It's a group that's been hard to track down. 4/https://apple.news/AMmvVM2YRTUy2xOF5HhvSqg …
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Now,
@RichardDawkins should know that I'm a heathen too, or, as I like to describe myself, about as lapsed a Catholic as you can be. I'm not defending religion, particularly fundamentalist religion. I've been refuting religion-inspired antiscience since at least 2004. 15/Show this thread -
I am, however, telling him that his hot take doesn't just fail to tell the whole story. It leaves out so much that it does a disservice to so many Orthodox Jews whose prompt and enthusiastic cooperation with authorities in Michigan limited the spread of the measles outbreak. 16/
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These Jews were motivated by their religion. So are the Orthodox Jewish nurses in Rockland County and Brooklyn on the ground fighting for the health of their communities. 17/
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In other words, the situation is far more complicated than
@RichardDawkins easy anti-religion sloganeering would lead you to believe. Unless we understand this, we can't make progress against his antivax misinformation spreads. 18/Show this thread -
In reality, the situation in NY is more akin to that of the Somali immigrant community. Antivaxers took advantage of them by peddling antivax misinformation, and the result was two large measles outbreaks. 19/https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/outbreaks-among-somali-immigrants-in-minnesota-thanks-for-the-measles-again-andy/ …
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Basically, I think what bugged me about
@RichardDawkins hot take on this is that it isn't really so much religion that is the main contributor to this outbreak. It's an insular community that doesn't trust outsiders targeted by quacks. Religion was not necessary. 20/20Show this thread -
One thing I forgot to mention. In the Detroit Orthodox Jewish community, measles didn't spread among unvaccinated children as much as it did among adults. Jews here vaccinate their children. However, many in their 50s thought they'd been vaccinated but hadn't been. 20a/20
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There was an unexpectedly large pool of adults who were, through no fault of their own, susceptible to measles, either due to not knowing they hadn't been vaccinated or to waning immunity. 20b/20
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End of conversation
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