As much as anything this fool's posturing speaks directly to how far removed from reason true believers are. They would be only too happy to make themselves masters of us all. Ignore religion at your leisure. Ignore science at your peril.
It's a cult. They will believe anything the MAGA propaganda tells them to even when it contradicts yesterday's propaganda or something they used to believe.
Truth. They even had a war in the streets of Philadelphia over whose bible was 'correct', the protestant or the catholic versions. They don't just hate non-christians; their real venom is reserved for other flavors of their own kind.
To be fair, there is a wide range of understandings, among self-identified Christians and sects, about how central the text of the Bible is supposed to be, how to weigh various parts (e.g., the "red letter" words of Jesus vs. everything else), and how literally to take it. "Inerrancy" itself is much debated, between and within some sects.
Some Christians are well aware of the harm done to kids in real life, in the name of what they've actually read in the Bible.
I suppose I'm not sophisticated enough to understand the difference between the Obviously Good technique of biblical exegesis and the Obviously Bad practice of spiritual cherry-picking.
If only because, in my admittedly limited experience, the result is almost always that the bible - how fortunate! - agreed with what the researcher thought all along.
If you're convinced life is nothing but a passing phase - just a blip on the radar, and entrance exam, nothing more - then this sort of thing really isn't hard to conscience.
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
I guess he is proud that his students are much more likely to 'go home to Jesus' than the highest vaccinated school. Science is hard and these rubes have a much simpler answer,,, the wrong one, but simpler.
There it is. The results of the indoctrination into government distrust and science denial. They don't even realize that this blanket rejection of one authority in favor of another is not the freedom they so piously spout.
I don't "allow" science projects to affect how I live my life. I learn about them, I understand them, and then I choose the ones I understand to be valuable.
"Informed choice" is not in opposition to "choice." If someone thinks it is, that person is literally promoting ignorance.
Sure I do. I looked up several GPs before I chose my current one. I looked up the medical side effects of the medication I have been prescribed and wrote down the other medications I should not take. I looked up the peer-reviewed journal articles on it's interactions with alcohol because hey, I like the occasional beer and doctors often give highly risk-averse advice. But I take it because the best conventional mainstream science says it works, and that's part of research too.
It is terribly sad that the anti-vaxx and conspiracy communities have captured "do my own research" as a catchphrase. Because it really is a good idea to research your own medical care. And that concept shouldn't imply whackaloon rejection of mainstream science, even though for the moment it does.
That's all great stuff, Eric. Do the same myself. But I think you're kidding yourself if you believe that doesn't mean you're following the science. That's exactly what you're doing.
You misunderstand. "Doing research" and "following the science" are not in opposition.
Maybe I didn't choose the best phrasing in my initial response to Joe, but the point is 'rejection of one authority over another' implies the science-accepter is basing their acceptance wholly or solely on an argument from authority. That's not what informed acceptance of science should be. You should accept mainstream scientific and medical conclusions based on evidence, even if that evidence is secondary (i.e. science worked for x, so I have some credible reason it will work for y). You should not be accepting it solely because it's picking one authority over another.
Nothing wrong with researching stuff - read scientific papers, get clinical trial results, whatever. When I had cancer, the doc had 3 treatment options for me. He showed me the results from ongoing clinical trials on 2 of the options vs. the other established treatment. I decided on which treatment based on my personal assessment of risk (side effects) vs. efficacy.
Nothing wrong with that at all. My BIL had early-onset fronto-temporal dementia and his only option, although not a cure, was to participate in a clinical trial which will, hopefully, one day help us understand the mechanism of FTD and develop a cure.
Wasn't there a verse from Jesus saying something about it's better to have a milling stone around ones neck than to hurt one of "these little ones?"
On 28 February 1998, a fraudulent research paper by physician Andrew Wakefield and twelve coauthors, titled "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children", was published in the British medical journal The Lancet. The paper falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest. It was exposed in a lengthy Sunday Times investigation by reporter Brian Deer, resulting in the paper's retraction in February 2010 and Wakefield being discredited and struck off the UK medical register three months later. Wakefield reportedly stood to earn up to US$43 million per year selling diagnostic kits for a non-existent syndrome he claimed to have discovered. He also held a patent to a rival vaccine at the time,
Yes, his original fraud has now completely spiraled out of control. A 'butterfly effect' of health catastrophe.
