Don't “Believe” in Science? Don't Ask it to Heal You!
By Alicia R. Norman
Special note: This column is also available as a video. You may see it here: https://youtu.be/k3MpG3URhbE . Or, just click on the image below:
Put your money where your mouth is.
I’ve always liked this saying as it pushes people to look at their life stances to see if they desire to truly back up their own choices, ideals, and words.
A case in point: I am an atheist, and I know that the whole “there are no atheists in fox holes” is a bunch of smelly cow patties. I have never been in a dangerous situation, including a few where my life was threatened, and suddenly called on any God to save me.
While we are on the topic, I don’t say “Oh God!” cuz I am calling out to a deity. I say, “Oh God!” because it is a cultural exclamation that I grew up with and mimic. I mean, by that token, any Christian woman screaming “Oh my God!” as her hubby gives her dah big “O” is inviting the Holy One in for a threesome.
Come one, let’s get real here.
Now, because I don’t believe in deities of any kind, I do not ask any to heal me whenever I get sick.
I go to a hospital or see a doctor.
I take medicines and get vaccines.
I also eat food and take prescriptions cleared by the FDA. I mean, no system made by man is infallible or perfect, but it is the only oversight watch group we currently have to safeguard what we consume and put into our bodies.
I do all of this based on the natural world around me. I also recognize that, while people can be horrid, I have to place trust in them to function in the everyday world.
For example, when we drive down the road on any given day, we trust everyone to follow sensible road regulations. The fact that some people drink and drive, speed through red lights, or use their cars to run over pedestrians does not mitigate our trust that most of us will observe the rules of the road for the benefit of all.
I highlight this fact to say, yes, we have witnessed the horror of the infamous 1932 Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments, and yes, some medicines have been recalled. Still, bad results and horrid actions shouldn’t taint an entire profession, especially one that generally does save lives.
Theists Agree with Me on Some Fronts
I know plenty of God-fearing people who think the same way I do about observed reality. They just add their God to the mix. They understand their Supreme Being of Choice gave them the tools to navigate the tangible world they now live in, and in some ways, it is an effort to that god not to abide by its rules.
No reasonable Christian I know would leap off a cliff to test the theory that God would catch them. Their bible tells them not to tempt God in this way. There is also a tiny little thing called gravity that would cause them to hurtle to their death.
Gravity is also observed via science even though it is a “theory” by scientific standards.
Regarding Christian God concepts, an entity, if indeed benevolent, would expect them to use the brain he/she/it gave them to understand and manipulate the tools they left for them on earth. For instance, they’d allow humanity to learn how to build structures, cook food, clothe themselves and ensure they safeguard themselves against disease.
Likewise, evolved and knowledgeable theists have the sense to realize that, based on the tenants of their bible, that using the Lord’s name in vain has little to do with “bad words” and more to do with pretending to be devout or perform miracles in God’s name.
In other words, some folks don’t even know what blasphemy even is, but I digress.
I have a lot of respect for any Christian who grasps intellectual concepts, actively reads the word of their chosen religion, and comprehends how the material world functions.
Then we have the Christian Fundies, Evangelicals, and Anti-vaxxers, and not only do these tools NOT practice what they preach, they expect the rest of the society to pick up the tab for their awful, selfish choices.
ICUs are Slap Full of the Un-Vaxxed
In Houston, Daniel Wilkinson, an army vet, died waiting for a hospital bed. He did not have Covid but highly treatable disease.
His loving mother, Michelle Puget, said her son had become critically ill with gallstone pancreatitis. He needed immediate treatment.
He couldn’t get treatment because Texas hospitals are overflowing with anti-vaccine nuts who poison themselves with sheep drench and horsey paste rather than to take a drug that has been safely administered to millions.
They won’t do it cuz:
Gawd will heal me! (Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God -- Deuteronomy 6:16)
This here horsey paste and sheep drench will protect me! (There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death -- Proverbs 14:12)
Those doctors don’t know anything. My cousin El Ray saw this meme on FB that says mask doesn’t work and kills children (Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words -- Proverbs 23:9)
They also use false dichotomies like abortion (my body is my choice) and invoke obesity and alcoholism as choices that people make to harm themselves, yet physicians will still treat.
