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Saturday, July 20, 2013

The [Point of] View

WARNING! ACCIDENTAL RANT AHEAD!


It was recently announced that Jenny McCarthy will soon be co-hosting on The View. I don't watch the show, but when I first heard the announcement I thought, "Wow, what a good selection! She's funny, intelligent, opinionated, fearless, and beautiful. They might actually draw some new viewers to this otherwise obnoxious show."

Then I read this and I was infuriated! I COULD NOT BELIEVE how outrageous, misguided, and slanted this and the quoted articles were (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C)! The USA Today article was at least somewhat balanced (Exhibit D). That's what REALLY got to me. I understand there is a lot of controversy around the topic of vaccinating/not vaccinating. It is a SERIOUS and hot topic. But this article was pumped full of quotes that not only painted a skewed picture of Ms. McCarthy as some lunatic but even outright called her a "homicidal maniac":

"I think a network hiring a homicidal maniac, giving her a forum in front of people who have young children and are impressionable, is the most irresponsible thing I've heard of in a long time," New Yorker writer Michael Specter rants to the Los Angeles Times. "She's very dangerous. It's unfortunate that in our society, scientific evidence is now just taken as some other point of view."

Believe it or not, calling her a "homicidal maniac" isn't even the worst part of this quote. It's the last statement which is also parroted in a later quote from Time magazine TV critic James Poniewozik:

"To say that you can simply shrug off differences about medical fact as 'outrageousness' or 'controversy' is to feed the belief that science in general, be it vaccines or climate change or evolution, is simply subjective: You have your truth and I have mine. But we don't. The Earth didn't revolve around the sun only for Galileo."

From my point of view, scientific evidence is by no means rock solid. Just look at his examples of climate change and evolution. These topics are still up for debate (not that I don't believe them to be true). Not to mention some scientist also believe in Sasquatch. Here's a fact that'll blow your mind - SCIENTIFIC DATA CAN BE MANIPULATED TO SHOW THE DESIRED RESULTS.

When it comes to expert advice we should take it as just some other point of view and subjective. As an example, for quite some time now doctors have been correlating cholesterol to heart disease. We are now learning that cholesterol is NOT the bad guy - it is actually essential to our health. Inflammation is largely the cause of heart disease. What causes most inflammation in our country? Sugar, grains, trans fats, foods cooked at high temperature (processed foods). Yet we have been duped by a single study on cholesterol that turned out to be false. Now people are eating egg white omelettes and "low fat" processed foods and have deemed red meats as unhealthy but then are then turning to statin drugs to cobat their heart disease. This is all very well explained in The Cholesterol Myth That Could Be Harming Your Health by Dr. Mercola. I haven't had a chance to read Put Your Heart in Your Mouth yet, but based on her GAPS book, I highly recommend reading this for more insight on heart health. As Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride says on http://www.doctor-natasha.com:


THE SCIENCE HAS SPOKEN: THE DIET-HEART HYPOTHESIS IS FALSE! NATURAL ANIMAL FATS AND CHOLESTEROL-RICH FOODS DO NOT CAUSE HEART DISEASE, THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT; IN FACT THEY PREVENT IT!


Back to the topic of discussion. The article eventually ends with two more quotes:

"On her side is her anecdotal claim that vaccination gave her son autism, and a debunked study from 1998," says Poniewozik. "On the other is, pretty much, the entire pediatric community."

Concludes Specter in the New Yorker, "By preaching her message of scientific illiteracy from one end of this country to the other, she has helped make it possible for people to turn away from rational thought. And that is deadly."

Did any of you also note the "pretty much" in the first quote? So not the whole pediatric community? So the the "truth" about the benefits isn't scientific fact? Because I imagine if it was, ALL pediatricians would be against her message. But the truth is, there is still A LOT of uncertainty around the safety, effectiveness, and possible long term damage. I had first hand experience of a pediatrician that would not weigh in on the matter because there is SO much information supporting both sides of the argument. For her, the best recommendation was to thoroughly research the options and make the best decision for OUR family.

In my experience most people have vaccinated their children blindly - without thorough research. It is done in complete trust of current practice and pediatric recommendations. It is done in fear. Fear induced by the media, the medical community, the school system, the government, and articles like this.

On the contrary, those that have chosen NOT to vaccinate their children have typically done their research. In most cases I have found that it was a VERY educated and thought out decision that was NOT taken lightly. In my own experience, when I started to consider not vaccinating Charli, my biggest reservation was social backlash. I knew many wouldn't agree with that decision (friends, family, coworkers) and many would think I was nuts. I'm willing to live with that if I truly believe it is the best choice for my daughter but that decision wouldn't be made on a whim.

Vaccines are marketed to us like all other drugs and no one hardly questions any of it. So long as our doctors say it's what we should do, we do it. This is especially the case with vaccines.  That is, until in recent years. What sparked the change? People like Jenny McCarthy who are strong enough to stand up and speak out. And guess what? There are tons of people out there standing up and speaking out - they just aren't celebrities.

We cannot and should not, without question, lay down and accept ALL "healthcare" recommendations especially when it comes to anything influenced by pharmaceutical companies. Vaccines may work for some (although there is plenty of evidence available that says otherwise). For others, say those who are immune compromised, it could be dangerous - even deadly. Maybe it does CAUSE autism; maybe it is the final straw that breaks the camel's back and pushes a kid into autism (the latter is my opinion). I have read several stories like Kennedy's story where vaccines did just that. Kennedy ended up with Dravet Syndrome after receiving vaccines.

I know plenty of people in the real food, hippie, GAPS, Paleo etc communities that have chosen NOT to vaccinate, and it was a VERY conscience decision, not influenced by a Hollywood celebrity. I'm not here to try and persuade you either way. I am encouraging you to do your research and make the best decision for you, your children, and your family. DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO SUCH FEAR MONGERING as shown in this article. For additional resources on this subject I recommend reading:

Where to Start

Why Vaccines Are Scientific Fraud

If You Are In Support of Vaccinations, Read This If You Dare

Vaccinations: Parents’ Informed Choice




5 comments:

  1. Although I do agree with what you said about doing your research and not just blindly accepting what docs tell you, think of how many kids do get vaccinated and of those how many get autism or some other disorder from them. I'm pretty sure more unvaccinated children die every year after contracting a preventable disease vs vaccinated children getting a disorder (don't quote me though). Good post!

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  2. Tiffany, I implore you to research vaccine injuries. These are very real and something us parents who did just blindly follow doctor's advice have to live with for the rest of our lives. The kids that I know that are the healthiest are the ones who have not been vaccinated. I would love to have your sources of unvaccinated children dying from preventable diseases here in the U.S. as I have done much research and have not come across any articles of the sort.

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  3. yikes. I dont think you could find a source for that. Here is a good read for you: http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/vaccinated-children-five-times-more-prone-to-disease

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    1. oops! I was responding to the top comment. Great post Jessica. I shared it on my facebook page. Hope that is ok!

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  4. Thanks Tiffany for the comment. I knew this topic would draw some opposition. There is a lot of information all of which I can't touch on in a single blog post, but one really big piece of the puzzle that is missing is how vaccines work. I found it very shocking and it greatly impacted my decision because once you learn how they disturb the immune system the theory of vaccines preventing disease really falls apart. I've read a really good explanation somewhere but I can't find it at the moment. I also forgot to add to this that I definitely was one of those that blindly followed dr's orders and did follow standard vaccine schedules until 12 months. If nothing else, just hope it makes someone think twice before doing just that. Thanks for all the great comments (and the share, Nichole)!

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