The irony being, IIRC, that he created that fraudulent paper because he was trying to 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑒. His was only for one of them, so he wanted the public to think the 3-in-1 was dangerous so they would take his 1-at-a-time vaccine instead.
It really doesn't surprise me that the antivaxxer that kicked off the entire antivax thing wasn't really antivax but just a greedy asshole trying to sell shit.
The participants of the study (parents of the children) even said that the report mischaracterized their statements. All of the other doctors who participated removed their names after the study was published because they didn’t agree with the conclusions. And there was so much wrong with the study itself difficult to summarize it.
Wakefield is still pushing his study and has directly caused outbreaks across the country after he’s done speaking engagements. Not by infecting people with measles, but by discouraging parents from vaccinating while measles was already present. He’s still making tons of money from spreading his lies.
I have been amazed at the number of parents willing to let their children die. From vaccinations to seat belts to bike helmets, they refuse to take basic precautions.
The ignorance of basic public health principles is glaring, but the shameless glee they take in boosting their ideology is worse. That said I am old enough that I got measles with my school aged older brother, and we survived…pretty much every kid got it then, and survived. But bad outcomes do happen and now we can avoid them with vaccination. As far as I know, “pestilence” is not celebrated in the Bible…why are these people so eager to suffer its effects?
There's passive ignorance, where someone just does not have certain information.
Then there's active ignorance, proud, boastful, hard-working, self-perpetuating, eager-to-spread ignorance, ignorance seen as a clear sign of religious virtue, while being educated or well-informed is seen with suspicion, the likely sign of religious impurity.
If there was a way for the parents to suffer without causing ANY harm of ANY kind to the kids, I would wish for that. But I don’t think that is possible so I hope for no harm to anyone.
Nothing says Christian values, like turning your children into biological landmines for the sake of performative ignorance. These people are bragging about turning their school into a petri dish of preventable disease, and all because they think getting their kids a simple, life-saving shot is somehow oppressive.
Pastor Landon Schott is out here handing out t-shirts like he’s leading a championship-winning team, except the game is “How Fast Can We Bring Back 19th-Century Child Mortality?”. And the prize? A front-row seat to a measles outbreak that will endanger not just their kids but infants, immunocompromised people, and anyone unlucky enough to share a grocery store with these disease vectors.
This isn’t about “freedom.” It’s about weaponized stupidity. The same crowd that thinks a vaccine is a government plot somehow has no problem with actual government-mandated forced birth. They claim to be pro-life, yet they’re cheering on a public health disaster.
At this rate, natural selection will finish the job that civics and science education clearly failed to do.
As much as anything this fool's posturing speaks directly to how far removed from reason true believers are. They would be only too happy to make themselves masters of us all. Ignore religion at your leisure. Ignore science at your peril.
It's a cult. They will believe anything the MAGA propaganda tells them to even when it contradicts yesterday's propaganda or something they used to believe.
I'm more and more convinced that christians are a true cult. Jonestown-here we come. Not sure how soon but we's a comming.
??? Jonestown, perhaps?
This is not a Christian school
Mercy Culture Preparatory Academy in Texas is very much a private Christian school. Re-read the article. It's all there.
Unless you're making a No True Scotsman argument, you're ignoring the reported facts.
Trying to sort out who was, or was not, a TRUE Christian has spilled enough blood to float the Navy.
Truth. They even had a war in the streets of Philadelphia over whose bible was 'correct', the protestant or the catholic versions. They don't just hate non-christians; their real venom is reserved for other flavors of their own kind.
How do you come to that conclusion?
Some would say this is Christianism, not Christianity, on the grounds that "true" Christians would not endanger children over political ideology.
Those people should be encouraged to actually read the bible instead of just listening to what their religious leaders cheery-pick for them.
I suspect they'd be flat amazed at the amount of harm done to kids in that book in the name of god.
Some would, no doubt.
To be fair, there is a wide range of understandings, among self-identified Christians and sects, about how central the text of the Bible is supposed to be, how to weigh various parts (e.g., the "red letter" words of Jesus vs. everything else), and how literally to take it. "Inerrancy" itself is much debated, between and within some sects.
Some Christians are well aware of the harm done to kids in real life, in the name of what they've actually read in the Bible.
www.patheos.com/blogs/quisutdeus/2022/05/bibliolatry-the-ultimate-form-of-cherry-picking-bible-verses/
I suppose I'm not sophisticated enough to understand the difference between the Obviously Good technique of biblical exegesis and the Obviously Bad practice of spiritual cherry-picking.
