Sunday, February 15, 2015

Pro-Choice, or Anti-Vaxxer?

One of the battle cries of the pro-choice movement is, "keep your government out of my body!" Nevermind that one of the legitimate functions of government is to protect the rights of every citizen (of course, the preborn may not be citizens). Still, I'm pretty sure murder is illegal, even if no citizen is involved. Nevertheless, the concern about how much jurisdiction government has over one's own body is legitimate.

Which brings us to mandatory vaccination. Sure, it's a public health issue. Unvaccinated people may pose a greater risk to the general population. On the other hand, can government literally inject pathogens, dead or alive (attenuated), directly into our bodies, with the intention of modifying our immune systems without our consent? That is just about as invasive as you can get. 

Having handily survived chickenpox, mumps and both kinds of measles as a child, I can tell you that a full infection of those diseases is quite survivable, and could provide better lifelong immunity. Though there is risk, it is certainly nothing like pertussis, smallpox and polio, for which I was immunized. 

I think it is probably best to be immunized against certain killers. It may be better to be immunized against the less severe diseases as well. I can accept the idea of mandatory immunization in order to be admitted into various public and private institutions, such as schools, as long as conscientious objectors still have alternatives (such as home schooling). 

This is not anti-science: I have been a lifelong student of science, and I know perhaps better than most, that although modern science and technology is nothing short of miraculous in many respects, science still doesn't have everything figured out. Biological systems, including our immune systems, are not well understood. Vaccines are not without risk. We don't have long term data for the newer vaccines. By definition, that won't happen until the vaccines have existed for one average human lifetime. Our immune systems are unpredictable, and can be triggered to react violently and badly. Autoimmune diseases are difficult to treat. It is not irrational to not want to risk it. But it is tyrannical to mandate the exchange of one risk for another. We should have a choice.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

When In The Course of Human Events ...

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article entitled, America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President. Now, maybe you're not a Christian, and maybe you're not even religious. That's beside the point. The thing that struck me about this article is the similarity to another document. See if you can guess what it is.
When one observes President Obama’s unwillingness to accommodate America’s four-century long religious conscience protection through his attempts to require Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Catholic. But that characterization would not be correct. Although he has recently singled out Catholics, he has equally targeted traditional Protestant beliefs over the past four years. So since he has attacked Catholics and Protestants, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Christian. But that, too, would be inaccurate. He has been equally disrespectful in his appalling treatment of religious Jews in general and Israel in particular. So perhaps the most accurate description of his antipathy toward Catholics, Protestants, religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him as anti-Biblical. And then when his hostility toward Biblical people of faith is contrasted with his preferential treatment of Muslims and Muslim nations, it further strengthens the accuracy of the anti-Biblical descriptor. In fact, there have been numerous clearly documented times when his pro-Islam positions have been the cause of his anti-Biblical actions. 
Listed below in chronological order are (1) numerous records of his attacks on Biblical persons or organizations; (2) examples of the hostility toward Biblical faith that have become evident in the past three years in the Obama-led military; (3) a listing of his open attacks on Biblical values; and finally (4) a listing of numerous incidents of his preferential deference for Islam’s activities and positions, including letting his Islamic advisors guide and influence his hostility toward people of Biblical faith. 
1. Acts of hostility toward people of Biblical faith:
  • December 2009-Present - The annual White House Christmas cards, rather than focusing on Christmas or faith, instead highlight things such as the family dogs. And the White House Christmas tree ornaments include figures such as Mao Tse-Tung and a drag queen.
  • June 2013 – The Obama Department of Justice defunds a Young Marines chapter in Louisiana because their oath mentioned God, and another youth program because it permits a voluntary student-led prayer.
TL;DR, you can go here to see the rest. Now, here's the comparison. 
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
  • He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
  • He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
TL;DR, you can go here to see the rest.  Now, the list of grievances against the present King of Great Britain President Barack Obama is limited to religious freedom and an attitude, but the real list goes all the way back to the Great Imprognation, starting over 100 years ago, ca. 1913. And that list is much, much longer than the list enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, and spans more than one president.

I will re-iterate: Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. 

My question is, what is our new breaking point? How much shall we endure? Are evils still sufferable? We are supposed to be a free country, but from my perspective of almost 60 years, I can see a very monotonic diminution of our freedoms. I can no longer do a great many things that we used to do without thinking 40 years ago. I could make a list of what those things are. They would take a form very similar to the two lists I just presented. GHUA.

The Great Imprognation

The Great Imprognation is the process starting over 100 years ago, ca. 1913, when 'progressive' ideas began infiltrating the American Republic. The year the Constitution was sullied with the 16th amendment (progressive income tax), the 17th amendment (direct election of senators), and the 18th amendment (prohibition). Prohibition was the only one that we repealed. I guess we're more worried about protecting our booze than protecting our freedom.