On Autism, Vaccines, and Why the Unvaccinated Are a Threat

Wait, I know you're about to ask, why on a blog about your journey through theology? Bear with me, you'll soon see.

1. I am a survivor. It turns out I was exposed to rubella when my mom was pregnant with me. She nearly lost me at five months. I was born tiny. I was born sick. And all because of that rubella exposure. Doctors gave me five years outside of a bubble. I have since surpassed by, but it means that the rubella exposure did not do anything to help me. To this day, we know that I have a progressive congenital rubella syndrome. And it has impacted me systemically.

2. Because of that rubella exposure in the womb, my development was disrupted. I was born without an entire component of my complement immune deficiency which makes me more susceptible to bacterial infections. And I most likely had what would have been called global developmental disorder, but it turns out I am autistic. So I am autistic and immune deficient.

3. Mom was exposed to Agent Orange during her service during the Vietnam Era. Getting the VA to do anything has been like pulling teeth from a crocodile. Not to be insensitive to anything that has occurred this week. We suspect to some extent that agent orange could also contribute to the autism.

4. As a result of what is now CVID (common variable immune deficiency), I am unable to get live vaccines (chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, shingles, and flu mist). This means I need all who are medically able to be vaccinated. I had chicken pox. In adulthood. And I have no antibodies. I had measles four months later. I am fortunate to have antibodies. I also have antibodies to rubella. But despite vaccinations, I have no antibodies for mumps. And despite having had it and vaccines, having no antibodies for chicken pox could mean a repeat and worse case for me. Chicken pox followed by measles followed a mutated strain of flu four months after that led to a partial sensorineural hearing loss - reverse loss. Reverse loss only has two causes: damage from prolonged listening to loud sounds or damage from high fevers associated with infections.

5. Why are the unvaccinated a threat? Babies too young to be vaccinated. People like myself who have immune deficiencies. People like myself who have other medical conditions that can make it harder to safely vaccinate. Cancer and leukemia patients. Patients with autoimmune diseases. I will refer you to Immune Deficiency Foundation with regard to herd immunity. http://www.empr.com/features/immune-deficiency-foundation-issues-new-recommendations-for-vaccination-of-immunodeficient-patients/article/339543/

6. No, vaccines did not cause autism. To even say that is to discredit the autistics who lived before vaccines ever existed and to discredit the unvaccinated autistics. The Denmark study confirmed that autism is not in any higher rates in the vaccinated than in the unvaccinated and that rates were pretty even among both. And it is not the only one. Also, for a vaccine to cause autism, it would have to go from the muscle into which it is injected, jump over into the bloodstream, then change the very wiring in the brain where autism is AND the DNA. I know vaccines can be strong in preventing diseases, but I don't think they are strong enough to jump through all those hoops?

7. Rise in rates of autism? Not really. When I was a child, not a lot was known about autism. We did not have internet in homes like we do now. We did not have 24/7 access to media and information like we do now. And it was very rare that girls were diagnosed. As for before I was born, most were sent to institutions or homes and were hardly ever seen again afterward. Autism also went by many names other than autism - touched in the head was a term I had to research after reading it in a book whose main character encounters an autistic who is nonverbal and at risk. In other words, they thought autistics were possessed by the devil at one point. The spectrum was broadened to include all levels of autism, including Asperger's. We now have more access to more information. And as a result, the rates seem like they have gone up even though the reality might be just the opposite and rates might have actually stayed the same. Plus, because of autistic adults like myself who have been pushed off the societal cliff with regard to services we need, there is a huge push to diagnose as early as possible.

Now how does any of this relate to theology?

God created all people, autistic or not, in His image. And if you consider how God relates to His children, there are several things about Him that technically could be on the autism spectrum itself. Brutal honesty is one. Creativity. Loyalty. Loving. Yet also angry and torn. Emotional. You cannot separate God from nature. And God's nature is immutable. If God's nature is immutable, then He cannot create anything that is broken or damaged. Sin can disrupt things, but otherwise, everything is just as God intended it to be.

