Has the Church changed its stance on immunizations?
Question
Dear Gramps,
I just had a talk with a friend and she said the church has asked us to immunize our children, but I have heard a lot of information going around in the medical circles I’m in about a connection between early immunizations and autism. Of course, I thought, I would immunize my children if the Lord has asked us to, so I looked it up on lds.org. The article originally dated 1978 in the Ensign and a reminder came out in ’85. Given my age, I wouldn’t have seen this instruction without my friend mentioning something. Has the church’s stance changed? Or do we assume to immunize until there are further instructions? Thanks!
Michelle
Answer
Dear Michelle,
I am not aware of the Church’s releasing any further statements on vaccinations beyond the article you mention. With something as important as your children’s health, I believe that D&C 58:26Â is an appropriate guideline:
For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
That being said, in 2012 the Humanitarian Services of the Church added immunizations to their initiatives joining clean water, emergency response, food production, neonatal resuscitation training, vision care and wheelchairs. Since 2003 the Church has donated more than $16 million to the immunizations initiative. Between 2001 and 2010 measles deaths decreased globally by 74% and by 85% in Africa. Â You can read about it here.
Vaccination has enormous benefits and has saved countless children from horrible diseases and disfigurements. On the other hand, some people have very grave concerns about potential side effects of specific vaccines. I believe you should do your research carefully, discuss the situation with your doctors, pray, and ultimately make the decision you believe to be best for your family.
Gramps
Situations like this are very tricky. I don’t disagree with vaccinations, and think they help in a lot of cases, however some are clearly motivated by financial purposes instead of health reasons. It is entirely possible someone could take the faulty research put out by the medical industry, discuss it from the pulpit, and then claim it is a commandment. In this case I would have to disagree with whomever is asking me to do it. People make mistakes all the time. The Church is no different.
When I served a mission several years ago missionaries were required to get vaccinations, some were only required for certain countries but even those going stateside had a required list, but now my little brother just got his call and when putting in his papers he had the option to indicate whether or not he was willing to get vaccinated. So there does seem to have been a recent change in church policy on this matter.
Ben,
While there may have been some changes in missionary requirements, the original question was whether there was a change in how the church felt about immunizing children. I believe with their initiative they still feel strongly in immunizing children. But again, that is a decision that only a parent can make through their own research and discussion with those qualified to provide advice.
those who many believe are qualified to provide advice are actually not qualified to give this advice, as they have been indoctrinated by an education system created by the rockefeller family starting in 1903. mainly the rockefeller and rothschild family, took over a mass amount of science, medical journals, funding, education, news and media, and the healthcare system in general throughout most of the world. much of science, economics, government, universities and news are heavily controlled by rich and powerful satan worshippers. this has been accomplished through the devils help and demonic power from his realm. the means of gaining this global foothold in essential areas of life have come through murder, lying, propaganda, stealing and manipulation. the rabbit hole is deep. i have been researching conspiracy and corruption for years. i also am an active member of the church with a solid testimony. there are more like me than you think. like i said before, there are two things that.i.know. vaccines are a lie. this is Gods church.
Immunizations are a technology that can be of great benefit. However not all immunizations are alike. Like anything that be used for good their misuse can also be bad. Study each immunizations benefit vs risks. They are each labeled, although critical thinking should also be required before assuming everything on a label is correct, and should be understood. Simply putting our trust in anyone, doctors included without exercising our own duty to study and make good choices, is putting our trust in the arm of flesh.
Much safety can be gained by simply spacing out and delaying some vaccines. Not all vaccines or the carriers they come in are created equally.
There is absolutely 0 link between vaccinations and autism(that is backed up by peer reviewed scientific studies.)
It would depend on which peer reviewed studies you’re looking at. You may find a list of peer-reviewed studies on this link that state the contrary: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/keyword/vaccine-failure
The fact is the LDS Church is pushing vaccines while glazing over the doctrine of free will and agency. I have had so many arguments with other members about agency and faith in Jesus Christ (as opposed to fear the media is pushing; faith and fear cannot coexist) being the more pressing issue here than whether to immunize. Any doctor with a conscience will not force any medical procedure on a person against their consent, but there is a movement to have the government enforce forced vaccinations. Forced medical procedures constitute battery.
So you say there is zero link between vaccinations and autism? Let’s save that debate for another day. But let me tell you about another, more sinister threat to our public health. The CDC website has an article titled “CDC estimates 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder”. At the same time, there have been ZERO deaths from the measles in the USA in 10 years. But let’s assume my count of zero is incorrect, and let’s say there may have been 100. Just for kicks. Or even those dangerous side-effects people go on about the measles leaving behind in their wake. Let’s make that number 200. Between the two, which would you consider an outbreak? I’m sure you and I can agree that autism is.
Not that autism has anything to do with vaccines, right? So let’s keep assuming it doesn’t. Again, that’s not why I’m here. The FACT is, when a new child comes into this world the “sickness” industry injects them with chemicals. They have absolutely no dietary plan for the mother, whose milk the baby is eating for the first 6-12 months. In fact, there is no dietary plan post-conception and during pregnancy. No health routine. So what EXACTLY is causing autism in America?
