"I’ve been trying to parse out why, precisely, this analogy is so compelling to the legions of anti-vaxxers who feel compelled to wear it proudly on their bodies"
Weirdly it seems that they (or at least a portion thereof) are aligning themselves with the victims of the Holocaust...which, under the circumstances, is a bad look. They're now identifying with the people they call christ killers and infant eaters.
This is an undeniably great piece of writing. There is a real rawness to it.
Speaking as someone raised in the evangelical circles in which comparisons to persecuted Jews are common, I'm so, so sorry. I'm embarrassed for the behavior of the people in my life. I'm trying to help make a cultural change. The situation is not hopeless. I do not ask for patience, I only ask for forgiveness.
This is profoundly powerful. The Evangelical Right has been planning a genocide since I was a little boy. Minimizing the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust is a good first step.
This sort of talk happened in church after church in America in the 1980's and 90's. I suspect it is still happening now. The rise of the Evangelical Right is profoundly dangerous to anyone of Jewish ancestry.
Fascinating. The way you connected the historical moments are very useful. Yesterday I saw in my mind people are "celebrating" the protests as an aspect of freedom. I wish we all could see the connections the way you wrote here.
I expected to get angry along with you, and instead you have reduced me to a puddle of tears. Yours is a clarion voice of sanity, and righteousness, and courage.
Ludwik Fleck is very well-known in philosophy and history of science for his 1935 book Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache, which was translated into English and published in 1979 by the University of Chicago Press as Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, with a Foreword by Thomas S. Kuhn. But I had never known the amazing story of his vaccine work while a slave laborer in a Nazi concentration camp. Fleck survived the Holocaust and lived until 1961.
Lumping all people who are skeptical of government overreach into personal autonomy, with that of neo-nazis is either intentionally or unintentionally turning a blind eye to the diverse (and growing) group of people protesting vaccine mandates and vaccine passports. I would assume the author has never been to a freedom rally. I live in British Columbia. The protests I've attended were led by indigenous matriarchs, I marched beside people of colour, queer and trans folk, grandmothers, fathers, young people and (incredibly vocal) children.
The comparison to nazi Germany, the Holocaust or Jewish segregation is of course, abhorrent. When you attend a protest, there are often extreme views on both sides. Like how one anarchist or rioter does not make the content peaceful protest invalid. The sheer number of people rising up across the world should speak volumes in and of itself. Will there be extremists and wackjobs? Of course, but free speech requires that people are all allowed to express their opinion and we can disagree with them and denounce them without denouncing the movement as a whole.
People I've spoken to have nuanced views that drive their hesitancy or outright refusal to vaccinate. One of my most vocal friends on the issue is a third generation indigenous matriarchs. She remembers that her grandmother was taken in the 60's scoop and refuses to trust the Canadian government in a time when the are digging up the graves of children in residential schools. Is her acknowledgement of these crimes the same as comparing the vaccine to the human rights abuses her people suffered? No. But she is allowed to live her truth that she could never trust such an institution given her ancesteral trauma.
I'm not an anti-vaxer. I'm pro choice. Pro bodily autonomy and I support everyone's right to choose. We have to act with empathy and support for vulnerable populations who have understandable skepticism of sweeping government powers.
Talia, please dont ever stop writing.
"I’ve been trying to parse out why, precisely, this analogy is so compelling to the legions of anti-vaxxers who feel compelled to wear it proudly on their bodies"
Allow me to take a stab at this one.
BECAUSE THEY'RE FUCKING MORONS.
Also thank you for the history lesson and the book recommendation. Just added it to my Kindle. This is a really interesting post, thank you.
It's unfortunate that your comment had to include an ableist term linked to intellectually disabled people (another group targeted by the Nazis). Here's some good information if you want to help keep terms like this out of your vocabulary: https://medium.com/@elizabeth_87041/idiot-moron-freak-how-to-not-insult-disabled-people-ef70856b6679
OK Sarah, thanks for your valuable input.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/moron
Or because they're projecting...yet again?