Some people say they refuse to vaccinate on the grounds of religion. When asked, they cite "fetal tissue cells from an aborted baby." Do we know for sure that the tissue cells were actually from an aborted baby or maybe it was just a baby that died from natural causes? Even if it was an aborted baby, there might have been medical reasons for that woman to abort. And even further still, God gave some men and women out there the brains to be able to redeem a seemingly tragic situation and turn it into something that has since saved millions of babies, children, teenagers, and adults from diseases that used to kill or disable someone. Also, now that we grow vaccines in eggs, would they really still be using that cell line?

It doesn't take a genius to follow the history of diseases before vaccines to see the good they do. And it was never God's intent for His children to avoid medical prevention just because they want to find the grey areas in the scripture. Not one person who has used religion as an excuse has been able to actually provide a specific scripture where vaccines would be prohibited. They instead refer to Psalm 139 or the Ten Commandments. Of course, the trouble with arguing with an immune deficient autistic is that I can usually throw the Ten Commandments back at them with the admonition and reminder that it is wrong to murder and how bringing back diseases that are now preventable would be akin to murder if I am exposed.

Also, if you want to follow an interesting discussion, look up Marco Arturo and his video. The kid is literally a genius. Too bad some "adults" thought it would be appropriate to bully him like they did. All they did was hurt their cause when they did that.

Dear God, I am going to end my post here. But if even just one person reads it and learns something from it, that is one more person who needed to read it and learn something from it. Thank you God for another day of life. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Accept the Limitations of One Day at a Time

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 - For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 

John 16:33 - "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

Dear God, for everything there is a season and a time for everything under heaven. As I reflect on these beautiful words which I believe a 70s song delved into, I see so many things. You see, God, I know some people are quick to judge women who get abortions, but the thing that troubles me the most about those people who do that is that they claim to be Christians and pro-life. However, here is the truth: THOSE people are not pro-life because they oppose everyone being able to have access to healthcare when they are sick or access to food when they are poor for whatever the reason, and it is not laziness that causes poverty, but they don't seem to understand that no matter how many times they are proven wrong. According to this passage, there is a time to be born, and a time to die. While most of us might prefer that one's cycle of life be from the point of conception to the point of natural death, the truth is that some women have high risk pregnancies that end up either killing the baby or her. And the other truth is that YOU have a master plan and a purpose for everything that happens. YOUR providential plan may have been for that woman to get an abortion because YOUR providential plan might not have been for that baby to be born. Yes, You created that baby, or began creating that baby, but for whatever the reason, You allowed that woman to choose abortion. Today, I ask forgiveness for all the women who have ever before chosen to have an abortion or might ever choose to have an abortion. I ask forgiveness for those who condemn them for their decisions. Because according to this passage, YOU are the master mind and You decided the time for everything. The other thing in that passage that speaks to me right now is the time to love and the time to hate. God, I apply that to Tom and myself. Right now, we are going through the time to hate. But in due time, we shall hopefully be restored to the time to love as friends. I am still growing. He is still growing. When we can both move to the same point, then we might have a reconciliation. But in Your time. Not mine. Not his. Yours. In the world, there will be trouble. But You have overcome that trouble. As You know God, America is in trouble. The primary reason for that trouble is the GOP hatred and racism that is very much alive and well. And no, there is no logic beyond what it is: racism. I am now regretting the day I ever voted for the republicans because that shift has been beyond what I am able to handle. I had never known that party to be so hateful until Mr. Obama got elected the first time. After his election, I saw something that I didn't like and I had to separate myself from it. Things in my own life took a turn as well, so I definitely had to pull away from that party. I cannot tolerate the hate they evidence. Hate for the president which is against Your word. Hate for the poor, also against Your word. Hate for the disabled, also against Your word. Hate for anyone that is not rich or white, which is also against Your word. The more I study Your word, the more I see that my decision to defect from the republicans is the best one I could ever have made second only to choosing to following You and third only to accepting my autism as part of who I am and fourth only to deciding to love and defend people no matter the personal cost. Will I lose friends over it? Yes! And that is their loss and only shows me their true values. You will know them by their fruit. Well, I can tell You now that there are no Christians in the GOP. Their fruit has been against the people, especially the least of these. There can be NO REAL Christians in the GOP as long as any of them thinks that it is okay to cut off the resources for the least of these. Even theology, at its core, is about helping the least of these and that being one of the three functions of government. Oh, God, I long for peace. You have overcome this world. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Do Not Be Anxious

Genesis 28:15 - "Behold, I am with you will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Psalm 28:7 - The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and in am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. 

