There's a bit of a controversy right now involving childhood immunizations and personal religious beliefs. In a nutshell, there are some who believe all children should be immunized, regardless of whether or not it's against the family's religious beliefs.
I'd just like to toss my two cents in on this one and side with the religious folks. Immunization is not a necessity for survival. Yes, it's probably a good idea (in most cases, anyway), but so what? Wearing a seat belt is a good idea, too, but having a law that forces them to be worn is still a violation of civil rights.
There's a big difference between this issue and that surrounding religious practices that actually put children at serious risk of death. (I wrote about these psychos in the September '97 Sage's Soapbox, before the Attic existed.) A religious belief that prohibits blood transfusions, or relies solely upon prayer for healing, is simply not something I can tolerate when children are involved.
Children don't understand these beliefs or truly comprehend the results (or lack thereof) that will come of them. They do not have the ability to make such a decision for themselves. And although a person has the right to raise their child as they see fit, that right does not extend to allowing a child to die from an ear infection.
Not so long ago, the country was caught up in the hunt for Christopher and Kyndra Fink, who stole their severely malnourished child from a hospital. There are some who condemn those who would have kept the child from them. I, on the other hand, applaud them. The Finks proved that they were not capable of taking care of little David, feeding him only foods that they felt would keep him "pure." Yeah. Purely dead, had they continued practicing their idiotic beliefs.
But if a parent chooses not to immunize a child because of their faith, or simply from their own preference, this is not a direct harm to the child, and certainly not life-threatening. The best of intentions can easily turn to violations of our civil rights. Religious groups do this on a regular basis. But they're not the only ones guilty of it.