Weirdly it seems that they (or at least a portion thereof) are aligning themselves with the victims of the Holocaust...which, under the circumstances, is a bad look. They're now identifying with the people they call christ killers and infant eaters.
Odd, that, and self-induced brain abusing...
😥
Another example of the good you point out and the evil you expose.. Thankd. Tootles... Wade
This is an undeniably great piece of writing. There is a real rawness to it.
Speaking as someone raised in the evangelical circles in which comparisons to persecuted Jews are common, I'm so, so sorry. I'm embarrassed for the behavior of the people in my life. I'm trying to help make a cultural change. The situation is not hopeless. I do not ask for patience, I only ask for forgiveness.
This is profoundly powerful. The Evangelical Right has been planning a genocide since I was a little boy. Minimizing the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust is a good first step.
Ann Coulter publicly talked about this back in 2007: https://jewcy.com/post/perfecting_jews_ann_coulter_way
This sort of talk happened in church after church in America in the 1980's and 90's. I suspect it is still happening now. The rise of the Evangelical Right is profoundly dangerous to anyone of Jewish ancestry.
Fascinating. The way you connected the historical moments are very useful. Yesterday I saw in my mind people are "celebrating" the protests as an aspect of freedom. I wish we all could see the connections the way you wrote here.
Antivaxxers wishing for oppression so they can use cowardice to fight it.
Yasser koach, Talia Bracha. You are a treasure.
thank you
Yasher koach Talia. I am disgusted by the cheap and callous use of the yellow star. They use our oppression as a prop without the slightest suffering.
I expected to get angry along with you, and instead you have reduced me to a puddle of tears. Yours is a clarion voice of sanity, and righteousness, and courage.
I did not know. But I'm so glad that I do now. Thank you.
"adopt the mantle of persecution when asked to save their own lives"
What a brilliant and genius phrase. This is precisely what those idiots and ignorant f**ks are doing.
I'm stealing that and will use it forever more!
Ludwik Fleck is very well-known in philosophy and history of science for his 1935 book Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache, which was translated into English and published in 1979 by the University of Chicago Press as Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, with a Foreword by Thomas S. Kuhn. But I had never known the amazing story of his vaccine work while a slave laborer in a Nazi concentration camp. Fleck survived the Holocaust and lived until 1961.
Lumping all people who are skeptical of government overreach into personal autonomy, with that of neo-nazis is either intentionally or unintentionally turning a blind eye to the diverse (and growing) group of people protesting vaccine mandates and vaccine passports. I would assume the author has never been to a freedom rally. I live in British Columbia. The protests I've attended were led by indigenous matriarchs, I marched beside people of colour, queer and trans folk, grandmothers, fathers, young people and (incredibly vocal) children.
The comparison to nazi Germany, the Holocaust or Jewish segregation is of course, abhorrent. When you attend a protest, there are often extreme views on both sides. Like how one anarchist or rioter does not make the content peaceful protest invalid. The sheer number of people rising up across the world should speak volumes in and of itself. Will there be extremists and wackjobs? Of course, but free speech requires that people are all allowed to express their opinion and we can disagree with them and denounce them without denouncing the movement as a whole.
People I've spoken to have nuanced views that drive their hesitancy or outright refusal to vaccinate. One of my most vocal friends on the issue is a third generation indigenous matriarchs. She remembers that her grandmother was taken in the 60's scoop and refuses to trust the Canadian government in a time when the are digging up the graves of children in residential schools. Is her acknowledgement of these crimes the same as comparing the vaccine to the human rights abuses her people suffered? No. But she is allowed to live her truth that she could never trust such an institution given her ancesteral trauma.
I'm not an anti-vaxer. I'm pro choice. Pro bodily autonomy and I support everyone's right to choose. We have to act with empathy and support for vulnerable populations who have understandable skepticism of sweeping government powers.