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There's a correlation between religiosity and anti-vaccine sentiment, but I'd go as far as to say we have good reason to think there isn't causation. Case in po
by badRNG 5y ago
There's a correlation between religiosity and anti-vaccine sentiment, but I'd go as far as to say we have good reason to think there isn't causation. Case in point: the LDS church leadership is insisting on vaccination and masks during services, however individual Mormons are fiercely opposed to these positions [1].
I think a better explanation for the correlation is that those who derive their identity from the white evangelical subculture feel that their own church leadership don't best represent what it means to be a part of that group. I assume thought leaders like Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump hold more legitimacy in certain respects with evangelicals than explicitly religious leaders do. I don't think labels like "evangelical", "white", and "conservative" properly capture this group; it's more of a synthesis of these individual identities that have mobilized into a greater reactionary movement.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-health-religion-coronavirus-pandemic-f42772097cf7557086f12b549e03b18a https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-health-religion-coronav...
- vladTheInhaler 5y agoI'm not sure I understand why you say that the position of the LDS leadership is an argument against causation. If anything that would seem to suggest that it's a a position related to being religious, since both religious and non-religious people are apparently subject to the same kinds of social pressure from authority figures, but the beliefs are persisting more among religious groups. Of course, it's not like there's any sort of clean intervention you can do to just make somebody religious or not and see what happens. So it's not clear to me what causality would even really mean here.
- armchairhacker 5y agoI don’t think it can be direct causation. People attribute religion to whatever they want. I doubt that anything in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and most other religions say anything against vaccination. Most people who are Mormons live in cultures where more people are against vaccination. Most people who are atheists live in cultures where most people are pro vaccination.
- mint2 5y agoIs this how a religious person sees it? Man prays to god for a cure to a disease/good health. God grants mans prayer by giving humans the ability and insight to prevent disease through hard work and cooperation with others to create vaccines. Man refuses vaccine, spits in the face of gods gift and catches disease. End of story.
- Fjolsvith 5y agoYour story doesn't end the way that all those religious people experience it. Man refuses vaccine, listening to the wisdom imparted in his heart through his relationship with God. Man thanks God for saving him from certain death caused by vaccine. End of story.
- ncmncm 5y ago"Thought leaders"? Maybe a better choice of term could be discovered. Under the circumstances.
- ihusasmiiu 5y agoThere's a correlation between religiosity and ignorance and pointing out a single case won't exclude causation. Now please go on explaining me how Knuth is a devout Christian.