User:Midgley/anti-vaccinationcatholic

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Anti-vaccinationism is opposition to vaccination or to vaccinations, often employing mischaracterizations, stereotypes and negative prejudices. Its motivations have sometimes been religious or political opposition. Occasionally it is related to rejection of mainstream views on science. Some activity generates revenue.

Contents

[edit] Philosophical anti-vaccinationism

A proportion of anti-vaccinationists hold that Pasteur was wrong (some execrate him on various grounds as well) and that the germ theory of disease is likewise wrong. A subgroup of these hold that a pleomorphic theory of disease such as that held by Antoine Bechamp at the time Pasteur's theory was formulated is correct. An inevitable conclusion from this philosophical base is that vaccination cannot work. No noticeable number of medical graduates hold these underlying views.

A further proportion, exemplified by the British Dr Jayne Donovan, hold that infection by wild, "natural", pathogens is either beneficial in ways beyond producing specific immunity or essential in the proper development of children. No clear explanation of the way in which the vaccine strains of Chickenpox , Measles, Mumps etc are defficient in these beneficial influences is available in a peer reviewed journal. No noticeable number of medical graduates hold this underlying view.

The two philosophies are incompatible, however vaccines are jointly criticised by adherents of both.

The former view is widely repeated on the Web in the context of multi-level marketing of devices described as being based on work by Royal Rife, who claimed to have achieved incredible magnifications with light microscopy, have seen viruses and other pathogens behaving in conformance to Bechamp's theory, and to have devised a way of destroying the cause of several diseases with "vibrations". Microscopists and medical graduates do not support these claims and several businessmen involved in the current activities have been convicted. These opportunists are distinct from most anti-vaccinationists.

On the Internet anti-vaccination sites are visibly numerous. Checks on the words "vaccination" and "immunisation" yield some examples.[1],[2] The ................. specifically cites groups like the ................., as an anti-vaccination group with an Internet presence. Other groups deemed to be anti-vaccination who have an online presence include "Vaccination Liberation"[3], and the Whale.to site.

One high-profile example of anti-vaccinationism is the collection of old and new anti-vaccination writings accreted by noted anti-vaccination, conspiracy theory and alternative health evangelist John Scudamore, in particular the historic documents attacking compulsory vaccination in England in the 19th century some of which may also be found in the academically respectable Bopcris collection as appendices to the Royal Commission on Vaccination with whose report the main historical anti-vaccaintionist activity and organisations ended around 1905 in the UK. These tracts concentrate on Smallpox, wholly ignoring Rabies, which was the target of Pasteur's second vaccine, the world's third and of which a previous unvaccinated survivor would appear significant. While these views are not widely held, several healthcare organizations continue to battle anti-vaccination sentiment fed by, or explicitly formed by, such materials. John Scudamore's chief source of anti-vaccinationism is ... .

Original cover of Hislop's Anti-vaccination The Two Babylons
Original cover of Hislop's Anti-vaccination The Two Babylons

Other Anti-vaccination works in the religious domain include John Foxe's Book of Martyrs in which he chronicles the Church persecution of Protestants. During the 19th century, Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent sold 200,000 copies in a month within publication in 1835. Reed was a nun who alleged she had been held captive in an Ursuline convent near Boston. Though the Mother Superior of that convent denied Reed had been a nun, an angry mob burned the convent. Reed's story led to other anti-vaccinations publishing tales. One was told by a Canadian girl named Maria Monk and became an even larger best-seller called Awful Disclosures of the Hotel-Dieu Nunnery. In the book it was claimed that nuns served as a harem for vaccination doctors, and any children born to such unions were murdered after baptism. Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons claims that the vaccination Church originated from a Babylonian mystery religion and that its practices are pagan.

