I am vaccinated and so is my son. He is nearly 4 and autistic and no I do not think it has anything to do with vaccines. (even at birth he didn't react "normally")
He is the most wonderful and loving child ever and I would never want to risk death for misinformation.

I absolutely hate defenses against vaccinating kids. I've seen too many stories of the consequences to see anything to the "my kid, my choice" argument. I've seen stories of kids DYING from diseases that we can prevent easily. I've seen articles of parents thinking that they could pray away diseases as their child died. I've seen articles about outbursts of diseases that we thought were gone. I've seen articles of parents being upset after their baby died of something that we have a vaccine for. And I've seen stories of parents upset with anti-vaxxers because their baby had health problems and couldn't get vaccinated and because THEY thought that THEY knew better than THE ENTIRE SCIENCE COMMUNITY AND REFUSED TO VACCINATE THEIR CHILD, this parent must now sit and listen to their child suffer through whooping cough, scared to death that their infant might die because of some STUPID INTERNET RESEARCHER.

It's also pretty disgusting that people are so misinformed that they still believe that autism is caused by vaccinations. The guy COMPLETELY made-up his findings AND CAME FORWARD ABOUT IT! LONG TIME AGO! HE PULLED IT ALL OUT OF HIS BUTT! For me, that throws that argument out the window. It's done. Falsified, disproven. No more mentioning it. I hope that that guy got A TON of backlash for pulling that. I wonder how many lives he's inadvertently taken for his lies. How many people finally beat cancer only to die from some preventable disease because some irresponsible parent wanted to prove a point. It's disgusting.

Also, children should be vaccinated all the time. If you've ever worked retail during cold season, you'd hate hearing a bunch of sniffle-y kids come in. They touch everything!

SeaCrest wrote:Personally, vaccines are Very Important and should not be sacrificed even for religious reasons. I know that it's probably a bit of an extreme stance, but vaccines are important because herd immunity is what helps to protect individuals who can't be vaccinated for whatever reason - infants, people with autoimmune diseases, etc. Even if they themselves aren't vaccinated, the fact that most people around them are means that they're protected by virtue of the fact that nobody else can get the disease and pass it on to them. As with all things, it's not 100% perfect, but it's a damn sight better than leaving it up to chance.

Most of the conspiracies are total nonsense, but there are other reasons a parent might not vaccinate their child, if their child is sick or has a compromised immune system or a relevant allergy.

And some research shows that it might be better to space out the vaccines differently than most doctors currently do, depending on the child and their development (like instead of getting two vaccines in one day, get one vaccine the first day and come back a couple months later for the next vaccine)

ShortAxel: Personally, I don't think religion should play ANY part in this. Religious folk already get tons of stuff over others, especially Christians. I don't care what religion someone claims. I've seen WAY too many stories of parents WATCHING their child die of a burst appendix or meningitis, opting instead to pray away the issue. It never works. NEVER. You can't pray away an infection in the lining surrounding the brain. You can't unburst an appendix. If you had a home birth and the baby was premature, PRAYING DOES NOT HELP THE BABY BREATHE.

I'll say this now, I'm not religious, but I am respectful of it. However, if someone lets their religious beliefs get in the way of them SAVING THEIR OWN CHILD, no. Screw that. Any religion that wants parents to let their children die painfully from preventable diseases does not deserve respect. Yet many states allow parents to get away with this neglect through religious freedom. It's bullcrap. Religion is not something that I'm okay with causing harm. At all. The suffering I've read about is what pushes me away from religion.

Pwale wrote:And some research shows that it might be better to space out the vaccines differently than most doctors currently do, depending on the child and their development (like instead of getting two vaccines in one day, get one vaccine the first day and come back a couple months later for the next vaccine)

Wait, people do things like "two vaccines in one day"? Damn. I remember when we had vaccines in school and I couldn't get one because I had other one done sometime before it (it was something about not being allowed to have two vaccines done within same 1-2 weeks)

Do you believe in the benefit of vaccinations?
Yes I do.
Are you vaccinated?
Yes.
Are your children?
All of them are.
What side affects do you often hear about?
Autism. (Eye roll) It has been disproved, but so many people believe it.
Do you think these vaccinations actually protect us?
Yes and no. I think they help more than they hurt, which is reason enough to get them. My children will never get the Chicken Pox because of these shots. My sister had is so badly that it was everywhere, even in her ears and mouth. To think that one shot will prevent all that pain is amazing, though I admit a little jealousy.

Yumi123 wrote:ShortAxel: Personally, I don't think religion should play ANY part in this. Religious folk already get tons of stuff over others, especially Christians. I don't care what religion someone claims. I've seen WAY too many stories of parents WATCHING their child die of a burst appendix or meningitis, opting instead to pray away the issue. It never works. NEVER. You can't pray away an infection in the lining surrounding the brain. You can't unburst an appendix. If you had a home birth and the baby was premature, PRAYING DOES NOT HELP THE BABY BREATHE.

I'll say this now, I'm not religious, but I am respectful of it. However, if someone lets their religious beliefs get in the way of them SAVING THEIR OWN CHILD, no. Screw that. Any religion that wants parents to let their children die painfully from preventable diseases does not deserve respect. Yet many states allow parents to get away with this neglect through religious freedom. It's bullcrap. Religion is not something that I'm okay with causing harm. At all. The suffering I've read about is what pushes me away from religion.

ShortAxel: I just have short patience for people who knowingly and willing risk their children's lives so that they can feel like they're proving something. Like, Oh, my kid has a temperature of 106, I'll rub mint leaves on their stomach and pray because my faith is stronger than any doctor's advice! Especially if they also claim to be "pro-life" because of their religion. I'm not going to twist the thread subject, but I just hate that hypocrisy. Parents should never be okay with risking things like this with their children. A parent is suppose to be willing to take bullets or push their child out of the way of runaway vehicles. If a person is okay with watching their child suffer so that they can prove something, they shouldn't have had children to start with, that's incredibly selfish. And it blows my mind that this neglect is totally fine in states if the parent hides behind religion. If you have access to life-saving treatment for your child and chose not to take it, I'd even call it murder. They're dependent. They can't get it themselves... Parents are suppose to take care of their children, so I guess I personally don't care if they have a reason. It's a bad reason. It's a stupid reason. I would be fine with it if it weren't hurting innocents. I'd say that's a massive thing for me, if it hurts innocents, I want to bring down the justice hammer. It hurts my heart to think about what those kids must have felt, being in so much pain and watching as the people that were suppose to help them, protect them, love them, did nothing. Organized religion lets people get away with horrible, horrible crimes, and I find it disgusting. Any group that covers up for child molesters doesn't deserve to exist, in my book.
I do get what you're saying, by the way, I'm extremely passionate about this stuff so I don't want to come off like I'm flying off any handlebars at you or anything, lol.