I'm sure those bible thumpers exist in this debate but I think it's more the Whole-Foods, faux natural, hemp necklaced, trustafarians that aren't vaccinating. I don't have a strong science background and I put a degree of faith in the fact that the vast majority of those that do vaccinate their children. -My wife included. It's dangerous for those that have no science background to put the rest of us at risk. People are afraid of "chemicals" and forget that they are comprised themselves of "chemicals". Next thing you know they'll be upset that vaccines contain carbon.
I feel like people who don't understand chemistry/biology have a very weird sense of what a "chemical" is. They hear words like "vaccine" and think, "I would never put CHEMICALS into my kids body." This is why I think proper science education is going to be huge in moving forward as a society. Without it all we have is the blind leading the blind and somehow the blind don't want to listen to those who can actually see what's going on in front of them.People are afraid of "chemicals" and forget that they are comprised themselves of "chemicals".
I'm not talking about classic Bible thumpers. I'm referring to the upper middle class, lefty set as a non-traditional, special form of deity worship. The whole 'chemicals are bad' mentality is one that is based on fear, misunderstanding, and allegiance to a natural order that doesn't exist. I think anyone who sees a grand order in the world is a deist by nature (not that there's anything wrong with that), and that rejection of things that aren't 'natural' is a form of religious belief.
Those are the ones that I usually deal with. Mostly people that I met on "goa" type parties. They have many spiritual experiences, some of them have a hindu or sikh background etc. and they believe that it is not natural to put aluminium inside their children. Additionally, some say that they don't vaccinate because the weak viruses that are used in the vaccine are sometime acquired from animals that were treated with the virus. Which means that they are using "animal products". So vegans/vegetarians are against that. I don't have a problem with them being vegetarian or vegan or whatever. But when their choice starts to affect me or possibly my own children, then its not a choice anymore. Because with their "choice" they are putting other people at risk...