I am not a huge fan of conspiracy theories. In fact, I believe most such theories are ridiculous and held by people whose mental state borders on paranoia. Paranoia is a personality disorder characterized by delusions of constant persecution by organized enemies - real or imagined.
Similarly - conspiracy theorists will often believe that negative world events are the result of a nefarious agenda designed by an organized special interest group. They also believe that those events were (or are) perpetrated by those people in ways that point to other causes. Thus covering up their own culpability.
One of the favorite targets of conspiracy theorists is the JFK assassination. Variously there have been accusations that it was the Mafia or the CIA (or both) that was (were) behind his assassination. Despite the fact that that event has been thoroughly investigated with little doubt about the conclusion. It is widely accepted that the conclusion reached by the Warren commission was the most likely secnario. Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman. He alone shot JFK. There was no conspiracy. And yet there is no shortage of conspiracy theorists that to this day insist that this is not the case. That the CIA (for example) assassinated the President in some sort of elaborate plan and has successfully covered it up.
In my humble opinion the Anti vaccination crowd (anti-vaxxers) fit that bill. I cannot think of any other rational explanation of their behavior. The problem is that they actually believe they are right and have what they consider valid arguments against vaccinations. Some of which are based on long ago discredited medical theories. Such as the one which had suggested that autism was caused by MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccinations in very young children.
They continue to insist that it is still the case and point to websites that seem legitimate and corroborate their views. That the Center for Disease Control (CDC) considers those views hogwash is seen by them as some sort of conspiracy to promote vaccinating our children because of the huge profits made by vaccine manufacturers. As if there was some sort of collusion between the CDC and Big Pharma.
The anti-vaxxers actually believe that more harm is caused by vaccinating children than is caused by not vaccinating them. They also believe in ‘herd immunity’. Which is both selfish and doesn’t work anyway. The idea is that when so many people are vaccinated, the prevalence of the disease is reduced to the point where even those that are not vaccinated will be protected, since no one will have the diseases from which their children could contract..
Why not leave these people alone and let them live with their machinations? As long as they don’t force their views on the rest of the world, let them do what they want and suffer whatever consequences their actions might produce!
The problem is that a disease like measles that MMR vacinations protect against is very contagious and to the best of my knowledge has no cure. It doesn't take much to start an epidemic. Which may have just been precipitated by anti-vaxxers. Lior Zaltzman writes the following in Kveller:
There’s a measles outbreak in Israel — and it’s spreading to the U.S. There are now over 679 confirmed cases in Israel as of October 14 — with the majority in Jerusalem, and the majority of the patients under 9 years of age. Measles is considered one of the world’s most highly contagious diseases, and Israel’s ministry of health is having a hard time isolating and containing it. What makes this mom-of-an-infant — one who is still too young to receive the vaccine — infuriated is that this outbreak could have been prevented: The highly effective measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine has been around since 1971.
Lest anyone think this phenomenon is confined to Israel - read on:
(S)ix cases have been confirmed in Brooklyn, contracted from a patient who entered the country from Israel. An additional 11 cases in Rockland County, also traced to Israel, have been confirmed as well. “The patients in Williamsburg range in age from 11 months to 4 years old and are all members of the Orthodox Jewish community,” according to CBS New York. Both outbreaks can be traced back to Israel.
According to Walla! News, while officials are reluctant to pinpoint one community or religious sect or as responsible for the recent outbreak in Israel, they do attribute the spread of the disease to a refusal to vaccinate.
How sad that there are so many conspiracy theorists in Orthodoxy. True, anti vaxers are not all Orthodox Jews or even Jews at all. But that so many are - makes a mockery of the vaunted intelligence of our people. Enough of them that it has resulted in an outbreak of an illness that has until recently been almost eradicated.
Why can’t these people understand that the basis of their opposition has been discredited by the vast majority of responsible medical experts? Why must they insist there is a conspiracy by them? Do they really believe that the CDC is in cahoots with Big Pharma? What is the mater with these people?
A while back I was contacted by a woman that lives in a Charedi part of the East Coast. She insisted that her conspiracy theories were the truth and everyone else was lying. She directed me to look at what she believed were serious medical websites that corroborated her views.
I honestly don’t understand. She seemed like an intelligent woman and yet – she was anything but intelligent about her anti-vaxx views. I’m not sure she will ever be convinced how wrong she is. But then again, that is how all conspiracy theorists are. They never believe anyone accept other like minded conspiracy theorists. So sad that this kind of thinking has infected our world. Even sadder is the harm that causes.
How many more children must contract measles before something is done about it? If there is one thing there should be universal agreement about, it is the importance of children being vaccinated. It should not matter what one’s hashkafa is. This is not a hashkafic matter. It is matter that affects all of us. It is time for rabbinic leadership across the board to step up and stop this nonsense.
It may be a radical idea to suggest this, but in my view, no child should be admitted to any school unless there is proof of vaccination. Or proof that the child is allergic to the vaccine. In which case those children would be exempted and rely on herd immunity. But for everyone else, it should be required. Because the very health of all of our children is at stake.