Science is my religion. I'll admit it. The scientific method is my Apostle's Creed. Charles Darwin is my St. Paul. Rationalism and logic are the cardinal virtues.
When people ignore the preponderance of science, I am agitated, chagrined. Question science, certainly. Science demands that you question it. Nearly every theory can be improved by the right question, by one clever man or woman disagreeing with the conclusion of her peers.
Which brings me to the tragic nexus of familial pain, fear and science that is the autism/MMR vaccine story. Never for a second do I loose sympathy with the families who are involved in this issue. The staggering rise in autism cases is something that demands answers. However, when people ignore study after study after study that discredits a theory out of fear, I cannot support them.
Consider this article that casts grave doubts of the very study that gave credence to the idea that vaccines may cause autism. That Dr. Wakefield was working with a lawyer preparing a case against the MMR vaccine, and that the medical records of the 12 children involved in his research discredit claims he made, there can be no faith in the theory he advocated. That this theory has led to a surge of measles cases around the industrialized world, and that children too young to be vaccinated have died from the actions of parents not getting the vaccine is inexcusable.
I could go on and on with this topic. And certainly one could raise many questions about anything I've said here. People should. That's how it works. When science is your religion, the only thing that is truly sacred is the scientific method itself.
When people ignore the preponderance of science, I am agitated, chagrined. Question science, certainly. Science demands that you question it. Nearly every theory can be improved by the right question, by one clever man or woman disagreeing with the conclusion of her peers.
Which brings me to the tragic nexus of familial pain, fear and science that is the autism/MMR vaccine story. Never for a second do I loose sympathy with the families who are involved in this issue. The staggering rise in autism cases is something that demands answers. However, when people ignore study after study after study that discredits a theory out of fear, I cannot support them.
Consider this article that casts grave doubts of the very study that gave credence to the idea that vaccines may cause autism. That Dr. Wakefield was working with a lawyer preparing a case against the MMR vaccine, and that the medical records of the 12 children involved in his research discredit claims he made, there can be no faith in the theory he advocated. That this theory has led to a surge of measles cases around the industrialized world, and that children too young to be vaccinated have died from the actions of parents not getting the vaccine is inexcusable.
I could go on and on with this topic. And certainly one could raise many questions about anything I've said here. People should. That's how it works. When science is your religion, the only thing that is truly sacred is the scientific method itself.
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