The problem of vaccine mistrust

[Cartoonist]

Religion and vaccine refusal are linked. We have to talk about it.

https://www.vox.com/2019/6/19/18681930/religion-vaccine-refusal

We’re down to 15 states that have philosophical exemptions to vaccines and we have 45 states that have religious exemptions,” said Paul Offit, a vaccine researcher. “That’s because the minute anybody says, ‘This is my faith,’ we respect that in this country.”
. . .

North America was the only high-income region where people who follow a religion were much more likely to say they side with that belief system over science whenever disagreements arise. That finding was driven primarily by the US, where measles has been spreading among religious communities in states that have allowed religious vaccine exemptions.
. . .

After Edward Jenner developed the first immunization in 1796, he faced a backlash by clergy members who argued that vaccination acted against “God’s will.” Since then, religious concerns about vaccines have persisted in many parts of the world.
_

Religious idiocy will always be with us. It must be "God's Will"

[RKP5637]

1. The stupid runs deep when it comes to religion IMO! n/t

[SHRED]

2. You're asking the religious to think critically?

Not gonna happen.
Hasn't ever happened.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Religion is a major factor in the opposition to vaccination, but

it's not the only one. A lot of anti-vaxxers are not basing their opposition on religion, but on unscientific woo-based opinions of the likes of the discredited British doctor, Andrew Wakefield, who claimed without scientific support that vaccines cause autism. Robert Kennedy is another high-profile anti-vaxxer. Of course, anti-vax "science" is a sort of religion in the sense that once people believe it, their belief is impervious to any actual science. Woo-believing anti-vaxxers tend to be on the left of the political spectrum, while religious anti-vaxxers tend to be on the right, but both are equally stupid.

[guillaumeb]

4. Well said. eom

[AtheistCrusader]

7. But. What. About. The. Other. Sources.

Funny you didn't point it out this time.

[Major Nikon]

5. Not sure what you are basing this on

Trump is a woo-believing anti-vaxxer who is definitely on the right and doesn’t base his bullshit on religion. You have all sorts of dipshit woo anti-vaxxers on the right. So it looks more like a special kind of stupid that transcends politics.

At any rate this is the religion group, so I think the point of the OP is to draw attention to the segment of this dipshittery that comes from religion.

[Act_of_Reparation]

6. The point is religious objections are given special consideration.

Like it is somehow OK to expose pediatric cancer patients to deadly viruses because someone's invisible friend says MMR is a pork product.

[AtheistCrusader]

8. I would like to see some numbers on how each of these factors weigh in.

I expect Religion and Wakefield together make up the bulk of it, and there is likely considerable overlap between the two.

'Any port in a storm' and all that.

I guess another way to look at it, is any correlation between religion and the ACTUAL-Science denial you called out.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. I'm trying to locate some information about that.

The anti-vax movement is cultish, whether or not the objection to vaccination is based specifically on a religious belief. Here's a link to an organization called the Cult Information Institute with references to the cult characteristics of the movement. https://culteducation.com/group/1344-anti-vax-movement.html Here's a link to a list of religious denominations that do and do not object to vaccination: https://www.vumc.org/health-wellness/news-resource-articles/immunizations-and-religion