alexis in the city

Opt-in Ignorance

Who are you going to believe - me or your own eyes?

~ Groucho Marx

Are you going to believe what you see or what I tell you?

~ Willie Nelson

I’ve been facing down this conundrum  recently. It’s not an ignorance due to mis-eduction or lack of information. No, to be ignorant because you have insufficient resources is forgivable. This is an ignorance that people seek out for themselves regardless of the realities around them. This is opt-in ignorance.

Here’s one example that I’m sure will ruffle more than a few feathers but which has been in the spotlight recently: the vaccination “debate” (which isn’t even a debate in the medical community …). Never mind the research done showing no links between vaccinations and certain illnesses. Never mind that the study responsible for the MMR/Autism scare has been discredited or that the doctor who conducted it may have his medical license removed. No. Because this information comes from the medical community - which, by some strange (irrational) double standard is to be completely distrusted - such research is met with an air of “your facts are no good here.”

Of course, in this instance opt-in ignorance stands to (physically) hurt more people than just the person making the decision, which is especially dangerous. It’s a strange situation where reality seems to be incompatible with a previously-established belief system, and I won’t even delve into how many of these systems are constructed.

I can think of multiple other examples of such ignorance that assail me on a regular basis, most of which on the surface don’t appear to hurt anyone but the person opting in. Dig a little deeper, though, and I think you’ll find that opt-in ignorance tends to be a culture. It latches on and often gets passed down from generation to generation, creating a different kind of danger; one where our minds, our rationale and our ability to reason are at stake. This may not be a physical death, but a death of intellect is quite a blow none-the-less.

Separation of Church and Self: why we need to keep personal political agendas out of our churches

Let me preface this by saying: I’m Christian. I emphasize this fact because what I’m about to espouse (like many of my beliefs) is not the predominant thinking within mainstream Christianity. So here’s the crux of my argument ~ I’ve stated it before but it bears repeating: America is not a Christian nation, therefore it is not the Church’s responsibility to foist its beliefs upon the nation’s citizenry, nor is it one church’s responsibility to foist its individual political convictions (should it have any) on its members. This is a commonly-held sentiment OUTSIDE of the religious community, yet for some reason too many people within it want to equate America with Israel: the chosen nation, a theocracy, a place where the laws of the Bible (or more correctly, someone’s INTERPRETATION of the laws of the Bible) should be the law of the land.

Of course, this is all common knowledge ~ one has to look no further than the nomenclature “the religious right” to see that we’ve accepted this religious infiltration into our politics and policy. (Check out “The Family” if you want a chilling look into just how inter-connected Evangelical leaders like Dr. Dobson and Pat Robertson are with the political underground.) I grew up in churches where it was no more strange to sign an anti-abortion petition in the foyer of the building than it was to sing choruses at the start of each service. And to many people within Christian circles, I would guess this idea is somewhat innocuous. But here’s the thing: IT’S NOT. By veritably preaching politics from the pulpit, the church is alienating anyone who might believe differently by essentially saying: “We are the authority on this subject, this is the correct thing to believe, and here is the correct way to vote.”

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Dear Miss Manners: how the millenial generation lost their filter

my mom called me into her study the other day and as i judged by the tone of horror in her voice, i could tell she was shocked by something that had offended her sensibilities. i read the email (from her hairstylist) over her shoulder: “we’re so excited to tell you guys …. well … you’ll see.” with a sense of dread, my mom clicked on the download button and there before our eyes was a GIANT ultrasound fetus, filling up the entire computer screen.

oh blessed horrors.

i wish i could say such an assumption and intrusion happened on rare occasion but with the advent of email blasts, facebook and the social web has come a complete lack of propriety. and it’s not just my generation (the millenials, gen y, generation net, whatever you want to call it) that’s guilty. with amazing voracity, a variety of demographics has latched onto the idea that everyone wants to know about their unborn child, their bodily functions, their dirty little secrets. but we don’t.

