When Pro and Anti Vaxxers Collide
Dear Pro-Vaxxer...
I'm not usually one to speak out about my stance on vaccines. I have witnessed too many times views on vaccination be met with anger, aggression, and a huge lack of respect. For this reason I've chosen to remain silent. Today however, I just read one too many of these kind of responses and I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with the way pro and anti vax groups are communicating.
The way I see it, you and I aren't too dissimilar;
You want to protect our furture generations and community - as do I.
You've probably spent hours upon hours researching vaccines - as have I.
You've now made an informed decision as a result - as have I.
I'm not asking you to change your own stance on vaccines. Although I don't support your decision to vaccinate, I do fully respect it. It is one of your most basic rights as a human to choose what you put into your body and also to make an informed decision on behalf of your dependants. I would never try to over-ride that.
Ideally, I'd like to ask the same from you however I know due to the controversial nature of this topic, it could be hard to achieve. Instead, can we merely agree to discuss openly, challenge respectfully and comment appropriately?
By adopting the kind of offensive and arrogant attitudes I've witnessed both on Steemit and other social media, we will achieve nothing but hostility between our communities.
I wish you all the best with your vaccines and hope to sensibly debate this topic soon.
An anti-vaxxer.
I completely agree! Thanks for putting it so eloquently.
I also am an anti-vaxxer. It's not usually something that I raise or am vocal about, generally due to the hostility I've faced. I have had quite a positive response from Steemit on the subject though.
If you don't already follow her, I recommend you follow @canadian-coconut. I really enjoy her posts and have learnt a few things too.
Thank you for the support, I really appreciate it! It's good to know I'm not the only one to feel this way.
Yes I already follow @canadian-coconut. Her posts are great!
What a very good post. I too am an anti-vaxxer and yesterday I attempted to share my thoughts on vaccines as I am vaccine damaged. Unfortunately I was called names and the four letter word by a Steemin who was less than polite. We should be able to express opinions because through dialogue bridges are built. Being cursed at and called names only strengthened my position as a clear thinking individual.
Upvoted, followed, and resteemed!
What a horrible thing for you to have experienced! I hope it doesn't discourage you from sharing on here. Using language like that would have only discredited their views - well it would for me anyway. Thank you for your support. I'll certainly have a look through your posts.
Agree 100%.
Thanks for sharing your point of view!
I completely agree, I shared my own story and caught a troll, It was a post of my experience and I had to mute them, cause it was upsetting me, they didn't live my life and I am not telling anyone not to vaccinate, just sharing my story of what happened to my son after some vaccines.
I'm so sorry to hear that. You should never have been made to feel like that just for sharing your own personal experiences. Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever get rid of these trolls, that mute button is handy though! Hopefully I won't need to use it. I'll be sure to have a look at your posts :)
The troll won't come back it looks like it, a few people dispelled the ignorance that was spread. Thank you for sharing your story!
I must admit vaxers are the one group of people I really can't play happily with...
http://www.frot.co.nz/design/health/vaccination/
highfive
Great pic, very effective. It can be very difficult to play happily when each side is so stongly opposed to the other. I just think there are ways of getting your voice heard without being rude or aggresive.
Most vaxxers seem to disagree with everything I think and stand for, so I don't go there, but I do talk about a bunch of other stuff online, and am considered to be a "conspiracy theorist"
And on Steemit, @canadian-coconut does a brilliant job on vaccines. There are certain subjects, like water fluoridation, 911, and vaccinations that I am just not patient enough to "discuss" - never the twain shall meet!
If you can, that is great, because I know calm and zen like revealing of the facts will expose the truth about these subjects, and it's not the people you argue with who change, but the silent majority of spectators who see both sides.
For me, I only seem to be able to do any subject for about five years, and then I lose all patience and want to regress back to being rude...
And there is something about vaxxers that I dislike more than any other group of brainwashed morons :)
http://www.frot.co.nz/design/sift/conspiracies/
It warms my heart that people can have such a civil and calm debate over such a controversial subject.
Personally, I am for vaccinations. Too be quite honest I'm not sure how one can be against vaccinations. Most of the arguments against getting a child vaccinated are nothing but straw arguments and red herrings.
Most of you aren't even saying anything relevant in regards to this topic. You're all just stroking your egos and saying "Yes! You're right!".
But the beautiful thing about anti-vaxxers is that their opinions don't matter because in a few generations they will all be wiped by some archaic disease.
I would disagree, by choosing to be an anti-vaxxer you are ignoring all scientific evidence and are thus uninformed. (Edit: Although I originally said uninformed, a better word would be misinformed, sorry)
Personally, I've debated with many anti-vaxxers on steemit and beyond. The problem is they continually recycle the same 3 talking points that have been repeatedly proven wrong time and time again. They'll then bring up websites that are nothing more than a nutcase's blog that has been copied and pasted to a million other nutcase's blogs
When you point this out, they will immediately accuse you of being a pharma shill despite the fact they are invested in many holistic or otherwise alternative medicine businesses that profit off of unsubstantiated fears of vaccines and actual medicine.
As someone who is pro-vaccination, I wouldn't mind if you refused to vaccinate if that choice only affected you.
By choosing not to vaccinate you hurt your children who cannot choose for themselves, the people who cannot get vaccinations due to legitimate medical reasons, and everybody you ever come in contact with as you weaken the herd immunity.
If you want proof of the damage anti-vaxxers can do, then just look up the numerous measles outbreaks that have occurred in areas that see an increase in anti-vaxxer beliefs.
Well said. The % of vaccinated children is overwhelming compared to the one of non-vaccinated.
You obviously feel extremely strongly about this subject, which is great to see. Hopefully you'll look out for some of my upcoming posts to allow me to fully address some of the points you've made here.
I also try to avoid this debate and the fear based arguments on both sides. I personally feel better about the single vaxes which have been around for years and help prevent some really terrible things (even those need to be questioned) but these new cocktail vaxes seem so over he top for me.
I wish we could all agree to get the money interests out of the research and to recognize that even then no research will be infallible. Then maybe we will be able to come to more peaceful solutions
It seems many are reluctant to debate on this for the same reason. Which is sad because I'm sure we could share information more easily if others would be respectful enough to listen. This goes for both sides.
I completely agree on the money aspect. Much of the official advice and research is influenced by money and therefore can never truely be in our best interests.
I know vaccines in particular are pretty contentious but this could be applied to pretty much everything :)
Absolutely! The attitudes I've been reading in the 'vaccines' tag have just been bothering me in particular recently.
You are much braver than i am, venturing in there 😅
Haha what's the worst that could happen 😂
It's just so sad there are many people out there who avoid expressing their views or even actively hide their views for fear of being persecuted. Some people just need to control their tempers and learn how to debate respectfully.
Very libertarian