By Roy Speckhardt
Mar. 24, 2013
The faith exemption to vaccinations is questionable, as our children’s health shouldn’t be threatened by antiquated religious ideas.
Two new images related to vaccinations have made their way around the internet over the past few days, and the debate they’ve caused over the safety and necessity of vaccinations has left many in the scientific community scratching their heads. One of the popular images shows the benefits that Americans have enjoyed from vaccines, while the other questions the value of vaccinations and the reasons for being vaccinated.
Unfortunately, a growing number of parents are not vaccinating their children for a combination of reasons related to faith, fear, and faulty information. Normally all kids attending public schools are required to be vaccinated before their first day of classes in order to promote the public health. However, exceptions were added into state laws to allow the option not to vaccinate for parents whose faith would be violated by such medical intervention.
Read the rest of this Patheos article here.
Roy Speckhardt is the executive director of the American Humanist Association.