# Anti-vaxxers are ignorant scumbags that kill children **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626 "2016-09-01T01:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/721 "2019-03-19T22:04:50Z")
You remember that movie [The Happening](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949731/) The one where nature was trying to get us to kill ourselves? Doesn’t seem as silly today. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/722 "2019-03-20T01:15:22Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > It’s a Catholic school, and his nut-job dad is convinced, despite all evidence, that the vaccine is made of aborted fetuses./ If they’re Catholics someone should tell them that Pope Francis says the vaccines are totally OK to use. Not that American Catholics are known for obeying the Pope… ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/723 "2019-03-20T02:05:11Z")
Anti-vaxxers now threaten people, such as parents who lost children to viral diseases. Link: [https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/19/health/anti-vax-harassment-eprise/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/19/health/anti-vax-harassment-eprise/index.html) > [@](#): > > Of all the various messages from anti-vaxers, Reiss said the one that angered her the most was a voicemail left for her husband on his work phone. > “If I hear or see anything written by your wife after today, I will release your phone number, your work phone number, your work address, her work address, her work phone number,” the caller said, correctly reciting their phone numbers and home address. Anti-vaxxers are not very rational. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/724 "2019-03-20T02:17:32Z")
As I mentioned before, anti-vaxers are not rational. And they simply are not nice people. Given today’s technology, today’s education, today’s access to information, there is only one excuse for their stance: they want to be irrational and dangerous. Actually, I now think it’s the latter part that is their raison d’être. This is the battleground they’ve chosen to make their mark on the world. As the body count increases of those who’ve died from preventable diseases, they will continue to smugly recite their mantras, one of which is “But many more would be at risk from the vaccines; many more would die” and the other is “But we have prevented people from getting autism”. No, they are not nice people. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/725 "2019-03-20T03:51:28Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > No, they are not nice people. The anti-vaxxers described above are absolutely despicable people. But let’s not lose perspective. Most anti-vaxxers would be appalled by that behavior, and I have no doubt there are despicable pro-vaxxers who troll parents whose unvaccinated children die. There is more than enough things to criticize them for without painting all of them with the “evil” brush. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/726 "2019-03-20T03:57:19Z")
But now they’re going from ignorant scum who cause kids to die, to aggressive scum who threaten those whose kids died. That is going way beyond the self-righteous “wake up, sheeple” position that we were used to from most, so, what gives? What is radicalizing that fringe? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/727 "2019-03-20T04:00:30Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > The anti-vaxxers described above are absolutely despicable people. But let’s not lose perspective. Most anti-vaxxers would be appalled by that behavior… Show me on their websites where most anti-vaxxers are appalled by this behavior. Show me on their websites where they are condemned and kicked out. Show me on their websites where the majority of them say, without equivocation, “This is not us, and we condemn this behavior.” ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/728 "2019-03-20T04:43:37Z")
Their websites are hardly representative of the typical antivaxxer. I see plenty of them around in day to day life, and they are ignorant, stubborn, horribly misguided, but not generally evil. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/729 "2019-03-20T05:09:51Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Their websites are hardly representative of the typical antivaxxer. I see plenty of them around in day to day life, and they are ignorant, stubborn, horribly misguided, but not generally evil. Bullshit-Those websites are where they congregate and associate, where they get their information and look for support. If it weren’t for those websites a large number of them wouldn’t exist today. If most of the anti-vaxxers found the actions of those assholes to be deplorable, those websites would reflect that attitude. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/730 "2019-03-23T17:39:03Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > [Natural Whole Healthy You | livingwhole.org](https://www.livingwhole.org/god-does-not-support-vaccines/) I like that article. Don’t listen to science. Don’t listen to other christians. Don’t even listen to your own pastor. Listen to me, a random crank on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/731 "2019-03-23T18:17:16Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > This article essentially states there is no religious exemption for vaccines. Often religious exemption is confused with personal belief exemption. That’s not quite true. The article defines religious exemptions as > [@](#): > > based on the tenets of an organized religion that prohibits vaccinating its members However, most states don’t restrict religious objections to the tenets of an organized religion. The article says there are churches that rely on faith-healing that do prohibit vaccinations, and that Christian Science forbids vaccinations as well. And, of course, there are subgroups within organized religions that object. I agree that a lot of people use the religious exemption when their states have no provision for philosophical objection. Personally, I’d like to see all but bona fide medical exemptions eliminated. Just because your kid is Christian Scientist doesn’t make the measles he’s spreading any less dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/732 "2019-03-23T20:13:37Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I like that article. > > Don’t listen to science. Don’t listen to other christians. Don’t even listen to your own pastor. > > Listen to me, a random crank on the internet. This is why it is taking longer than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/733 "2019-03-23T20:19:31Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > > [@vivalostwages](#): > > > > [Natural Whole Healthy You | livingwhole.org](https://www.livingwhole.org/god-does-not-support-vaccines/) > > I like that article. > > Don’t listen to science. Don’t listen to other christians. Don’t even listen to your own pastor. > > Listen to me, a random crank on the internet. I wonder if the author of that article limits her medical treatment to only that known at Biblical times. