Anti vaxers at it again?

[KichigaiNeko]

http://thecommonsenseshow.com/2013/09/17...daughters/

http://truthaboutgardasil.org/memorial/

http://thenaturalresponse.org/the-gardis...same-fate/

Oh dear. The anti vaxers aren't content with bringing back Polio, Rhubella, Measels, Mumps, Smallpox or the Black Plague.... Now they seem to want women to suffer decades of misery due to Cervical cancer.

In support of the Gardisl programme

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/1...t-so-fast/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherpe...00-people/

Just what is wrong with people?

[Whateverist]

Paranoia. Ignorance. Selfishness.

[Crossless2.0]

Since the anti-vaccination crowd has been rebutted so many times, I wonder if it's the case that they really believe that the science is on their side or whether this is an example of True Believers clinging to their position for purely emotional reasons and out of a stubborn refusal to admit they were wrong.

[Last Things]

Like the anti-GMO food crowd they do a lot of 'research' on the internet and with books written by idiots.

[KichigaiNeko]

Like the anti-GMO food crowd they do a lot of 'research' on the internet and with books written by idiots.

Sorry I missed your introduction

[Aractus]

I've said it many times, and I'm outspoken, but vaccine isn't special it should be treated the same as all medicine - ie some is beneficial and some is harmful. There are examples of general meds that have been withdrawn in the past 5 years, there are examples of vaccines that have been withdrawn in the past 5 years. If medicine is a science then that means you should default to scepticism. Now I'll give an example. For me, penicillin is a great drug. It's cured my tonsillitis many times. But my own mother can't take the drug (the 100% natural fungus). I absolutely hate extremes - saying that "everyone should be vaccinated" is akin to saying "all vaccinations" ie the ones that haven't been properly tested and will be withdrawn in the future - ie the ones that "aren't right for everyone" just like penicillin isn't right for everyone.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I suppose the qualifier is that everyone that can be vaccinated should be.

I am massively in favour of scepticism regarding any claim. However, it tends to be that the anti-vax movement actually employ very little scepticism and instead rely on arguments from ignorance and outright lies targeted at the people who will not just be sceptical of claims but also cynical.

i.e. - the MMR link to autism (which was a total fabrication) was aimed specifically at families who had children that were at the age where they would be receiving the MMR vaccination. More insidiously, it employed children who had been diagnosed as autistic at around a similar age to when they received the vaccination to create a false syllogism that they then perpetuated as stone cold fact. This has meant that billions of pounds/dollars has been spent debunking a myth, instead of funding further research into the actual causes of autism and it's potential treatments.

The entire drive by the anti-vax movement is to play on people's ignorance, and then convince them that their ignorance is founded on some sort of scientific legitimacy when in fact it couldn't be farther from the truth. Their MO is not just dangerous, it could arguably be described as totally immoral and almost evil (if one were to use such language or emotive qualifiers).

[Esquilax]

I've said it many times, and I'm outspoken, but vaccine isn't special it should be treated the same as all medicine - ie some is beneficial and some is harmful. There are examples of general meds that have been withdrawn in the past 5 years, there are examples of vaccines that have been withdrawn in the past 5 years. If medicine is a science then that means you should default to scepticism. Now I'll give an example. For me, penicillin is a great drug. It's cured my tonsillitis many times. But my own mother can't take the drug (the 100% natural fungus). I absolutely hate extremes - saying that "everyone should be vaccinated" is akin to saying "all vaccinations" ie the ones that haven't been properly tested and will be withdrawn in the future - ie the ones that "aren't right for everyone" just like penicillin isn't right for everyone.

Agreed, but I don't think the contentions you're bringing up are the ones the anti-vaxers are supporting. The time to believe that a vaccine is harmful is when there's evidence that this is the case, which is the step this crowd wants to skip over in favor of emotionally charged invective and anecdotal arguments from ignorance.