moonshadow418 asked:


Many states have exemptions to allow parents to not have their children vaccinated on the grounds that it conflicts with their religion, and many religions do have legitimate objections to having children vaccinated, or against other forms of medical treatment. However what are your opinions on the growing number of parents who are claiming this exemption solely to avoid having their children vaccinated due to concerns that have nothing to do with religion. For example that vaccinations increase the chances of autism, that they may cause their children to get sick, or they frankly just don’t believe they have any effect good or bad.
Are these people selfish, by putting themselves, their children and society at risk for outbreaks of diseases that vaccinations have for the most part erradicated? Or are these people exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of choice and the freedom from an overly intrusive government?

19 Responses to “What is your opinion about parents falsely using religion as a way to avoid having their children vaccinated?”

1. BuggedInMN on May 7th, 2008 8:46 am

   My opinion is the same as politicians using the elderly or young children as a means to pander for votes.

   I’m not in favor of BS like that.

2. grips on May 9th, 2008 2:19 pm

   It’t the law. If they feel they do not want their child vaccinated—-so be it.

3. ranger_co_1_75 on May 9th, 2008 9:46 pm

   It is a parents right to raise their children in a manner they feel is safest for the child as long as they don’t harm the child.

   When the child reaches the age of majority, and parental consent is not needed, the child is free to obtain the vaccinations.

4. bonji50 on May 12th, 2008 8:26 am

   It is their choice as parents. BTW-There is no conclusive evidence that vaccinations lead to autisim.

5. James Watkin on May 12th, 2008 2:24 pm

   iT IS SAD THAT THEY HAVE TO LIE. did you know there is actually a fund set up for kids that get sick from the vaccines. Did you know they are starting to link some childhood diseases to vaccines? The government only tells us what they want to. They do not care about the well-being of children like you think they do. So some are forced to lie.

6. Susie D on May 13th, 2008 8:24 am

   I think that these people are exercising their freedom to be ignorant. We have become complacent in our society about the severity of pandemic illness because the majority of us have never seen them. We do not fear what we have not seen. Ask my Grandmother who is 93 about surviving the flu epidemic or the polio outbreaks…she buried 5 brothers and sisters to the flu and lost one to polio. She remembers a time when her entire town was stricken so severely with polio that schools were shut down because more students were ill than well.

   Is this what we need to go back too in order to get it through the thick headed skulls of people that vaccinations are an essential part of having a healthy society?

   “Autism austims austims” – one there is ZERO connection between autism and vaccinations – move on! We live in a polluted, hormone ridden, food additive laden society — but vaccines have been made the scapegoat.

   If parents don’t want to vaccinate their children then they are playing russian roullette with their health – and should be ashamed of themselves.

7. hoppykit on May 16th, 2008 8:01 pm

   I’m not sure. But vaccines are a good thing. Sure it should be a parents right to choose but can you imagine a child getting polio that could have been prevented? Whose fault would that be?

8. dpilipis on May 19th, 2008 8:47 am

   Something doesn’t jive here.

   Either the public health risks are compelling enough to force EVERYONE to get the shots, or not compelling enough to force ANYBODY.

   I don’t think special treatment is warranted for religious purposes. All that does is compel people to lie if they would prefer not to get the shots. That exercise is absurd.

9. john_mcd_77 on May 20th, 2008 7:44 am

   Is it fair to call someone selfish because they do not choose to do what YOU want them to do?

   I do not think so.

10. Blessed on May 22nd, 2008 6:14 am

    I believe that parents should be concerned
    about the vaccinations that are mandated by the government. Many newer ones have not been tested as long and seem to have been pushed through. How do I know the results have not bee altered to show a positive result? What about all the negative results that are only showing up within the last 10 years that were caused by vaccines given 20 plus years ago?

    Waiting until the child has grown and can
    take all the facts and decide themselves if they want to be vaccinated is all that they are doing.

    If the parent feels a vaccination is dangerous, then by all means, they should use any way available to them to get out of
    vaccinating their child. So go ahead and use the religious exemption.

    What is forgotten is that with illeagle aliens
    coming into this country, so also comes
    a risk of outbreaks.

11. open4one on May 23rd, 2008 2:06 pm

    It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

    Doesn’t the fact that they give such an exemption on religious grounds suggest that they know that it is an infringement on individual freedom and sovereignty over the body in the first place? Why should only religions get a pass? Why should religions get more freedom than the rest of us, given the 1st Amendment?

