Atheists and Vaccines: a poll

[Warren Stupidity]

I'm just curious where the atheist demographic stands on this. If you had to choose, would you consider yourself in the "pro-vac" or "anti-vac" camp?

17 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Pro Vac
	17 (100%)
	Anti Vac
	0 (0%)
	Pi
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[JDDavis]

1. This is another thorny issue tied with "religious freedom"

However, we know, or we will soon be told, that this problem, now being politicized by certain Republican presidential hopefuls, has "nothing to do with religion".

[trotsky]

2. This often tends to be an issue of "my truth" versus "your facts."

At least from what I've seen. So it goes quite well with the typical religious argument.

Throw in a complete inability to process basic statistics, and a charlatan or two interested in making easy money (Wakefield, et al) and you've got a literally toxic brew.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. my truth,

as taught to me by my preacher. He has to be truthful, after all, he said it came from the Good Book.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Yeah, this is pretty much confirming what I thought would be the result.

I'd conduct a similar poll in religion, but that place is toxic.

[mr blur]

4. I Don’t Vaccinate My Child Because It’s My Right To Decide What Eliminated Diseases

Come Roaring Back!

As a mother, I put my parenting decisions above all else. Nobody knows my son better than me, and the choices I make about how to care for him are no one’s business but my own. So, when other people tell me how they think I should be raising my child, I simply can’t tolerate it. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, I fully stand behind my choices as a mom, including my choice not to vaccinate my son, because it is my fundamental right as a parent to decide which eradicated diseases come roaring back.

<snip>

http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-dont-vaccinate-my-child-because-its-my-right-to,37839/

Yes it's The Onion, but it might not be, these days.

[Act_of_Reparation]

5. Spending time in GD, I see.

Makes one want to submerge one's head in a deep fat fryer.

[Warren Stupidity]

13. seriously.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. kick because atheists are good without god!

[AtheistCrusader]

9. Well, now we all know how effective the mercury, fluoride, and aluminium mindcontrol injections are.

[haikugal]

16. LOL!

[rhett o rick]

10. If Anti-theists can vote, I am pro-vaccines. Had a pneumonia shot last week. nm

[Warren Stupidity]

12. Anti-theists are always welcome!

[Curmudgeoness]

11. Science vs. woo.

At least here,, science wins.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

14. I won't say this in GD...

...but Goddamnit, I can't believe there are still so many fucking anti-vax morons left at DU. It makes us all look like idiots when we allow these jackholes to stick around stinking up the joint. But it's not my website, so what the fuck do I know?

[kdmorris]

15. I was never so happy as I was when my sons got their last vaccine

at 18 months (other than boosters). To have them be immune to other people's stupidity is the best feeling ever.

[onager]

17. Why do some parents choose not to vaccinate?

Just saw this article on a Yahoo feed. Couple of interesting ironies:

1. It came from the Christian Science Monitor. Christian Scientists are often one of the biggest groups demanding religious exemption from vaccination. (The article mentions that.)

2. Only two states do NOT allow religious exemption from vaccination at all. Now if you hang around certain DU forums, you might be wondering which 2 liberal, modern, progressive states, not full of Fundamentalist Assholes, those might be. The answer is: West Virginia and Mississippi.

Why do some parents choose not to vaccinate?

The vaccine-questioners in those communities tend to be affluent, educated, focused on a natural lifestyle, and suspicious of mainstream medicine and pharmaceutical companies. For many, their skepticism comes down to a gut intuition, as well as a resistance to simply accepting what government officials dictate. Others are highly informed, and they see the CDC schedule as a one-size-fits-all policy dictate that isn't best for all children.

Well, FTS. You're welcome to your "gut intuitions" about the Big Sky Daddy or your deep personal belief that you're the reincarnation of a Native American medicine-person. But not when it comes to endangering all of us.

"They're used to thinking about health as a series of lifestyle choices," says Brendan Nyhan, a government professor at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., who has studied parents who resist vaccines. "Even though the vaccine schedule is based on a tremendous amount of science, people are interested in customizing it in various ways, denying this vaccine, delaying another one."

FTS too. Driving drunk is also a "lifestyle choice."

http://news.yahoo.com/why-parents-choose-not-vaccinate-120001148.html