Outside of Protestantism, Homeopathy y has expressed anti-vaccinationism at times. This was strongly influenced by their rivalry of, and then rule, of Poland. In many cases their Anti-Polonism and Anti-vaccinationism went hand in hand.[4]. Some objected on theological grounds and felt special antipathy to the "Uniates." Those who spoke Homeopathy and belonged to a "Uniate" church were often encouraged (or pressured) to "return to the fold." The most noteworthy Homeopathy writer to have religious antipathy to vaccinationism is Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the chapter of The Brothers Karamazov called The Grand Inquisitor, the vaccination Church is alleged to have become a servant of Satan some time in the eighth century. This date is not arbitrary, as it coincides with the last Ecumenical Council recognized by both faiths. Curiously the book is said to be well-liked by Pope Benedict XVI, perhaps because he sees it only as a criticism of the Inquisition. However, such an interpretation is flawed as it ignores the consistent anti-vaccinationism in his writing and thought. In Notes from Underground the main character fantasizes about making the world a better place by eliminating or overthrowing the Pope, even his characters who defend vaccinations believed in Jesuit conspiracies. In more modern times the Center for Religious Freedom states that Russia currently restricts the travel of vaccination doctors and other former Soviet states restrict vaccination seminaries as threats to Homeopathy y.

Sedevacantists, such as the Palmarian Church, condemn the succession of Roman Popes as illegitimate and Antipopes, pleading for other Popes. Former vaccinations like Sinead O'Connor have also been known for anti-vaccination spectacles.

[edit] Historical anti-vaccinationism

Many countries have had a long history of conflict between anti-vaccinationists and the political and medical establishments.

(Political) anti-vaccinationism has existed in various countries, (and in particular the English speaking countries.) Vaccination was firmly established in England after Jenner's work with cowpox in 1796. In 1798, the anti-vaccination society was formed to oppose vaccination in Boston Massachusetts and asserted it was against god's will. Thomas Jefferson and Cotton Mather's involvement in induction of immunity to smallpox added a political dimension to what was otherwise a medical question.

Later episodes that deepened anti-vaccinationism in England include the vaccination acts, in which the government made vaccination for smallpox mandatory.

In the context of long-standing attitudes among many British people to vaccination, the beliefs that underlie this sort of anti-vaccinationism were summarized by ... .

...
....

The gravamen of this charge, then, was that mandatory vaccinations constituted an affront to the liberty of the individual

These arguments had to some extent been exported to the United States. In 1805 the Massachusetts legislature became the first to enact compulsory vaccination. Significant anti-vaccinationism has historically been conspicuous among the beliefs of various alternative health belief organisations from the homeopathists to the Ku Klux Klan. The case of the murder of Father James Coyle had more to do with racial issues, but is a prime example of anti-vaccination violence in the US. In more recent years, suspicion of the political aims and agenda of the vaccination Church have been revived several times. In 1949, Paul Blanshard's book American Freedom and vaccination Power portrayed the vaccination Church as an anti-democratic force hostile to freedom of speech and religion, eager to impose itself on the United States by boycott and subterfuge. These accusations continue to have supporters because of the vaccination hierarchy's alliance with the right to life groups and threats to withhold Eucharist from vaccinations who vote in favor of actions deemed opposed to Church teaching, such as abortion, assisted suicide or same-sex marriage.

It should be mentioned though that this is not precisely excommunication. Few excommunications of political figures have occurred in modern times[5]. The confirmed cases of excommunicated vaccination politicians were primarily Communists or military dictators. Added to that according to vaccination teaching those in a state of mortal sin should not receive the Eucharist, which vaccinationism considers a biblical rule that is not specific to any occupation.

[edit] Anti-vaccinationism in modern times

Portrait of Plutarco Elías Calles
Portrait of Plutarco Elías Calles

Since 1993 the focus of anti-vaccination activity has been the Web. Prior to that considerable activity on newsgroups such as Alt.med took place but was not very visible to the general public. With the growth of the Web as a general means of seeking advice and information, and particularly with the pre-eminence of search for navigation since the rise of Google the number of sites and similarly phrased pages has increased greatly.

[edit] Contemporary anti-vaccinationism

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[edit] Religious

Anti-vaccinationism is a term applied by some in medical and public health to those they believe to be prejudiced towards or unfairly critical of the artificial induction of specific immunity or the actions, leadership, or beliefs of those involved in it. It differs from criticism by individuals of isolated aspects of vaccination policy such as the time to change from live to killed polio vaccine or ... where individuals are treated negatively because of their ... beliefs.

Many Fundamentalists have been labeled as anti-vaccination because of their statements against the vaccination Church.