If only because, in my admittedly limited experience, the result is almost always that the bible - how fortunate! - agreed with what the researcher thought all along.
Funny that.
Here, I think you forgot these...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Op1Mng4oY
Has DG switched nyms?
Hate to tell you, but it actually is.
If you're convinced life is nothing but a passing phase - just a blip on the radar, and entrance exam, nothing more - then this sort of thing really isn't hard to conscience.
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
― Isaac Asimov
I guess he is proud that his students are much more likely to 'go home to Jesus' than the highest vaccinated school. Science is hard and these rubes have a much simpler answer,,, the wrong one, but simpler.
...𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒.
There it is. The results of the indoctrination into government distrust and science denial. They don't even realize that this blanket rejection of one authority in favor of another is not the freedom they so piously spout.
I don't "allow" science projects to affect how I live my life. I learn about them, I understand them, and then I choose the ones I understand to be valuable.
"Informed choice" is not in opposition to "choice." If someone thinks it is, that person is literally promoting ignorance.
Soooo, you're saying you 'do your own research'? Got it.....
Sure I do. I looked up several GPs before I chose my current one. I looked up the medical side effects of the medication I have been prescribed and wrote down the other medications I should not take. I looked up the peer-reviewed journal articles on it's interactions with alcohol because hey, I like the occasional beer and doctors often give highly risk-averse advice. But I take it because the best conventional mainstream science says it works, and that's part of research too.
It is terribly sad that the anti-vaxx and conspiracy communities have captured "do my own research" as a catchphrase. Because it really is a good idea to research your own medical care. And that concept shouldn't imply whackaloon rejection of mainstream science, even though for the moment it does.
That's all great stuff, Eric. Do the same myself. But I think you're kidding yourself if you believe that doesn't mean you're following the science. That's exactly what you're doing.
You misunderstand. "Doing research" and "following the science" are not in opposition.
Maybe I didn't choose the best phrasing in my initial response to Joe, but the point is 'rejection of one authority over another' implies the science-accepter is basing their acceptance wholly or solely on an argument from authority. That's not what informed acceptance of science should be. You should accept mainstream scientific and medical conclusions based on evidence, even if that evidence is secondary (i.e. science worked for x, so I have some credible reason it will work for y). You should not be accepting it solely because it's picking one authority over another.
Pretty sure I just agreed with that earlier. Not sure why you're still arguing the point.
Nothing wrong with researching stuff - read scientific papers, get clinical trial results, whatever. When I had cancer, the doc had 3 treatment options for me. He showed me the results from ongoing clinical trials on 2 of the options vs. the other established treatment. I decided on which treatment based on my personal assessment of risk (side effects) vs. efficacy.
Nothing wrong with that at all. My BIL had early-onset fronto-temporal dementia and his only option, although not a cure, was to participate in a clinical trial which will, hopefully, one day help us understand the mechanism of FTD and develop a cure.
Would you say that these folks are demonstrating informed choice?
I would say that they love the idea of choice but seem to think "informed" is a bad thing.
Wouldn't it be fun to be a fly on the ceiling and getting to watch the little bastards deny science in their lives?
A pox on his house.
Literally.
And measles, too. And shingles for the adults.
I have seen grown men cry from the excruciating pain of shingles.
I've had shingles. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. That's why I got the two-part shingles vax.
Me too.
UGH!
UGH! because I got the shingles vaccine? ;)
Got the OLD vaccine back in 2016 and the new ones last year. Want NOTHING TO DO with shingles!
No, you do not!
I must have gotten off lucky. Had shingles and found them mildly itchy.
If you ever had chicken pox, get your shingles Vaccination NOW!
The virus is hanging out in your body, waiting to unleash hell !!!
Don't forget Mumps for the males.
Good catch!
Ever notice how often Christians define "freedom" as "harming others"?
Every day.
I really, really hate anti vaxxers.
What do we do about the one who invited herself here ?
Let her get an earful of reality. Maybe it'll sink in.
I blocked her. I am too biased to take a rational decision about her case.
The block function is kinda like a vaccine. Now you are immune to Polly's bullshit.
: )
She said she is leaving.
She said it a couple of times. :)
Ok.
