Robert Gebelhoff, an editorial writer and opinions contributor focusing on health, science and public policy at the Washington Post, recently wrote about attending an anti-vaccine conference.
Maybe he wasn’t the right person to send…
Robert Gebelhoff Learned the Wrong Lesson When He Attended an Anti-Vaccine Conference
While he wasn’t surprised by any of the anti-vaccine rhetoric at the conference, which was headlined by Secretary RFK, Jr, he soon came to a realization that it would be wrong to disrespect their views.
Views that included talk of chemtrails, polio being eliminated by DDT instead of vaccines, and that there is a mass epidemic of vaccine injuries.
And that’s not a bad lesson to learn.
After all, making fun of people doesn’t help change their minds.
Still, that doesn’t mean that you have to respect their views either!
So what lesson should he have learned at that conference?
“Vaccine critics hijack people’s anxiety about that real issue and ascribe it to their cause. It should be no surprise that many Americans fall for it.”
Robert Gebelhoff
It’s the lesson that he came very close to understanding!
“That is what crushed me on Thursday — that sense of victimhood that nearly everyone in the conference shared. It is anger and fear and despair, emotions that are so easily preyed upon by opportunistic politicians. “Something happened to our kids,” Kennedy said, and the audience applauded.
That’s not a sentiment one should ridicule lightly.”
Robert Gebelhoff
Yes.
But I think he still missed the lesson.
These parents shouldn’t be ridiculed because they are scared, angry, or looking for answers.
But that doesn’t mean their beliefs shouldn’t be challenged.
Because that fear and anxiety is exactly what anti-vaccine influencers take advantage of.
They give parents an easy answer for why their child got sick, has autism, or has some other medical or developmental issue.
And, of course, they give them someone or something to blame.
That’s the lesson.
Respect the people.
Have empathy for what they are going through.
However, don’t confuse respecting people with respecting misinformation.
And definitely don’t stand by while anti-vaccine influencers continue to exploit their fears.