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/734 "2019-03-23T20:57:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I wonder if the author of that article limits her medical treatment to only that known at Biblical times. Well, evidently all you need to protect yourself is the scripture. > **[Flu season is all in our heads, Texas televangelist says: 'Inoculate yourself...](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2018/02/06/flu-season-is-all-in-our-heads-texas-televangelist-says-inoculate-yourself-with-the-word-of-god/)** > > More than 70 people are dead in North Texas after one of the worst bouts of flu in recent years.But North Texas televangelist Gloria Copeland, one... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/735 "2019-03-23T21:52:14Z")
So how far are they willing to take this? No anesthesia (although since they’re not going to have surgery, that should not be a problem), no painkillers, no antibiotics and no condoms. Plus your doctor or “healer” won’t need any soap or hand sanitizer. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/736 "2019-03-23T22:09:05Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I like that article. > > Don’t listen to science. Don’t listen to other christians. Don’t even listen to your own pastor. > > Listen to me, a random crank on the internet. Homeopath also, natch. Also apparently censors comments she doesn’t like, probably many with real science. Hope she gets the measles. A really bad case. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/737 "2019-03-23T22:50:26Z")
When it comes to social media, [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/02/anti-vaxx-facebook-social-media/583681/) points out, there aren’t as many anti-vaxxers as it seems: > [@](#): > > Just seven anti-vax pages generated nearly 20 percent of the top 10,000 vaccination posts in this time period: Natural News, Dr. Tenpenny on Vaccines and Current Events, Stop Mandatory Vaccination, March Against Monsanto, J. B. Handley, Erin at Health Nut News, and Revolution for Choice. And here’s [an excellent article](https://vaxopedia.org/2018/02/11/money-and-motivation-of-the-anti-vaccine-movement/) that looks at the big money that motivates anti-vaxxer "experts."There’s an incredible amount of gold in them thar hills. For instance, Kelly Brogan, MD charges $4,997 for an appointment. Or, for those who find that a bit steep, a 44-day Internet course for only $997. What a bargain! Follow the money trail. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/738 "2019-03-24T00:31:32Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > When it comes to social media, [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/02/anti-vaxx-facebook-social-media/583681/) points out, there aren’t as many anti-vaxxers as it seems: They’ve become very efficient at spreading their bile and coordinating attacks on pro-immunization pages and medical practices, as one pediatrics group in Pittsburgh found out when they posted a video on their Facebook page urging parents to have their kids vaccinated against HPV. The rapid response included a flood of vile comments and negative ratings on physician rating sites. \*Instead of enduring the abuse, Kids Plus fought back, tracking comments and turning its Facebook page data to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. What they found, in a study released Thursday in the journal Vaccine, is that most commenters weren’t from Pittsburgh at all but were from across the United States and around the world. Only five were from Pennsylvania. Within eight days, the page was flooded with 10,000 negative comments from about 800 commenters. Some messages were threatening, such as “You’ll burn in hell for killing babies.” Others were conspiratorial, such as “You have been brainwashed,” the doctors said.\* > **[Chad Hermann and Todd Wolynn: On the nature of the antivaccine movement and...](https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2019/03/22/chad-hermann-todd-wolynn/)** > > Chad Hermann and Todd Wolynn published a study about antivaxers. More important is the work they're doing to help those targeted by them. Antivaxers have also been known to go after grieving parents on social media: > **[Harassment of doctors and grieving mothers: A feature, not a bug, of the...](https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2019/03/20/harassment-doctors-grieving-mother/)** > > Harassment of its opponents is a feature, not a bug, of the antivaccine movement, even if the victims are grieving mothers. Interesting info on Kelly Brogan. I wonder how much money other antivax docs/practitioners make from consults, speaking appearances, book sales etc. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/739 "2019-03-25T15:56:54Z")
I don’t know how much money prominent anti-vaxxers make, but Andrew Wakefield’s anti-vaxx stance was motivated by money: he wanted to develop a “replacement vaccine” for MMR He also planned to sell test kits for his fictive condition, autistic enteropy: > [@](#): > > In a business prospectus for investors, Wakefield said the testing kits alone would generate $44 million in annual revenues. Not only that, but > [@](#): > > Before he published his Lancet paper, he had received the British pound equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars from a law firm involved in product liability suits against vaccine makers He did not, of course, disclose that last bit when he published his infamous vaccine study in Lancet. So the anti-vaxx movement was originated by a guy hoping to get rich off it. [Cite](https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2011/01/doctor-had-strong-financial-motives-launching-mmr-autism-scare-investigative/). ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/740 "2019-03-25T16:10:56Z")
/Oh, and Gwyneth Paltrow, who owns the anti-science company “goop,” has business ties with Kelly Brogan. Goop makes millions for Paltrow, who’s urged, among other dubious practices, that women insert a jade egg into their vaginas for their “sexual health.” Numerous docs have warned women that the practice can cause infections, etc., but it hasn’t stopped Paltrow from selling the jade eggs for $70 a pop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=38)