Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Cultural Sensitivity My Sweet Aunt Fanny

"How to Fight Polio With Cultural Sensitivity" is just an annoying title. You have to wade through some shit to understand that the writer means we ned to be careful to not offend the Orthodox Jewish Community.

Not to be glib about it, but how about we tell them it saves lives of their children and others! Will that work? 

True, that didn't work for Covid. Or measles. But the writer points out that this doesn't mean they should be harassed. Which I understand, physical harassment and religious violence is always wrong. But repeating lies about the vaccines and making communities more venerable sucks too.

It is not wrong to tell people who are behaving selfishly that they are selfish. 

During the early part of the Covid lock down the community in Manhattan had a wedding celebration in the streets with over 2,000 people. They city asked them not to have a public reception. The neighborhood asked the same. The community either didn't believe or  did not care. The superspreader event closed multiple city blocks. AND it did not only effect that community. Hospitals, already burdened by Covid had to treat hundreds more and no doubt lead to many deaths.

In the Measles outbreak of 2019 - this unvaccinated community was hit hard AND contributed to community spread.

There is nothing in the Jewish religious writings that outlaw vaccines*. As a people, Orthodox Jews have been discriminated against, and this leads to a fear of outsiders. But by not vaccinating AND by broadcasting you don't care about the community outside yours AND spreading disease, the Orthodox communities are not helping their cause.

I say this as a gay man who's friend's brother was an Orthodox Jewish Pediatric Doctor who caught Covid from his patients and died in May of 2020.

*Note: This information has been stated by the New York Times, TV and Jewish friends. I believe it is correct, but I am not familiar with the Torah, so I might be wrong.



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