A Vaccination Explanation

Let me start out by saying this, lest you stop reading halfway though and decide to post some debate-inducing comment on this post: THIS IS NOT MEANT TO FUEL A DEBATE, SO PLEASE DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.

If you feel the need to say something controversial about this….restrain yourself. Thanks! Other types of comments are completely fine. Alright….now that we’ve covered the disclaimer…

I have been thinking lately. A lot. Like, more than normal (Yeah yeah, maybe that's not saying much). ;)

Anyway, I've been thinking about one topic specifically, brought on by a recent situation...this topic? Vaccinations. *cue heightened blood pressures and urges to comment*

SO MANY OPINIONS. SO MANY ARTICLES. AAAAGGHH. SO MANY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE I KNOW WHO COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH ONE ANOTHER. My head hurts just thinking about the myriad of ranting, “research” filled articles on these opinions. It’s one of those things where, if you’re looking at it objectively, it can be easy to understand (to a point) the strong emotions and feelings of the people on both sides of this debate.

Now, a little background on me and my personal experience with this topic: My mother went to school to become a nurse. After having kids, my parents thoroughly researched vaccines as they have come out and been "strongly recommended" for their children. Upon their OWN research of these vaccines, they've personally decided that some (but not ALL) are good inventions founded on solid scientific facts, and thus, my siblings and I have been fairly well vaccinated in our lifetimes. We learned very early on that sharp needles are not nearly as fearsome as some people think. I've lead (along with all 3 of my siblings) an extremely happy, healthy, disease-free life. I did have chicken pox (wasn't vaccinated against it); but other than that I've been a "picture of health" (according to doctors).

I also know equally healthy people who were never vaccinated at all. Hmm.

Still confused, I started off defensively investigating this topic. My parents know almost everything; of course they’re right about this. And I’m going to PROVE it. I found some pretty smart sounding stuff that backed up this firm belief in my parents’ wisdom. HA.

A dear friend of mine countered with some articles from the “other” side. One of them was pretty unconvincing, but another started to sound somewhat rational…maybe some of what they said was right? Still sounded like mostly personal preference and not much scientific evidence though. I was still confused (sensing a theme yet?).

Slowly it began to occur to me, I shouldn’t be going about this as if I already had the answer. I respect my parents and I know they love me and have done what they believe is absolutely the best thing for me, but they are by no means infallible beings. If I was going to investigate this topic for myself, in order to be prepared for the day whenever God entrusts ME with my OWN children, I needed to go about this as if I have no opinion at all. Because truly, my opinion wasn’t really mine, yet. Up until that point, I was really only regurgitating what my parents believe and have told me. Which is fine; my parents are supposed to pass on their advice and wisdom to me. It’s their job to do that. But now, as an adult, it’s MY job to take that advice and wisdom they have given to me, and use my God-given brain to decipher my own thoughts and opinions.

If they end up lining up with what my parents believe, wonderful. If not, my parents aren’t going to stop loving me if I don’t agree with them on every single aspect of life (examples: my mom likes 80's music and I think she’s bonkers; my dad loves squid and I think it should be a sin to eat things with tentacles). Vaccinations are not going to affect my eternal salvation. :)

With this new perspective on things, I delved into the issue again. Objective, and open-minded. Read many things. Considered many things. Questioned many things. Wondered if I’d ever find a good answer. Thought I might give up and try to forget about it. Decided that wasn’t a very good option. Thought about it some more. Wished the Bible could have included some sort of futuristic verses concerning how Christians should deal with vaccines.

I found out I still was somewhat wary of the anti-vaccination articles, because even coming from a less-biased mindset they seemed to contain a lot of misinformation/contradictions and weren’t well backed up by scientific evidence (because who can trust real doctors and scientists when they’re all in cahoots with pharmaceutical companies) ….but reading the horrific ingredient lists in those articles is enough to make anyone question vaccines, at least to an extent. POISONS. That can’t be good. But, in my head I couldn't help but wonder why , if I’ve been injected with all these poisons have I never felt…poisoned? STILL CONFUSED.

I needed a trustworthy source to provide me with something real. Someone who was attempting to come from as unbiased a background as I was attempting to come from. I truly didn’t care which side they ended up landing on (I have personal reasons for wanting to agree with both sides), as long as I could feel completely assured of my convictions in the end.

Real research. Real facts. Real statistics. Not from irate liberal doctors or irate homeschooling moms. Not from someone trying to prove their point in an angry, “you’re stupid for even considering that option” sort of way. Just someone who wants to find the TRUTH, and then share that TRUTH with others. In a calm, loving way that displays genuine interest in humankind.

I was entirely fed up with all of the opinions and preferences. I know there IS absolute truth in this world, and I’m absolutely sure there is some truth to be found in all of this mess. BUT WHERE?!!

Now. To finally get the the crowning glory of this seemingly never-ending post about my journey to officially find my own opinion on vaccines…..well, it was an accident. I accidentally found an article written by a man who also happened to write the science book that I rather despised sometimes in my younger school years. Dr. Jay L. Wile. He also taught at a homeschool convention we attended once, but I didn’t take his class because I hadn’t actually enjoyed having to take the tests that came along with his science book that I’d had to work through in school, and therefore I had some bad memories associated with his name. Hahaha. Really. I admired his ability to write a book that could be both interesting and yet at times awfully boring (to me, a literature/history lover) and lengthy in content.

But back to vaccines. I prayed and struggled for a few days, before deciding to give it a rest and come back to the topic a little bit later, to reassess. I was determined to come to some sort of conclusion, eventually….but not now. I would remain neutral for the time being and refuse to engage in the silly squabbles I had witnessed over and over on the internet. That wasn’t helpful to anyone.

Then I found Dr. Wile’s blog post. I was instantly intrigued. In all my researching, I had noticed a distinct trend in the anti-vaccination movement. A lot of the folks I know who believe in not vaccinating, are homeschooling families. And Dr. Wile writes his extremely popular curriculum for…HOMESCHOOLERS.

If you don’t know who he is, go here:

http://www.drwile.com/about.html

This should be good…I really wanted to see what this man’s stance on vaccines was. He didn’t seem like the type to beat around the bush. I also knew that he, like myself, is a big seeker and supporter of truth. Coming from a worldview like my own, with God’s Word being the ultimate Truth. And a scientist to boot. I couldn’t help myself….I read it. All of it. And clicked on the links. And read some more. I was amazed, and so grateful. Finally. Things that made sense. Facts that fit together coherently, backed up by overwhelming evidence. Something that gave me the assurance I have been seeking. Turns out, there are even some Bible verses that can be accurately applied to the topic of vaccination. If anyone is curious, here’s that article: http://blog.drwile.com/?p=8

If you read the article, you MUST also look at the links. All of them. It’s a package deal. I think if I ever attend another homeschool conference that includes teaching by Dr. Wile, I will not only attend his class, but I’ll probably also give him a hug and beg his forgiveness for thinking such rude things about his science textbooks….

P.S. Remember: if you have the urge to comment, please re-read the first part of this post before proceeding. :D