I should have said "Is NOT an acceptable Christian view at all - in any degree."
Ann
Sam would you accuse Jesus of anger issues when He turned the money changer tables over? Or rebuked one of the disciples for talking from the spirit of Satan? Of course not. He was perfect in every way. For the third time, like I have said, Christians are to not put a smile on their face in the front of evil and and say everything is okay. If you doubt this is evil I would have to disagree. Vaccines and their use is plan evil and a scheme from the pits of hell. Don't believe me - ask all the children whose lives have been change. Ask the aborted babies in heaven. It is not good. If it is not good - where is it from? Certainly not God and certainly not of Him. Where does that leave you for where it comes from? Christians are to fight the good fight in regard to the injustice and evil in this world. We are to not ignore it. Would you stand by and say nothing if children were being tortured and burned alive in pots and some Christians came along and said "hey that is okay - if you LOVE your neighbour you should do that because it benefits some people!" BECAUSE that is how I see vaccinations. Exactly the same. No doubt about it. It is evil. From the pits of hell. If you think it is of God then you do not know the God I know. Karen I cannot accept that your view of.... "The use of the cells after an abortion carried out for other reasons, on the other hand... it sounds ridiculous to say it, but as terrible as the waste of a life is, wouldn't it be even more terrible if nothing good could ever come from it?" Is an acceptable Christian view at all - in any degree. I could never ever use something to my advantage that caused someone great suffering, that was immorally wrong, and should never have happened. Where there was no choice by the child/soul in this matter to use their body and for what reasons. To say well gee it happened anyway and to use it to our advantage is mocking to that child and that child's life and abusive to them. It is morally and legally wrong to have sex with a corpse for a reason. If there was nothing wrong with using a aborted dead child's cells then there would be nothing wrong with using any corpse for anything. Not only that it is saying abortion is okay - by using it you are saying that abortion or any abortion is okay. It is just re-pungent. Even so much that a multimillion dollar non Christian company who could do what they pleased even decided to no longer use aborted baby cells in developing better tasting food. They even had better ethics and morals than some I see here. And it goes further than this. Aborted baby parts are being sold and big profits being made to this day. There are sites on the internet you can buy them from for "research purposes". The later the date of the abortion the more value. Think I am kidding? It is all there for the finding. Not only that it is akin to cannibalism. When you eat human flesh the body absorbs it. When you get a vaccination with aborted baby cells in it your body is absorbing it. One and the same to me. And just for some peoples information the newest thing on the agenda and that is being talked about and pushed by some - is to use aborted baby eggs so that infertile couples can have their own children using those eggs. Where is the right of the child there? If this were to ever happen they would not even have any say whether flesh of their flesh have the religious upbringing or anything else they may have wanted.
Sam
I am rather appalled, as a Christian, to read so many of these comments. A Christian sister in Christ, who most of you do not personally know, writes an article about why she is getting her family vaccinated (she is taking them AFRICA!!), and why she believes that it is the right thing for them to do. And then - well, I have NEVER been so embarrassed and ashamed of being a Christian after reading such hateful and vitriolic comments by people who claim to also be Christians. The accusations against Rachel are shameful, and there are some who have commented here who should be ashamed of themselves. Having a different opinion does not excuse name calling and rudeness. As a Christian witness, it was a fail, and I hope that none of my non-Christian friends ever see these comments. It is one thing to state that you believe differently because of reasons a, b and c. It is another thing to accuse Rachel of being evil. Obviously Rachel has touched on the pet peeve of a few people. Grow up you guys. There are definitely some anger management issues which need to be addressed. Take some big breaths and walk away from online debates for a while. It'll do you good. I see both sides of the debate. I am not even going to say what I think, because it doesn't matter, and it has all been said already. In the end, I think that hiding being a computer screen and spewing hatred at someone you claim to a fellow Christian to, is far worse than vaccinating or not vaccinating. Rachel, I hope you stopped reading a long time ago. "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. " Matthew 5:16
Kyra
Sorry Just Karen, I'm afraid it makes me nauseous to even explore the idea of dead children being used to make supposedly "good" products, for consumption by others. I am very strongly pro-life, and emotionally, I cannot even go there.
Just Karen
@Kyra Interesting, I'd never heard of the fetus->vaccine connection before. I'd be curious to see the documentation of abortions specifically for use as vaccines. That would be unconscionable. The use of the cells after an abortion carried out for other reasons, on the other hand... it sounds ridiculous to say it, but as terrible as the waste of a life is, wouldn't it be even more terrible if nothing good could ever come from it?
Kyra
And let me state, since there seems to be some confusion in the comments, that the role of aborted fetuses in vaccines, does NOT end with research. Several vaccines are actually propogated along the cell lines of aborted fetuses. In some cases, the child was selectively aborted for the sole purpose of creating the vaccine. This is not a secret, although Christians seem to be largely unaware of it. You can find verification of what I am saying, in the U.S. government's own documents. Try a Google search; I managed to find it that way. This is one of many reasons why I cannot participate in a vaccine program, a reason that actually *does* pertain to my faith, and to loving the very smallest of my neighbors.
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