As fed-up Twitter commenters pointed out, these poor sods have no concept of the word “rates.”
Last I checked, not one soul got pregnant sitting next to an expectant woman or caught obesity or alcoholism while out enjoying a chili dog at the local watering hole. Nor are all these folks taking up so many beds that an American soldier died awaiting treatment.
The bitterest irony here remains that the very people screaming and railing against science claim that Jesus will lay hands and protect them. One religious meme I saw read something like, “I don’t fear Delta when I got the Alpha and Omega.”
Okay, hun, when you get Covid, and it sucks like many say it does, do not bring your selfish butt into an ER. Let the Alpha and Omega heal you.
You know, put your money where your mouth is.
There’s This Here Thing Called Triage
What do lung transplants and liver transplants have in common?
Both have waiting lists. Because these organs are in high demand, they are kind of “triaged” as a potential recipient’s medical history is considered when placing them on a list.
Smokers and alcoholics are placed on the bottom of donor rosters.
What happens when supplies become scarce.
While they will still get the help, they cannot, morally speaking, take the organ of a small child who did nothing to harm their own bodies. There is also the risk that a smoker might muck up their lungs again with cigarettes.
When people refuse to get vaccinated, they should not claim first dibs on a hospital bed. Not after hearing them shrieking about the evils of big pharma, vaccines with microchips in them, and all the medicines the FDA had to recall due to side effects.
Indeed, I find it interesting that they will point out the FDA-approved medicines that had to be recalled and not the gazillions that never were, including some medications they likely currently rely on and take themselves.
I’m Not a Sheep, Now Hand Me That Sheep Drench!
I seriously wonder what the poor folks at the FDA have to deal with, especially when they hear about people risking their health and lives taking veterinarian grade ivermectin (there are human grades, but they are not approved to combat Covid.)
What does it treat? According to the National Institute of Health’s own website:
Ivermectin is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antiparasitic drug used to treat several neglected tropical diseases, including onchocerciasis, helminthiases, and scabies.1 It is also being evaluated for its potential to reduce the rate of malaria transmission by killing mosquitoes that feed on treated humans and livestock.2 For these indications, ivermectin has been widely used and is generally well tolerated.1,3 Ivermectin is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of any viral infection.
Yet we have feed stores running so low on animal grade versions of the stuff found in horse paste and sheep drench, that shop owners ask people to bring a picture of their horse before allowing you to buy it.
They are doing this for what reason?
To own dah libs?
Because mah freedums?
Goodness knows, but no good is going to come from this.
None at all.
It most certainly won’t stop the pain and headache of this pandemic.
Science can’t be both your Boogeyman and Your Friend
Like I said, put your money where your mouths are anti-vaxxers -- don’t believe in science, in new vaccines, in big gub’ment, in being helpful to your fellow man?
Bet … but guess what.
If you were in trouble, I actually would want to help you. Let’s say you were about to run out in traffic because of a blind curve, and only I could see a semi charging your way. I’d yell, “Hey, lookout, a big truck is coming around the corner….”
Now, you could jump out of the way or snidely remark, “You think you know everything; you ain’t the boss of me.”
The results at that point are out of my hands.
No one can save people from themselves; it truly isn’t a thing. But if people have the right to make dumb choices, other people who make sound ones shouldn’t have to pay for them. The long and the short of it, if you don’t want to partake in the rules of society, do not partake of its benefits.
You had a choice.
You made it.
Great! Now, deal with the consequences, enjoy your horse paste, and leave the ICU bed to someone who understands how science and a functional, communal society work.
My Video on The Topic: Hate Science? Give Up That Hospital Bed
About the author: About the author: Alicia R. Norman is a freelance writer as well as a graphic illustrator/animator. Norman’s primary goal is to combine vivid storytelling with animation in order to create scintillating, fun, and/or thought-provoking films. Official website: www.luvmultimedia.com
The opinions expressed are her own and may not reflect those of anyone else associated with this blog.
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