Parents of non-immunized children have made a decision that vaccines DO cause autism, and there is no way you can convince them otherwise. Here is an article for you on the topic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/autism-vaccine-_b_817879.html
The debate WON’T go away. No matter what you or anyone in the Church says. Unlike the Church, these parents are actually making steps to prevent at least what they think causes autism. What has the Church done? Please know that I am not angry or upset when I say this; I honestly want to know what the Church is doing regarding autism. I have found nothing whatsoever. What I HAVE found is that the Church supports mainstream pharmaceuticals in their push for dominance and fear-mongering the public. Of course it is not intended for the Church to support fear-mongering, but it is being done nonetheless. The Church once pushed home gardens a lot. Where did that go? When did that become a thing of the past in our lesson discussions? I see them pushing “sickness” industry products and services more than gardening. Maybe my vision is a bit blurred on the subject. But the fact still remains, the Church would need to make a stance on agency more so than it does on pushing vaccines, or else our liberties to choose which medical procedures we have will go away.
I believe that Dallas is correct. It does not matter what peer reviewed journals you look at. Your links there do not show any link either. In my Master’s of Public Health course I decided to do a scientific debate on the autism-MMR link. I was unable to find a single article in a scholarly journal that supported the link, and as such I had to abandon the topic. Find me an article, and I will write the paper on the scientific debate.
And Gramps does a very good job in his explanation. Thanks!
I think there is an issue of relying more on these blogs than on personal revelation. Study it out first, then pray about it. We do a good job of teaching that idea, but maybe we struggle to implement it.
Journals frown on publishing links. Pubmed however has some, with disclaimers of course.
Peer review is a joke. Its as corrupt as any government or congressman.
Are you aware that there are more than 23 vaccines that contain aborted baby DNA, cellular debris, cells, and protein? These include, Adenovirus, Polio, Dtap/Polio/HiB Combo, Hep A, Hep A/Hep B Combo, MMR, MMRV Pro Quad, Rabies, Varicella, and the Shingles vaccine, and there are more in the pipeline. A lot more. How can the church advocate vaccines while they do not advocate abortion?
My understanding is that the original article encouraging vaccination was not written by a general authority. It is not church doctrine, you can’t be denied a temple recommend for not vaccinating your children. The mission home requires vaccines if you want to serve outside the US, otherwise you don’t have to have them. You need to decide also if your conscience is ok with injecting aborted fetal cells into your child’s body. Depending on who is backing the “offical” studies regarding autism you will get many opinions. Here’s an easy one to consider: The autism rate in the US is currently 1:68, There is an Amish community of 20,000 people that has only 2 autistic children, one was vaccinated and the other was adopted and unknown if he was vaccinated. So the question is: WHERE ARE THE OTHER 266 AUTISTIC KIDS THAT SHOULD BE LIVING IN THAT COMMUNITY? Vaccines are a big lie, do your research. Talk to some parents of vaccine injured children. Talk to your grand parents, we all had measles mumps and chicken pox. My sister lost a baby to his 4 mos shots. He past away 3 days after. My best friend didn’t vaccinate her son until she sent him on his mission, after his series of shots he was never the same, he only served for 6 weeks and was sent home after his side effects escalated to the point of seizures. Her once healthy athletic son has been home a year and is still suffering from migraines, seizures, and depression. My life experience won’t allow me to support the practice of vaccination.
“My understanding is that the original article encouraging vaccination was not written by a general authority.” Unless you don’t consider the First Presidency general authorities, then your understanding is wrong.
https://www.lds.org/liahona/1978/07/immunize-children-leaders-urge?lang=eng
Gonna need a source on this Amish thing. The notion that the Amish don’t vaccinate is a gross over-simplification. http://amishamerica.com/do-amish-vaccinate-their-children/
I’m sorry for your sister’s loss. But to assume that the vaccination caused the child’s death is to commit a fallacy that in formal logic is called post hoc ergo propter hoc. Just because B happened shortly after A does not mean that A caused B.
The 2 “AMISH” children were adopted.
Wakefield NEVER did a vaccine study. The Royal Free Hospital did medical interventions on a dozen very sick children. Yes how dare they do that. The Lancet paper was their REPORT. The media blew up Wakefield’s statements about needing further study. He recommended single vaccines rather than GSK’S MMR, so GlaxoSmithKline called James Murdoch wno called Brian Deer. Deer’s FABRICATION was used as direct evidence even though DEER has no medical qualifications and has no knowledge of vaccination or research. It was a kangaroo court of the General Medical Council. James Murdoch was later appointed to the board of GSK….a coincidence?
please read my essay: https://www.academia.edu/23922770/In_The_Pursuit_Of_Truth
i feel like nephis parents who became old and tired from the stress of dealing with their children. lehi was about to enter his watery grave. i feel the same. its late. i can barely think. i have so many sources and pieces of evidence. far more than what is in this essay. not just science but also evidence of the prophets changing views on medicine since joseph smith and what joseph had to say about allopathic medicine.
gramps, you need to learn the truth about vaccines.
askgramps has deleted my comments before. and THERE IS A CAUSAL LINK BETWEEN VACCINES AND AUTISM, DEATH, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS AND PARALYSIS.
there is proof. there is whistle blowers. there is doctrinal proof. and mark my words – the day will come when the brethren will know the truth about vaccines. they are only stating their opinion which they get from talking to their scientists. IT IS NOT REVELATION FROM THE LORD THAT VACCINES ARE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE.