God Bless the Faithful

Posted by Dan Schultz, DC

Belief is a funny thing and I do find the whole idea very interesting.

I recently had a discussion that provoked new thoughts on the subject.  A very casual conversation turned deep the moment this (previously unknown) person said that "everything either contained demons or God."  "Everything?" I responded.  "Yes, everything."  As usual, I'm actually not very interested in WHAT people believe, but I much more interested in why they believe it -- so I quickly went to work to get to the bottom of it, where all the juicy tidbits are found.

"Can I ask you some questions?"  I said and she was most obliging in agreeing and answering honestly.  I asked if she had thought of this idea on her own and she said she did not. I asked who told her that and she admitted it was a preacher, from church. I asked if she had ever seen any demons or heard them and she confessed that she had never sensed them in any way.  I asked if all churches believe this and she supposed that they did not. I asked if mathematics contained either demons or God and she scratched her head.  No answer to that one.  I summed it all up.  "So your saying that someone at a church told you about this idea, not all churches say this but this one does, you hadn't thought it all through yet, but you're telling others about this idea, stating it as fact, and even saying others should be believing this, too.

Why?  "Why did you choose to believe this?" I asked, and a few minutes later she was kind of fuzzy on the whole thing.

When I arrived home, the same kind of questions came to mind regarding vaccination.  I've had countless conversations on the subject.  The vast majority, say 99 to 99.999 perent, I'm estimating, throw out something like, "well, why would they recommend them, then" or "I trust my doctor" or "I don't want to catch these diseases" which is as valid of a responses as any other, but doesn't answer the question.  Very few will actually answer the question and I can tell you from experience that when they do, the answer is... FAITH.  They have faith in technology, their doctor, the "system" or the like. And I've never met anyone who has researched the topic of vaccination with an open mind (not vested or biased) that still chose to "believe" in vaccines.

Belief.  there's that word again.  It has religious connotations, doesn't it.  So I conducted a search.  Here's some of the things I found:"Vaccination is considered a sacrament of modern medicine," says Dr. Richard Moskowitz, Ph.D., M.D., a Harvard-trained doctor who has written extensively on the possible connection between vaccines and chronic diseases."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/22/152342.shtml?s=he"

As public health physician
I believe in vaccines. Those people who believe that vaccines like the flu cause the flu, I think they're wrong."
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/sa/content/2006/s2009522.htm

"There's an almost religious conviction that they must see this through," said Dr. Samuel Katz, an infectious diseases specialist at Duke Universityand co-inventor of the measles vaccine.
Associated Press; Experts weigh giving up on killing polio
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070303/ap_on_he_me/polio_problems

"British scientists are on the verge of producing a revolutionary flu vaccine that works against all major types of the disease. Described as the "holy grail" of flu vaccines."
Daily Mail; The vaccine to prevent every strain of flu
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=425227&in_page_id=1774

And then there was the doosey, the vaccine sermon, given, appropriately, in a church, where they all but pandered to the frightful that the end was near (an "impending influenza pandemic")

"The Episcopal church in Enterprise is taking a proactive approach to the upcoming flu season, serving as host site for an Emergency Preparedness Workshop and working with health and emergency officials to heighten the public’s awareness of what has been labeled an impending influenza pandemic."
http://www.eprisenow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=ENT/MGArticle/ENT_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173353221432&path=!news

Churches?  Sacraments?  Holy Grails?  Religious convictions?  Beliefs?  All have become the common lexicon of what can only be called the Church of Modern Medicine.  I didn't coin this phrase.  Robert Mendelson, M.D. did -- a renowned, respected, celebrated authority within the profession/church of medicine. I implore anyone who wishes any kind of light to be shed on the subject, the seekers of Truth, to divorce themselves of faith and belief when it comes to what we put inside our bodies.  Something else must be embraced here; logic, common sense, anything but faith.  Even the state of our scientific community, corrupted by profit, politics, and special interests as it is, will show the seeker that vaccination, in the vast majority of cases, is a really bad idea. 

Comments

[Sandy Gottstein]

Hi Dan, I couldn't agree with you more, and in fact wrote (and later updated) a Scandals column relevant to the point you are making a number years ago called "But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last." - Thomas Moore (Scandals - update and "flashback" at http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/2003/Mar_7/Scandal58.htm) You might find it interesting. All the best, Sandy