I get that you don’t like needles.

I get that you don’t like that one to two day slightly icky feeling some of us get after getting the shot, and that you’d rather get really sick for two to five days instead.

I get that you don’t trust “Big Pharma”.

I get that you have questions – concerns. By all means, ask your questions but get your answers from the right sources.

But, HOLY FUCKIN’ SHIT, please get a clue about the shaky ground your decision is based on. And, more seriously, please, please please get a clue about how your decision to not vaccinate could impact the high-risk among us!

Anyone who does the research – using reputable sources of information (start with the World Health Organization) and not your friend’s blog – will quickly get answers to their questions. But there are those who are too lazy to research, and those who only seek out information that supports their conspiracy theory (google “confirmation bias”). Do they seek information from the scientific community that cured Polio and wiped out Smallpox? No, they trust other sources. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?

By trusting non-credentialed sources, you are saying you don’t trust the VAST majority of medical scientists, doctors, local and state/provincial health agencies, national organizations (e.g. the CDC) and the World Health Organization – a United Nations agency. Do you really think all those people and organizations are that inept and/or corrupt? Are you seriously that paranoid?

Setting aside all this, I’d like to point out that YOU – yes YOU – are putting the welfare of others at risk.

H1N1 has been shown to be hard on children and women. THEY CAN DIE FROM THIS FLU.

So, let’s say you don’t get vaccinated and you get sick. And let’s say you get sick because you were not vaccinated. No big deal, right? After all, you won’t die.

No, you probably won’t die, but you will likely pass on the virus. And then it will be passed on by another dipshit like you, until it finally gets to a pregnant woman or a child who wasn’t vaccinated in time. Or maybe it gets to another high risk individual like my son who happens to be a Type 1 diabetic and who hasn’t been vaccinated because it’s not yet available in my community.

Statistically, someone among those groupings is going to get very, very sick and maybe even die. Maybe it will turn out to be your neighbour’s kid. Maybe it will turn out to be the pregnant woman you work with.

But, that invisible bug you may have passed along is out of sight out of mind, right? After all, you didn’t kill that person …did you?

No, you only played your part.

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For a less emotional response to your H1N1 questions, I strongly recommend Science Based Medicine.

I tried again. “It’s not just bowling – it’s neon bowling“.

My friend: “Mark, do you like eating shit?”.

“Uh, no”.

“If I put chocolate on some shit, do you think you’d eat it”?

I laughed and dropped the subject.

I’m weary of the chocolate-on-top-of-shit argument for god.

Even people with a belief in god see the ridiculousness of fundamentalist Christianity. A 6000 year old earth, hatred of homosexuals and the jealous, vengeful god of the Old Testament do not ring true in 21st century society.

Common sense leads moderate, liberal Christians to focus on the kinder, gentler aspects of the New Testament. Only problem is, in doing so, they conveniently leave out two important parts:

1. If you reject the god of the New Testament, not only are you denied entry to heaven, but you are also condemned to eternal hell. Note: Eternity is a helluva long time.
2. Jesus Christ endorsed the Old Testament. How do you resolve this little problem? If it was good enough for him, why isn’t it good enough for you?

So much for the kinder, gentler version of Christianity the moderates and liberals want us to believe their religion is about.

But, hold on – there’s more. The cherry-picking of moderates doesn’t end there. As each year passes, we get even kinder and gentler versions of Christianity where believers try to convince us that we are to pay attention to even less of the Bible (e.g. let’s try not to talk about eternal damnation part). Does Rick Warren ring a bell for anyone?

This, is what I will henceforth call the Chocolate on Top of Shit Argument for God – the idea that, if we ignore enough of the Bible, and put a coat of chocolate on top of the crap underneath, it will magically become palatable.

Attention new-age Christians: No matter how much chocolate you put on your religion, it’s still based on some pretty mean, awful torturous ideas. Ideas based on virtually no evidence. Ideas that don’t jive with hundreds of other religions (they don’t like the taste of your chocolate shit any more than you like the taste of theirs).

All this to say that I don’t care how much you tell me “Jesus loves you” – I just can’t buy it. I can’t buy a sales-pitch that has all these shortcomings and that ultimately ends with the threat of eternal damnation.