<p>What I really want to know is what exactly is this “religious reason” for not taking vaccines?</p>
<p>I’ve often heard the “religious reason” for not taking vaccines is that somehow God would take care of diseases, which is a load of BS. If that were true, there wouldn’t be kids dying from infectious diseases because their parents refused to get them vaccinated, and the invention of vaccinations wouldn’t have happened.</p>
<p>I always counter that argument with maybe vaccines were his answer to prayers for help. </p>
<p>But I’m am atheist so I’m not allowed to have an opinion :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I’m also an atheist, so I can relate. </p>
<p>That’s the typical argument…that vaccinations are going against gods will. If god wills you to get pertussis, diphtheria, or necrotizing fascitis, you just need to accept it. Pray, and God will heal you. If he doesn’t heal you, it’s a punishment I guess.</p>
<p>As noted above, perhaps vaccinations were “God’s answer to the prayers for help.”</p>
<p>I’m not trying to turn this into a religious debate…but these are some pretty archaic principles. Vaccinations are one of the single greatest creations in the history of humanity. As I already said, if you are part of a religion that doesn’t allow you to vaccinate, you need to find a new religion.</p>
<p>what’s with all the backlash? the OP asked a simple question, I don’t think he deserves lectures on how his religious reasons are insignificant and backwards. it’s his right not to get vaccinated whether you like it or not.
OP, no there couldn’t be any problems whatsoever. people may not like it, but it won’t cause trouble for you. they might refuse to let you not get vaccinated, but you won’t know unless you try</p>
<p>This is tangential to the OP’s question, but since SCmom brought it up in post #20…</p>
<p>My D had all of the recommended childhood vaccinations. My D’s university requires EITHER a) her doctor to sign off on the dates she had the MMR vaccine, OR b) a copy of a blood test report proving immunity to Measles, Mumps and Rubella. </p>
<p>Certain of her early childhood medical records went AWOL while being transferred from an old doctor’s office, so after waiting nearly two months for them to be located we went with option b), and had the blood test. Much to our surprise, she was immune to measles and rubella, but NOT TO MUMPS. </p>
<p>Seems impossible since she received all three in the same shots, but the nurse we worked with said they are seeing a rash (no pun intended) of kids about my D’s age for whom the mumps portion of the vaccine did not “take”. She had some in her bloodwork, but the level was not high enough.</p>
<p>The whole thing was remedied with a booster shot, but I think it is important for people to know. Had her medical records showed up on time, we would never have known.</p>
<p>
It’s because an unvaccinated person can pass a deadly disease to a person who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons, or for whom the vaccine was ineffective. If the second person dies from the disease, I personally think the first person’s action was negligent homicide. I have yet to see anybody actually cite a real religious restriction in any of these conversations–rather, it’s always somebody who is afraid of vaccinations because of half-baked conspiracy theories. Don’t let yourself be fooled.</p>
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<p>Because refusal to immunize is dangerous to everyone around them. If it was a personal choice that effected nobody else, it wouldn’t be an issue. In this case though, refusing to immunize carries a great potential of spreading disease to others. If it’s because of the religious beliefs that they aren’t “allowed” to immunize…then in my opinion that point needs to be addressed. </p>
<p>I’m not one to attack anyones religious beliefs for no reason(though I’ve been known to get into some pretty heated debates with creationists), but when it starts impacting others around them in a negative way, I can’t let the point go without mentioning.</p>
<p>^exactly. This isn’t just about how you spend your Sunday mornings or whether you eat pork. This is a decision you make that can directly impact the lives of others. Many cities don’t let you smoke in bars/restaurants anymore, people with mental illness that are deemed dangerous to themselves or others can be forcibly committed and if you’re non compliant with TB medication you can be forcibly quarantined and medicated as well. The fact that there is any out to vaccination other than medical contraindications is a failing of our public health legislation.</p>
<p>College…interesting. I’ve heard talk of college kids needing a booster for MMR and told Ds to be on lookout for their schools recommending it. Same with chicken pox…had to swear to nurse they’d both had it (before vaccine) cause we didn’t go to Dr office for it.</p>
<p>OP if school has religious exemption listed as option, it shouldn’t be a prob but call the school and ask.</p>
<p>This is tangential too, but we finally got S’s college medical forms out and I see that he needs a specific TB test done. And I now only have 2 weeks to get the forms back to the college - wish I had noticed that a couple of weeks ago when the form came. </p>
<p>I had no idea colleges were so specific about what they needed, other than the meningitis vaccine.</p>
<p>And as for religious exemptions, I still haven’t heard of a specific religion that forbids them.</p>
<p>Interesting read on it:</p>
<p><a href=“Worship Optional: Joining a Church To Avoid Vaccines - The New York Times”>Worship Optional: Joining a Church To Avoid Vaccines - The New York Times;
<p>There was a pretty well publicized case in Philadelphia recently of a couple who let their baby (actually a SECOND baby) die of untreated pneumonia. They had had an order to take their children to a doctor after the first child died, but they ignored it. They are now in jail. They claim their pastor told them using modern medicine shows a lack of faith in God. What utter nonsense. “Pastors” like that give true Christians/religious people a bad name.</p>
<p>Without turning this into a political debate, I wonder why there is not more protest or outrage from the pro-life community regarding this “church” whose members do not see doctors. They have a lot of members - why aren’t people protesting outside this church to protect all those innocent children who may die from untreated infections, appendicitis, allergic reactions, etc??</p>
<p>surfcity, I will not attempt to turn this in to a political debate as well, but it has been my experience that “pro-life” often really means “pro-birth”. </p>
<p>Luckily, people like what you described are on the fringes of Christianity (I’m not sure if other religions have sects like that, too, but I’m sure many do).</p>
<p>Surf city…interesting. D2 school has a list of circumstances where tb required… otherwise you can skip it. Of course D1 wants to teach and will have to do it to practice teach</p>
<p>While still not attempting to turn this into a political debate, as romanigypsyeyes stated above, pro-life really only means pro “life” in as much as unborn children, and the terminally ill are concerned. Most of the “pro-life” people tend to also be the ones that support the death penalty. For instance, Paul Jennings Hill was convicted of murdering abortion doctor John Britton, and was given the death penalty. According to many “pro-lifers,” this murder was justified, because this doctor was “taking the lives of innocent babies.” Despite the fact that this doctor had a wife and children who no longer have a father. Pro-life does not really mean pro “life.”</p>
<p>The case mentioned above regarding the Philadelphia couple is an example of how this creates a problem for others. Religious denial of the validity of modern medicine is inexcusable.</p>
<p>My school only requires the Hep B series. Since I turned 19 before school started I wasn’t required to take it. I have to take it now anyways for a different thing. Heh.</p>