You are also too rational. Let them scream into the void, and play with themself.
She seems nice. 😉
They endanger everyone, not just themselves.
Yes, that just gives morons power.
Wasn't there a verse from Jesus saying something about it's better to have a milling stone around ones neck than to hurt one of "these little ones?"
On 28 February 1998, a fraudulent research paper by physician Andrew Wakefield and twelve coauthors, titled "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children", was published in the British medical journal The Lancet. The paper falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest. It was exposed in a lengthy Sunday Times investigation by reporter Brian Deer, resulting in the paper's retraction in February 2010 and Wakefield being discredited and struck off the UK medical register three months later. Wakefield reportedly stood to earn up to US$43 million per year selling diagnostic kits for a non-existent syndrome he claimed to have discovered. He also held a patent to a rival vaccine at the time,
Even if it was true, I would prefer an autist child to a dead one.
Yes, his original fraud has now completely spiraled out of control. A 'butterfly effect' of health catastrophe.
The irony being, IIRC, that he created that fraudulent paper because he was trying to 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑒. His was only for one of them, so he wanted the public to think the 3-in-1 was dangerous so they would take his 1-at-a-time vaccine instead.
It really doesn't surprise me that the antivaxxer that kicked off the entire antivax thing wasn't really antivax but just a greedy asshole trying to sell shit.
I just wish all the "lightly attached to reality" bunch, got it.
The participants of the study (parents of the children) even said that the report mischaracterized their statements. All of the other doctors who participated removed their names after the study was published because they didn’t agree with the conclusions. And there was so much wrong with the study itself difficult to summarize it.
Wakefield is still pushing his study and has directly caused outbreaks across the country after he’s done speaking engagements. Not by infecting people with measles, but by discouraging parents from vaccinating while measles was already present. He’s still making tons of money from spreading his lies.
I have been amazed at the number of parents willing to let their children die. From vaccinations to seat belts to bike helmets, they refuse to take basic precautions.
Maybe...this is the parents' way of legally getting rid of their kids...😕😞
The ignorance of basic public health principles is glaring, but the shameless glee they take in boosting their ideology is worse. That said I am old enough that I got measles with my school aged older brother, and we survived…pretty much every kid got it then, and survived. But bad outcomes do happen and now we can avoid them with vaccination. As far as I know, “pestilence” is not celebrated in the Bible…why are these people so eager to suffer its effects?
"...why are these people so eager to suffer its effects?"
Because faith without works is dead.
There's passive ignorance, where someone just does not have certain information.
Then there's active ignorance, proud, boastful, hard-working, self-perpetuating, eager-to-spread ignorance, ignorance seen as a clear sign of religious virtue, while being educated or well-informed is seen with suspicion, the likely sign of religious impurity.
Lotsa luck dealing with the active kind.
"Our next goal is to be #1 in school shootings. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition!"
- Schott, probably soon
It’s Texas, Jake. They probably will.
Those poor kids. They don’t deserve this.
If there was a way for the parents to suffer without causing ANY harm of ANY kind to the kids, I would wish for that. But I don’t think that is possible so I hope for no harm to anyone.
Maybe the dads will all get the mumps and become sterile?
The dads probably all were vaccinated!!
sigh Too bad.
Nothing says Christian values, like turning your children into biological landmines for the sake of performative ignorance. These people are bragging about turning their school into a petri dish of preventable disease, and all because they think getting their kids a simple, life-saving shot is somehow oppressive.
Pastor Landon Schott is out here handing out t-shirts like he’s leading a championship-winning team, except the game is “How Fast Can We Bring Back 19th-Century Child Mortality?”. And the prize? A front-row seat to a measles outbreak that will endanger not just their kids but infants, immunocompromised people, and anyone unlucky enough to share a grocery store with these disease vectors.
This isn’t about “freedom.” It’s about weaponized stupidity. The same crowd that thinks a vaccine is a government plot somehow has no problem with actual government-mandated forced birth. They claim to be pro-life, yet they’re cheering on a public health disaster.
At this rate, natural selection will finish the job that civics and science education clearly failed to do.
The arrogance and outright stupidity is fucking unbelievable.
It’s also typical, sadly.
Welcome to 'Merica...
Just waiting for the article detailing the arrest of Schott for child sexual abuse.
It's what we've come to expect from christians and kids.
I was thinking the same thing. It would follow the pattern