Psalm 56:3-4 - When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

Matthew 6:34 - "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Dear God, I am entrusting my life into Your hands. But with that I know that I have some responsibility to take. I am immune deficient, and measles has been spreading again. Even though I had all my vaccines against it, I did not build my antibodies, and boosters are not recommended for me anymore. Even though I had measles six years ago, I still didn't build my antibodies. When I asked with sincerity what religion prohibits vaccines and more specifically if Christianity was cited for a specific passage from the Bible, some lady threw out thou shalt not kill. What she failed to understand though is that not vaccinating could kill me. She also tried to claim MMR comes from fetal tissue. The thing is fetal tissue can come from babies who die of natural causes, still born babies, umbilical cords that would otherwise be trashed, as well as babies who are aborted. I do not feel we should judge people who get abortions because we do not have all the knowledge of why they choose them. The lady chose to stay with her "thou shalt not kill" approach though, so I decided to block her toxic nature. If one is going to say "thou shalt not kill" as an excuse to not vaccinate, then "thou shalt not kill" is all the more reason that Christians should be vaccinating! Unless they have medical reason otherwise, like I do. God, take away my anxiety. Chances are I will not live to 40 either because of the pushy anti-vax people with no medical substantiation or because of the republicans claiming to be Christian but wanting to take away food and healthcare from the disabled. I will trust You to intervene regardless. But You know I already feel measles is the worst curse ever. Thank You for being a shield. In Jesus' Name, Amen! 

Duck Dynasty and Other Religious Leaders Calling on Republicans to Stop the Immorality

I saw two articles just yesterday. Both struck me as quite interesting. One was headlined about the main guy fro Duck Dynasty calling on the republicans to get godly and the other was about some of the more evangelical pastors from a variety of places on a conference call during which they all said the same thing regarding the need to expand Medicaid and stop trying to repeal the ACA. I told my mother that things were getting interesting when those things happen because it means the moral compass of the republicans has gone off the wrong end. Look, just because they do not like abortiions or homosexuality, that should not be the reasons they need to hyperfocus and destroy America overall. As Kirk acameron said recently, churches are too hyperfocused on homosexuality and not focusing enough on the other types of sexual immorality, like adultery or premarital sex or divorce. And for that matter, some Christians are too hyperfocused on abortion. Do ACA compliant insurance policies allow abortion? In many cases, no, except when the life of the mother is endangered. Just the other day, I read an article about a Christian doctor who does perform abortions. Why? As he put it, some of the women coming to him are quite desperate. They are poor and young. And they feel they have no other choice. I shared the article and explained that people need to read it before they judge him. Here is why I have a problem with the hyperfocus on abortion:

1. Christians who hyperfocus on abortion are also judging women who seek abortions rather than taking in consideration the reasons why they seek abortions and addressing those problems. Until we address those problems, be it tightening up and increasing SNAP benefits or raising the minimum wage (1938 law established this to be a LIVING WAGE) or making sure the women have insurance which involves tightening up and strengthening the ACA rather than fighting against it, these women will continue to seek out abortions no matter how many laws the republicans pass trying to outlaw them again.