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please let’s get our swine flu vaccine facts straight

i had this lovely little flier tucked under my windshield wiper this morning. i’ve been trying to avoid the sensationalism surrounding this issue, hoping it would just go away, but now it’s intruded into my personal life leaving me no choice but to address it.

i should start by saying i have a bias. in general i have a problem with the anti-vaccine/anti-western medicine movement. of course i think we should do our due diligence and i believe in a holistic approach to health care, but this is the 21st century. there is no reason to risk getting an ancient disease like small pox because of a refusal to get vaccinated.

aside from my pro-21st century medicine opinions - which are just that, my opinions - i’ve noticed in my experience that the anti-21st century medicine movement tends to play it fast and lose with their facts. just like i have a penchant FOR modern medicine, they seem to have a penchant against it and seem to buy into much in that vein. i’ve been trying to ignore this but just couldn’t resist it any longer when this bright orange warning appeared on my car. so i’m going to go through it point by point:

it contains live virus and squalene: it DOESN’T contain squalene. but even if it did, according to WebMD, squalene is “an oil that’s a natural part of many body processes. It’s … used in substances called adjuvants. When mixed with vaccines, adjuvants make vaccines work better at lower doses.” and even then, it would have to be specially approved by the FDA. but adjuvants already are approved in europe and have been used safely on millions. however, the US SPECIFICALLY did NOT approve vaccines with adjuvants, eventhough the UK did, and required that shots be made with out this ingredient.

and will infect you and others: the same process was used to develop the swine flue vaccine as was used to develop regular flu shots. it was tested and approved by the FDA. just like the flu shot may give the recipient brief, flu-like symptoms similar things may happen with the swine flu vaccine but that does not constitute and infection.

manufacturers have been granted full immunity: it looks like GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter are among the manufacturers, and it seems that they would be shielded in court, with the government paying any damages should a case go to trial.

why aren’t we being shown the ingredients: you can get pretty much all the information you ever wanted, and more, via the FDA.

why are the vaccines approved without testing: this is just point blank not true, from what i could find. as mentioned, this shot is treated the same way as the flu shot including test groups, trials and FDA approval. the results are in from the shorter-term trials: everything’s fine. according to WebMD: “Other than causing the usual soreness and perhaps redness at the site of injection, the vaccines cause no major side effects.” and the longer-term trials are still underway.

i’m not saying some of these - or other - claims aren’t without validity. but it makes it very difficult for me to take anyone in this movement seriously when i can so easily go down the list and debunk or find flaws in just about all of their claims.

when the shots are released in SF, you’ll know where to find me.

(this is what i dug up with my limited knowledge. if my friends who work with infectious diseases have anything to share, i’d love to hear it!)

professional sports and the demise of culture

“Do you know the word ”transcendentalist”?  [This] is German romantic philosophy.  We throw off all our constraints and we come to know ourselves  through insight and experience.  …  It’s just that with all of this transcendence comes much emphasis on perfecting oneself.”

~ Little Women

i hate professional sports. and not just in a “this is my personal opinion” kind of way, but in a “this is contributing to the downfall of society” kind of a way. for the point of this post, i’m going to give college sports a pass, since i get that there’s more of a reason to have a vested interest. i still think people take it too far, but i get the idea of camaraderie and fraternity. my college didn’t have a football team so it’s hard for me to understand this completely, but i can identify with the concept.

by way of background, i did not grow up in a professional sports-loving family. it wasn’t a huge issue for us or anything, but more just the understanding that there were far better things to do with your time than get wrapped up in pro sports culture. that’s not to say my dad didn’t have his teams (the broncos and the dolphins), but instead of sitting down to watch a game, he would record said game and watch the major plays later, fastforwarding through the bulk of the antics on and off the field. it would usually take him an hour, max, to get through a game in this way again reinforcing the idea that life is too valuable to waste sitting in front of a TV.

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