PCG Whining About Vaccinations in Australia

This is the 1400th post for the Living Armstrongism blog. Thank you to all my readers for inspiring me to carry on.

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PCG and Armstrongism in general have a long and shameful history of promoting anti-medicine superstitions that condemn visiting doctors and taking medicines as somehow sinful and forbidden by God. PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, has promoted this most dangerous doctrine as well.

This trend continues with PCG commenting on a new law in Australia passed to get people to do the responsible thing and get their children vaccinated.

Australia passed a law on Monday banning parents who don't vaccinate their children from receiving childcare benefits. So the Federal Government's new "no jab no pay" laws go into effect in January of 2016. And they will block rebates, child tax benefits, childcare benefits, the family tax benefit from all parents who refuse to immunize their children. So this is part of this growing movement in the Western world to push for universal immunizations. And we're seeing this in America too especially in some places like California. (Robert Morley, Trumpet Hour, November 27, 2015, 41-42 minutes.)

As part of PCG's condemnation of this move to protect children from terrible diseases they have released an article by Kieran Underwood discussing this law.

Choose: Immunize your children or lose your benefits. (Kieran Underwood, Australia Passes ‘No Jab, No Pay’ Immunization Policy, December 3, 2015.)

Get your children vaccinated. This is not really a choice. It is not fair that other parents who do not believe the nonsense of the anti-vaxxers should have their children exposed to the possibility of getting infected with some terrible disease. It is most unfair that those who are responsible and vaccinate their children should have to worry that other parents will let them down and not vaccinate their children. The rest of us are forced to deal with this modern day superstition.

The Australian Parliament passed a tighter law on November 23 that will prevent parents from receiving childcare benefits if they don’t immunize their children. Changes will be enforced beginning Jan. 1, 2016, and it may cost parents thousands of dollars in lost benefit payments. 

Then get the children vaccinated. These anti-vaxxers are for the most caught up in paranoid and unfounded fears about vaccines because they themselves were immunized from the horrors of various dreadful diseases. They are more afraid of something made to help them and their children instead of the dangerous diseases out there like measles and whooping cough.

The bill sailed through Parliament with the backing of the opposition Labor Party and Independents.

This sentence ignores that the right wing Liberal Party have also supported this legislation.

Previously, parents could still receive childcare benefits simply by declaring themselves conscientious objectors toward the government-funded immunizations. Now the law will only accept strict medical or religious reasons for avoiding injections.

How absurd. PCG seems to view people refusing to be responsible and leaving their children exposed to all kinds of dreadful diseases as "conscientious objectors" like those who refuse to kill another human being in military service. What an absurd analogy. Those who put their children and everyone else at risk of measles and whooping cough are nothing like those idealistic people. Anti-vaxxers are badly misinformed.

Liberal M.P. Andrew Laming said that childcare benefits from the government came with the “responsibility that you vaccinate your children.” He added:

Having a vaccination is an overwhelmingly positive individual and public good, and we should be encouraging it. We certainly shouldn’t be funding families, and giving them large amounts of public cash, if they’re not prepared to take publicly responsible decisions like getting their children vaccinated.

If it was not for the propagation of the modern day superstition of the anti-vaxxers it would not be necessary to pass such laws.

The government estimates 39,000 children under age 7 have not been vaccinated. 

Which is absolutely terrible. Those who deliberately choose to put their children at risk of measles, whooping cough and other such things put all other children at risk as well. There are some places in first world countries that have lower immunization rates than Rwanda. Where people are more familiar with the terrible diseases out there they know they need vaccines to protect themselves and their children.

It is not fair to the rest of us who do not share this modern day superstition that our children are unnecessarily at risk because some people read some scary post or scary comment on the Internet saying extremely alarmist things about vaccines. It is not true. Get your children vaccinated.

Campaigners against the immunization say the vaccinations can be dangerous, and over 7,000 have signed a petition that states Australian parents should have the right to an “uncoerced choice.”

The anti-vaxxer movement is based on nonsense. Many scientists have soundly condemned this dangerous movement because there is no science to back up their concerns.

PCG's Comments

If one unaware of the nature of PCG were to listen or read these things it may seem as though they are just talking about it. But in a group that have long been indoctrinated to believe in anti-medicine superstitions such talk is a condemnation of this law. PCG's negative view can be seen in the comments.

Here is the first comment.

What are we all born into a giant prison?

What madness it is to say that vaccinating your children for their well being (and every other children) is like being in prison. What absurd, emotive rhetoric.

This comment gets a reply.

Yes, we are - a very dark, most miserable one.
But Christ is about to set mankind free forever.
No immunizations will be necessary, thank you!

Madness is added upon madness. Now vaccines are viewed as somehow inferior. We need these vaccines. Our children need them. Get vaccinated. Get our children vaccinated.

It is very dangerous and reprehensible for PCG to promote anti-medicine superstitions.

Here is what PCG's leader, Gerald Flurry, once said about those who, because of HWA's anti-medicine superstition, suffered and even died.

This is REAL, ABUNDANT LIVING—EVEN IF WE ARE DYING PHYSICALLY! Over the years in my ministry, I have seen a few people physically rot right before my eyes and yet remain loyal to God every step of the way to the end! Though it must be one of the most grotesque sights to see, at the same time it is one of the MOST MAJESTICALLY NOBLE examples ever on Earth, from God’s point of view! If someone is being loyal in circumstances like that, he or she is BEARING WITNESS OF THE FATHER! What a precious, extraordinary beauty that is! I know I will see those people again, and they will live FOREVER AND EVER! When resurrected, they won’t remember that trial for very long. They will have ETERNAL LIFE!
 
Are you prepared to trust God to heal you, now or in the resurrection? Well done, good and faithful servant, He will say if we trust Him to the end. (Gerald Flurry, The Last Hour, 2004, 2007, Chapter 5, p. 54.)

More people will suffer and die within the COGs because of this anti-medicine superstition.