    Given that the government can’t prevent a child from obtaining an abortion because of the right to “privacy” that was seen emanating from a penumbra in the Constitution, why can they poke a needle into a child against their will?

12. pepper on May 23rd, 2008 6:11 pm

    There are no morally legitimate objections to childhood vaccination from a public health standpoint. Unvaccinated populations pose a serious threat to everyone’s children. Yes, it is selfish.

13. maryjellerson on May 26th, 2008 4:35 am

    I think that a parent has the right to determine what health care is given to his children. If the government wants to get children vaccinated, they should do it by educating the parents, not by demanding it. As to whether they are being selfish, if your children are vaccinated, it does not matter if theirs are. If an educated parent decides, for whatever reason, not to vaccinate their children, it is only those children who are at risk, if the parent is willing to accept the risk, it isn’t anyone elses business.
    EDIT: If my child not being vaccinated puts your child at risk for the disease he was vaccinated against, what was the point in giving your child a potentially dangerous substance?
    I would trust any parent with the well being of their children, before I would trust the government with the care of any or all children. Somehow we managed to survive before the government decided that all parents were so incompetent that they needed to save all of the children from the people who are responsible for them being here in the first place. Sometimes, this trust would be misplaced, but most of the time, if left alone, parents do pretty well. The government needs to get out of health care and our families.

14. sensible_man on May 26th, 2008 6:57 am

    My opinion is that they should be required to sign a paper that releases the schools from liability if their child catches a disease that can be vaccinated against and ALSO that they will have legal obligations if their child spreads any of these diseases to other children through non-vaccination. They are not the only ones with “rights”.

15. rachel b on May 27th, 2008 11:23 pm

    I think it’s ridiculous that parents would claim a religion to get out of vaccinating their children. These vaccinations have been proven to save lives. The parents are putting their kids and other kids around them in danger but not getting vaccinated. We all received these vaccinations when we were children and nothing bad has happened to us. But if we didn’t get these vacinations we could have been ill, disabled, or possibly have died. It’s not like these kids are getting new vaccinations that haven’t been tested to prevent diseases. It’s not like the kids are getting vaccinated for anthrax or something like that. these are necessary vaccinations. When I was 12 they came out with a chicken pox vaccine and I took it with no side effects. What are these parents thinking?

    I just hope that they come out with a vaccine for malaris soon because too many Africans and US troop die or become brain damaged from malaria every year.

16. valengaardt on May 30th, 2008 10:17 pm

    Everyone is made to believe that vaccinations are the best thing in the world, but are they really? I think the parents have every right to not vaccinate their kids if they think it is not safe or healthy, and the government would be way out of bounds to force them.

    But I think it’s a medical/scientific issue really… those parents think vaccinations are unhealthy for some reason, so what is it? Let’s do some more research before we start making absolute laws about vaccination.

17. tiny b on May 31st, 2008 7:03 pm

    This is also a case that will be brought up about the passing a law in Maine that an 11 year old can get birth control without parental concent, at school. I wonder if this school board realizes that a child can get breast cancer if on Birth control for to long.. And I wouldn’t be suprised if the insurance companies who cover them will drop them from that treatment because they are high risk.. Wonder if the tax payers are ready for that?
    Interesting to say the least..

18. zombi86 on June 3rd, 2008 9:59 pm

    They’re finally waking up.

19. sophieb on June 4th, 2008 2:45 pm

    heck no, they are just listening to too much of “Coast to Coast”. On that show they have different people who talk on different subjects and then have a Q&A period. Those guests say that vaccinations, certain vaccinations, or too many vaccinations are harmful, and they have also talked about autism. I don’t know if the guests are really an authority, but people do believe them.

    I’m not out and about enough to know that people of different religions reject vaccinations, but if they are like say from other countries newly here in the US then they are simply skeptical and fearing. People in some other countries sometimes don’t trust the different new things that are brought to their country. For instance some small India villages think that vaccinations are given to make the person or child not able to bear children. That’s false, of course, but it’s believed. A guy from Pakistan once told me he wanted to marry an American white woman because they were told in his country that if he did that then all the diseases Pakistan has would be wiped out in time. Who knows what’s in peoples minds. But they can’t be forced to be vaccinated (I don’t believe). My question would be that if they don’t take the vaccinations and then they get sick from the disease, then who is going to pay for them getting sick. I don’t think strangers here are selfish, they just don’t know any better. For those who live here and reject, they rejecting out of rebellion against the system.