Her concern about the safety of vaccines is not unique, at least not in the
liberal, wealthy part of L.A. where we live. Several friends have not vaccinated
their children, and we know pediatricians who recommend avoiding some or all
shots. And I know almost no one who is willing to get the swine-flu shot, and
not because everyone here is Jewish. It's because while the far right gets a lot
of crap about not believing in science, the left isn't crazy about it either.
Only instead of rejecting facts that conflict with the Bible, it ignores
anything that conflicts with hippie myths about the perfection of nature. That's
why my neighborhood is full of places you can go to detoxify with colonics, get healed with
crystals and magnets and buy non--genetically engineered food. We complain less
about the liberal side of antiscience because the women who believe in this
stuff are generally hot.
To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate
Not only the article addresses some of the nonsense associated with childhood vaccines, but it's a nice encouragement for all of us, fighting a hard war in our communities and (sometimes) our families. There is so much misinformation floating around, small talk between moms and dads, crazy "data" from the Internet, and personal anecdotes, that every time I have to face someone, who almost implies that I must be a bad person to even consider believing doctors and science on this hot issue, I feel like throwing the towel.
Articles like this help me realize that it's important to keep the pressure on, and try to eradicate the woo from our lives, if not for ourselves, then for our children and their well being.
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