QUOTE OF THE DAY - FEAR OVER REASON

"It's very hard to unscare people.... [P]eople are far more compelled by their fears than by their reason." (Dr Paul Offit)

As Athenae at First Draft reminds us, it's not just Sarah Palin, and I add, Glenn Beck, and their ilk, who speak out in public forums in misleading or outright false statements, laden with militaristic references and imagery, with the intention to promote fear and deep distrust amongst the American people, but also those who supply the money, some of whom prefer to remain in the background, out of the limelight:

It's about the people who fund the tea party and every other ultra-right-wing movement in this country.

Jane Mayer in The New Yorker writes at length about the billionaire Koch brothers, David and Charles:

In Washington, [David] Koch is best known as part of a family that has repeatedly funded stealth attacks on the federal government, and on the Obama Administration in particular.

Bear with me as I take a detour to address an article in USA Today which concerns the study that linked certain vaccines for children to autism, which has since been proved to be "an elaborate fraud," but which nevertheless caused, and still causes, many parents to avoid having their children vaccinated.

Last year, The Lancet issued a formal retraction. British medical authorities last year also found the study's lead author, Andrew Wakefield, guilty of serious professional misconduct, stripping him of his ability to practice medicine in England.

Now, the BMJ (a British medical journal) reports that Wakefield, who was paid more than $675,000 by a lawyer hoping to sue vaccine makers, was not just unethical — he falsified data in the study, which suggested that children developed autism after getting a shot against measles, mumps and rubella.

Vaccination rates fell in Britain and the US, leading to outbreaks of measles in Britain and Ireland, which caused many children to become ill and even a few deaths. Paul Offit, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, says:

...it may take years to rebuild trust in vaccines. "It's very hard to unscare people. You can do study after study, but people are far more compelled by their fears than by their reason."

Now, turn your attention to the myths and falsehoods promulgated about health care reform:

1: There is no health care crisis

2. Health care reform will impose rationing

3: Health care reform provides for euthanasia, "death panel"

4: Health care reform legislation will cover undocumented immigrants

5: Health care reform will raise your taxes

Cont....

Altogether, Media Matters lists 15 myths about health care reform. Read the rest at their website. No matter how many facts were offered to those who spread the falsehoods around, they persisted in their beliefs(?) and their versions of "the facts".

Which leads me back to my quote for the day. Slightly edited, Dr Paul Offit's quote applies to the political situation in the US today"

"It's very hard to unscare people.... [P]eople are far more compelled by their fears than by their reason."

Thanks to Canon Alan Perry, who blogs at Insert Catchy Blog Title Here, who called my attention to the quote. He applied the quote to the situation today in the Anglican Communion, where it seems just as pertinent. Dr Offit's words seem very wise to me.

OFF TOPIC UPDATE: Alan Perry has a series of excellent posts on the Anglican Covenant which are well worth reading.