2. Christians who hyperfocus on abortion are thing to add words to God's words. Where on Matthew 25:31-46 does it say that the least of these includes the unborn? Nowhere. Though I am unclear of ALL the reasons as to why that might be, I will say this as a warning. DO NOT ADD WORDS TO ANY PART OF THE BIBLE. If the words are not explicitly there, then they are not there. Adding to the Bible by twisting it to suit your own way of thinking is a sin. And it is often called legalism. Abortion might be classified as murder and that is already addressed in the Bible. But it still does not make it right for you to judge the woman who seeks out abortion or assume that the unborn are the least of these when the unborn are not included in that passage. But they hyperfocus on that so much they lose their compassion to those who are mentioned as evidenced by the fact that the republicans just cut benefits to veterans (while claiming they are patriotic) many of whom are sick and poor, they cut benefits to SNAP and have now even started requiring the poor to pee in cups before they can get help (many SNAP recipients are poor, hungry, disabled, elderly, and veterans and yes, even active duty military), they keep trying to take away insurance and access to healthcare (impacts the sick and the poor), and well, basically, their moral compass is off.

3. Christians who hyperfocus on either abortion or homosexuality tend to be small-minded and judgmental. Note: I said TEND TO BE. They also tend to always argue and start conflicts. 

So my stance going into the primaries this year is still on the premise of Matthew 25:31-46. In my district 6 which is hotly contested, Mathis, Brooks, DeMarco, and the rest of the republicans have failed the litmus test. Do they have the best interest of the sick in mind? No. They have each said they plan to fight Obama and repeal the ACA. They do not and will not represent me and they are being disobedient to God on this because they are hateful men. Romans 13 says we are to respect our elected leaders whom God appointed. And they have no respect whatsoever if all they are going to do is fight against the president when their job is supposed to be to work with the president in the first place. If they are not going to do the job they are supposed to do, then they should not even be running! That is like a teacher saying, okay, just give me a classroom but I will not teach the students anything or a brain surgeon saying, okay, give me an operating room, but I will not do surgery on the brain as I am supposed to, instead, I will do surgery on the foot. Same logic. When someone come a into wanting a job saying they are not going to do the job they are supposed to do, they do not get hired. When someone who has that mindset somehow gets the job anyway, but then does not do their job, they get fired. 

This is a call on all Alabama District 6, Shelby county residents. If you are seriously considering voting for any of the republican candidates but you are a Christian, you need to STOP! And think through everything I have said. If you fail, you not only let God down, but you assault Jesus, and you are equally guilty when someone who still needs insurance dies or when someone who has new insurance because of the ACA dies because they lose their insurance after all the fights to make sure they can get it and keep it. Do not make their fight futile because of your small-mindedness. 

1. I do not condone the homosexual lifestyle. I do consider it a sin along with adultery and premarital sex.

2. I do not like abortions. But it is not my place to judge the woman who seeks one. In our particular country, we have a party of old, rich, narcissistic, sexist pigs who keep trying to block access to birth control and access to food for the hungry and poor and access to healthcare. Some of these women cannot get healthcare because they have no resources to do so. Their pregnancies could have been prevented, but because they could not afford to see the doctor, they could not get birth control. Because they have no resources, they cannot feed the baby once it is born. And all those pigs care about is forcing the woman to carry a baby she cannot care for and did not plan on but then the baby and the mother will not have food or healthcare after it comes out anyway. Yet they say they are pro life when they are only pro birth. 

3. I hate guns. And yes, I know I did not mention this in this post before, but I have already written about the latest killing. I am not saying that they need to ban them, but they sure need tighter controls and restrictions on them. In the latest killing, that would not have prevented the knives, but limiting legal access to guns could have helped some. However, here is my trade off republicans: You can keep your guns, but only if I can keep my insurance and my healthcare (thank you ACA). Because here's the thing, all insurances under the ACA cover mental health treatment! Want to prevent another incident? Stop wasting tax dollars trying to repeal the ACA! Or maybe we need to have everyone who is trying to repeal it evaluated for mental illnesses? 

4. And if I ever go into politics myself, I will be cleaning up the entire system! No mudslinging, no lies, no pork in the budgets, no nonsense, and no whiny brats throwing temper tantrums that end up hurting veterans, elderly, disabled, sick or poor. Watch out America. I may end up being the first ever autistic president or vice president. And I will not take the nonsense.

--Signed a convert from republican who is still republican at heart, but cannot morally or biblically elect the new republicans because they violate too much of scripture