It was well-written, quite readable, cited in extensive detail, and strikingly convincing. If I didn't already have a firmly-held bias, I might have been swayed. Haha
The author is pretty much "the expert" on vaccines these days. He comes from an honorable intent: as a child, he spent a summer recovering from clubfoot surgery in a hospital wing full of kids in iron lungs. The suffering of children touched his heart, and he vowed to spend his life protecting them from infectious diseases.
But then he says things like, "babies could theoretically respond [immunologically] to about 100,000 vaccines at one time." (p. 174) Head-spinning, I know.
I took some time this afternoon to let my thoughts percolate and chose these topics to respond to:
- autism
- what "load" of vaccine and/or natural disease can babies handle
- parents' liberty to choose, and
- how we treat one another in debates
I'll cover each of these in a separate post. And I want to finish them up so I can get the vaccine book out of my head and make room for other things, like work, getting over this blasted cold, dishes, laundry, other books and summer.
2 comments:
Hi Sally! ;D Interesting, and I'm curious as to what you come up with. I find that both sides are in agreement of one thing ... the driving force of fear. There is so much uncertainty and I often wonder if our own experiences and roots of fear predetermine our choice. For example, the author was greatly affected with his hospital stay and vowed to protect children from infectious diseases and therefore developed a strong pro vaccine opinion. You are affected by your own relationship with your brother and vow to protect your own children from the potential side effect. I'm afraid, myself, I'm just one of the sheep following along in the "norm" that is expected of us. Now that we're into public school I can't imagine how much of a fight I would have to put up to keep my kids vaccine free - it's just a nightmare to think of going against the grain. Because I already do so in other areas I know how much effort and how many ulcers would be required. LOL So I guess that would define my fear and ultimately my choice for vaccines. Do you get what I'm trying to say - make any sense? It's not anything to say about being pro or against but just how we arrive at our own opinions and stance on the subject.
*Hugs, Barbara
Hi Barbara! I think you've hit the nail on the head - that is one of the most important reasons, beyond common courtesy and brotherly love, that we should respect others' choices. We do all have our own experience and journey. Glad you stopped by!! :)
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