Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Why do we think that the majority of those who actually spend their lives studying scripture have it so wrong and only the few who do it as a hobby are right? We start to sound like those anti-vaccine wackos who note that autism set in near the time of a vaccination. Anecdotal evidence. But it has started a cottage industry of more wackos. And a school system with less protection from disease. There is a parallel.
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Well I found this to be a very readable and enjoyable post that I agreed with right up until the car crash conclusion [Please note the Post is from OBW, I am not sure why this says Ohio].
So, the thread is "how has the LRC affected your view of "Babylon"? Which has brought us to a lengthy discussion of Christianity as the "religious" Babylon depicted in Revelation 17, complete with what sounded like a visit to a Catholic church. Then this last sentence with the analogy to autism kind of ties in the material Babylon in Revelation 18. I understand your term "anti-vaccine wackos" to be extremely derogatory and in apposition to the Bible hobbyists verses the "scholars" who have spent their lives studying the Bible.
I think autism is a great analogy and really brings out the issues very well, I think your conclusion is completely and hopelessly flawed.
There is a very clear and proven statistical link towards the odds of getting autism that proves, (without any dispute that I am aware of, even from "anti vaccine wackos") that this is a genetic disease (or diseases). On the other hand, there has been an epidemic of autism since the end of WWII. Epidemics can only be explained by environmental factors and cannot be explained "genetically".
Looking for an environmental explanation is completely warranted by the facts. Explaining this away as "better screening" is absurd. If you have ever seen an autistic child, the idea that people 20, 30 and 40 years ago didn't recognize a problem is totally absurd. When the so called "pros" try to pass off bogus explanations that is when the hobbyists need to look elsewhere. Discover magazine had an excellent story on the state of the research on Autism in April of 2007. In that article they highlighted what many of the "hobbyists" had done in ignoring the "pros" and focusing on diet. As it turns out it seems that at least some of the genetic traits of Autism are linked to the gut (hence the title "the answer may lie in the gut not the head"). It seems some children are less able to fend of the effect of chemicals and pesticides floating around in our environment, this weakness is genetic, but the chemicals are environmental.
So, getting back to this thread, when the "pros" drop their responsibility and are afraid to lay the blame where it obviously was (yes the disease is genetic but it is also clearly environmental) then you open the door for those less qualified but perhaps more motivated to find an answer to hypothesize. Worrying about vaccinations is reasonable and any health risks associated with over hyping the danger of vaccinations should be laid at the feet of the "experts" who covered up the environmental factors saying with smug certainty that this is a genetic disease. Likewise, if I have learned anything from the LRC it is not to allow anyone to spoon feed me their understanding of the Bible. MOTA, Quarantine, Ground of Oneness, take your pick. Many pros are merely hired to put the "spin" on any issue. That is obviously what "The Fermentation of the present rebellion" was. Am I a wacko because I don't accept RK and KR's spin (two Phd Experts)?