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The Motherlord's avatar

I have always been accepting and never judgemental of other people's religion. When my youngest son was a toddler he was obsessed with Jesus. Maybe not so unusual, except, we're Jewish. He was home with me full-time, had never had a babysitter and I didn't allow TV. In all seriousness, I would ask him, "Who is this Jesus dude you speak of? A park friend?" When he was in his car seat I would over hear him telling his older brothers, "You might think that's a house, but it's not. It's a house of G-d." when we drove by a church. I found him a protestant preschool, he told me it was the wrong chapel. I took him with me to interview schools, a Catholic School was the right one. And he wasn't wrong, it was the best school for our family until we decided to homeschool. By the time he was 6 he was begging to be baptized. He said it would set him free like a butterfly. I took him to Mass every Sunday. I taught his older brothers it was never acceptable to make fun of or question his religious choices, to always accept when someone offers to bless you or pray for you, to be gracious. He would invite them to Mass by saying "It is the must fun, ever!"

My oldest son was home over this past holiday break I reminded him of this. I told him I love him and respect his vaccine decisions just as I had respected his younger brother's religious choices. And that I hope he can respect mine. He became angry. Vaccines are not religion they are science! There is no G-d in science! It's not about G-d! I calmly explained not every religion is about G-d. But they do always involve a strong belief that cannot always be rationally explained by the believer. When I ask why he is so angry that most of his family is not vaccinated his answers revolve around our breaking the rules and making everyone unsafe. He doesn't want to hear about informed consent, medical circumstances or bodily autonomy, the science behind why my doctor says my genetic illness is contraindicated (if he got the shot (X3) and was fine, I'll be fine...ignore my doctor!) anger anger anger....just do it!

Like his brother before him, I respect his freedom of choice and his decision to believe as he chooses. And like his brother, I can sit in the back and be quietly polite but not agree. I had not read or heard of Forrest Maready before but I too could see there is an element of religious fervor to the vaccine hysteria and I tried to tell my oldest that the hunger for religious belief and guidance is very much part of being human. I will not attempt to take this from him, I will not try to convert him. He said I was trying simply by not getting vaccinated.

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Claudia's avatar

I came to the same conclusion several years ago. A friend and I were having a discussion about vaccinations. I was trying to share info about the potential connection between increasing rates of autism and the high number of vaccines. She tried to end the discussion by saying, “I believe in vaccines.” I replied, “Vaccination is not a religion.” As Maready says, sadly for some, it is.

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