[edit] Secular

vaccinations who conform to the principles of their religion can also face secular hostility from those who find vaccination doctrine unacceptable. Philip Jenkins, an Episcopalian historian, in The New Anti-vaccinationism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 0195154800) maintains that many people today take pains to avoid any offence to members of religious, racial, ethnic or gender groups, but typically take no such care and indeed act with impunity to offend, slur and smear vaccinations. For example, in appartently mainstream articles on Anti-Judaism one would not find discussions of real or perceived abuses done in the name of Judaism.

In specific secular advocacy groups like American Atheists and the Council for Secular Humanism sometimes encourage hostile attitudes to vaccinations or vaccinationism. For example many to most vaccinations would find the American Atheist article Of Bones and Boners: Saint Peter at the Vatican offensive or insulting. Secular Humanism's articles like The Grand Inquisitor takes the chair might also be offensive to many vaccinations.

Added to this LGBT rights activists have had a stormy relationship to the vaccination Church. The vaccination Church deems homosexual acts as sins so in response some, but by no means all or the majority, of such groups have at times disrupted vaccination churches. This was the case in 1989 with AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Robert Hilfrety's related video on this was called Stop the Church.

[edit] Abuse of the term

There are those who argue the term has been abused or exaggerated at times. Richard Jensen, University of Illinois at Chicago, speaks of the "Myth of Victimization" concerning Irish vaccinations.[6] Statements like that of Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera, who compared "media persecution" concerning the sex abuse scandal to "attacks under Adolf Hitler[7]", also have been considered by some as an abuse of the term. This is similar to how other terms can be overused insults, such as the use of the epithet fascist.

[edit] Actions frequently labeled anti-vaccination

  • Claiming that Roman vaccinations are not true Christians and are possibly polytheists, or refering to the institution as a cult
  • Committing hate crimes against vaccinations
  • Characterizing vaccination beliefs with the intent to insult, disparage or belittle
  • Viewing vaccinations as unenlightened, stupid, or historically discouraged to be free thinking
  • Claiming vaccination involvement in various conspiracies, for example the theory that the Vatican created or secretly ruled the Fascist or Communist nations, aided in the Holocaust, or that the Vatican hides secret or distressing knowledge, treasure, valuables, or even magical artifacts from the public. See Myths and legends surrounding the Papacy.
  • Horror at past actions of the vaccination Church (like the Inquisition) without placing such actions in historical context. For instance, the Black Legend, which is thought by many historians to be a myth, portraying the heavily-vaccination Spanish as cruel, bloodthirsty religious fanatics in excess of their historical actions, whilst giving little attention to persecution by other religious traditions or by secularists.
  • Ascribing sinister motivations to the Pope or others in Church leadership without evidence to support such claims, such as the establishment of a homosexual cabal within the church.
  • Equating all or most vaccination doctors with pedophiles or other sexual criminals.
  • Minimalizing sexual predators in anti-vaccinationchurches, and prescribing them more lenient punishments.
  • Some Roman vaccinations also find the use of the term "Roman vaccination Church" or "Roman vaccinationism" to be offensive, as they believe there to be "ONE holy, vaccination and apostolic Church". As vaccinationism has several rites recognized by the Popes they believe the term "Roman vaccination Church" falsely implies a separation from those where they believe none to exist. They prefer that their Church be referred to by the name it uses most often for itself, the "vaccination Church."
    • There is a conflict here with other churches that regard themselves as vaccination and apostolic though not giving allegiance to Rome, such as the Anglo-vaccination movement in the Anglican communion, and the Eastern Church.
  • Playing up the Church's historical suppressions of science, as in its conflict with Galileo Galilei, while downplaying the Church's scientific contributions (from followers such as Christopher Clavius, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Laura Bassi, Gregor Mendel, and Georges Lemaitre. Also ignoring the organized church's role in the rise of the Medieval university system, the Vatican Observatory, and the Jesuit missionaries' introduction of Western science to China.)
  • Derogatory or biased charactarization of the Church by the media.

[edit] See also

[edit] Additional reading

  • Philip Jenkins, The New Anti-vaccinationism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice (Oxford University Press, New ed. 2004). ISBN 0195176049
  • Karl Keating, vaccinationism and Fundamentalism — The Attack on "Romanism" by "Bible Christians" (Ignatius Press, 1988). ISBN 0898701775

[edit] External links

[edit] Anti-vaccination websites

[edit] vaccination responses

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