Ralph Neumann`s letter against mandatory vaccinations reminded me that it is time to put compost on the gardens. Otherwise it was the most useless excuse I`ve seen in quite some time attempting - and failing miserably - to justify the pseudo-science, half-truths, completely made up facts, debunked claims about vaccines and autism, and other dubious claims of the anti-vaxxers.
To even see Mr. Neumann`s letter makes me even angrier at political correctness which allows someone like him to peddle misinformation with impunity out of some silly new age dogma that it is wrong to hurt someone`s feelings. Fortunately, I don`t believe in political correctness. Nor do I believe that there are always two sides to a story especially when one side has proven facts and the other is verging on the irrational.
Just by Mr. Neumann claiming that "entire theory and practise of vaccination is unscientific and doesn't stand up" showed mind-boggling ignorance of the scientific method which has given us all the benefits of the modern world.
I can`t respond to everything that Mr. Neumann claims in the space allowed but let me be clear on this: Edward Jenner`s discovery of the smallpox vaccine puts that man among the greatest discoverers in medical history.
As for that Charles Creighton, who Mr. Neumann praised beyond all reason, was himself the subject of condemnation by the medical boards and peer-reviewed journals of his day for claiming, among other things, that germs didn't exist. How fitting that an anti-vaxxer would be a devoted follower of his ideas.
The discoveries of Jenner led to other great advancements in medicine such as those by Louis Pasteur and Alexander Fleming. And that list constantly grows while the anti-vaxxers sow seeds of doubt where no doubt exists except in their own minds.
When someone is so desperate to defend against mandatory vaccinations by throwing in the Nuremburg Code, it makes me quite happy that the anti-vaxxers have Mr. Neumann on their team. I would laugh it off if it wasn't all so tragic that such conspiracy beliefs about vaccines are so dangerous to the public good.
Vaccinations are not a personal choice, they are a community duty.
Robert T. Rock
Mission