VACUOUS VACCINATION VITRIOL (Victim Thinking, Intuitive Thinking, Irrational Thinking, Wishful Thinking, Group Thinking, PC Thinking)
MissLed women's participation in the vitriol against vaccination is a deadly serious side effect of
their cognitive distortions and thinking traps. Indeed, in their arrogance
of ignorance, Jenny McCarthy and her ilk have no idea of
what the world was like (especially for children) prior to the introduction of widespread
vaccinations. They appear blissfully unaware of how twentieth century science and medicine
defeated these blights on the health of children. In fact, until quite recently, children would routinely
suffer from numerous and often painful, disfiguring, even deadly
diseases. Measles, smallpox and tuberculosis were all-too-common. Their parents lived with constant anxiety that the invisible, uncontrollable blight that made all children vulnerable. Indeed, until vaccination was widespread, these diseases didn't discriminate between rich
and poor, girl or boy, black or white.
Thanks to modern science, vaccines have largely eliminated these threats.
Unfortunately, anti-vaccine MissLed women are anti-vaccine zealots are either
ignorant or deluded that these diseases can comeback. The practitioners of
irrational thinking spread false information that can potentially be responsible
for a great deal of suffering, even potential deaths.
Even if they are well-meaning, these MissLed women are misinformed, self-righteous, and often recklessly
irresponsible fear mongers. The available scientific evidence convincingly demonstrates that they
are wrong, and their error is dangerous. Due to the spread of their anti-vaccine hysteria,
thousands of parents have been frightened enough to reject or at least delay immunizations for
their children. The resultant public health consequences are serious and
are likely to worsen. Their pseudoscientific claims, bolstered by appearances on popular shows
such as Oprah Winfrey's, have put many (including other innocent
children) at risk. Misguided, MissLed zealots such as Jenny McCarthy will not,
of course, be held accountable. After all, didn't
they only seek to protect their children and warn others? Such is the thinking of MissLed women.
In fact, any scientific "debate" over whether vaccines cause autism was decided years ago.
Unfortunately, in their arrogance of ignorance, celebrity zealots like Ms. McCarthy won't concede that they
have been mistaken. Instead, they persist in claiming that their emotional stories and
Google-based "research" remain worthy of equal weight with the evidence and knowledge
accumulated for decades by reputable scientists. After all, in their MissLed mindset, aren't they "entitled" to
their opinion, and don't they "deserve" a hearing and "respect?" She chose to exploit and enhance her celebrity status with the damaging public claim not only
that her son had autism, but that it was caused by a vaccine and, moreover, she cured it with biomedical treatments. The combination of credulous media coverage,
her good looks, and a compelling, emotionally-appealing storyline give her unworthy
attention. In this era of celebrity-worship, her media savvy serves to keep the "debate" alive. She staunchly proclaims that
In her irrational
belief system, her feelings and stories deserve serious consideration when scientific inquiry
evaluates the safety of vaccines. Given the depth and breadth of her irrational, egocentric, adolescent, and wishful thinking on this subject, she'll most likely never change her mind. Alleged good intentions aside -
she's no hero. Quite the opposite. In fact, all she has accomplished is to self-servingly raised the
wrong kind of "awareness," while also instilling misplaced doubts regarding the safety of vaccines.
Ms. McCarthy's has spread unnecessary fear and false hopes that
children with autism can be "cured" by following her recommendations.
Ms. McCarthy's conduct is shockingly irresponsible. Since she is unable to substantiate her allegations, she deserves nothing but the public’s contempt.
"in McCarthy's world, there is scientific truth and there is emotional truth
"During appearances on Oprah, 20/20, Good Morning America, Larry King Live and other television shows, she
decried what she claimed was a vast, profitable conspiracy to vaccinate children, which she said was
responsible for the great upsurge in autism diagnoses. Often appearing with her boyfriend Jim Carrey (who
lives with Jenny and Evan), she glibly and with irate dismissal of the scientific evidence accused
pediatricians and doctors of poisoning children and then withholding the treatments that could save them."
"But she can't be ignored. If the debate about vaccine safety is settled — vaccines don't cause autism;
they don't injure children; they are the pillar of modern public health — then why are so many parents reconsidering
vaccinating their children? The answer has to do with our era's strained relationship with scientific truth, our
tendency to place more faith in psychological truths than scientific ones. McCarthy's emergence — the Playmate turned
pseudoscientist, the fart-joke teller cum mother warrior — can make one feel nostalgic for the time when celebs
turned up on talk shows only to hawk their flicks or books, not to promote explosive public-health ideas. But
McCarthy says she is speaking the truth — her truth." "The Autism Debate: Who's Afraid of Jenny McCarthy, Feb. 25, 2010
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968100,00.html#ixzz2VhYtSApd
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968100,00.html#ixzz2JQjCUtKh
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968100,00.html#ixzz2JQhVHHiw
In sum, Jenny McCarthy, along with the other credulous MissLed women who believe her propaganda and pseudoscience, are actually endangering children by not
having theirs vaccinated. What she espouses is a danger too all children and many adults. In fact, she has no medical education. Her platform planted a seed of fear in the minds of thousands of parents, by her promotion of disproved, anti-science rhetoric.
WHY DOES VACUOUS VACCINATION VITRIOL MATTER?
Thanks in large part to vaccination, many parents today have never seen first-hand the horrible
diseases that formerly plagued so many children. If MissLed women (and the
misguided men) like Jenny McCarthy are not discredited, the subsequent
avoidance of vaccination of many children may well lead to the return of those dangerous, painful,
and even deadly diseases.
"Discredited researcher Andrew Wakefield's original twelve-person 'study' linking vaccines to autism was published in 1998, but by 2002 the medical community had thoroughly debunked Wakefield's claim. That year, the New England Journal of Medicine published an enormous epidemiological study, including more than 537,000 people, that demonstrated no link between vaccines and autism. In reality, the notion of there having been a 'controversy' in regard to vaccination is fallacious; the medical and scientific communities have always endorsed vaccines as one of the basic foundations of public health." Alex B. Berezon, Hank Campbell, Science Left Behind: Feel Good Fallacies and the Rise of the Anti-Scientific Left, (NY: Public Affairs, 2012) 26-27.
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