Full Online Pre-Release Screening of New Vaccine Film - Five More Days Only

Thank you so much, Yael, for posting this. What a - terribly - important piece. I live in Israel where you're not mandated to perform vaccinations on children, but are expected to do so.

I found that the point the film made - that if you question vaccines it automatically makes you "anti"-vaccines - was a very good and strong one.

We must all learn to have open minds to all issues - all that is, except mass media. If the media can portray such bias, who knows (!) what other "truths" they already have succeeded in making us believe... something I thought about when I watched this film.

May Hashem protect all children from illness.

Hi Yael.

I'm wondering if you were able to watch it, and if so, what your thoughts were.

Shavua tov,

Nicole

I'm really interested what you thought as well, Yael. I watched it, too. I had heard much of what was in there before, though there were a few new things I learned (and what surprised me). Looking forward to the discussion!

I think what the film accomplished was to show that the vaccine issue isn't a matter of all-or-nothing, for-or-against. It's complicated. There are valid points to be made on both sides of the discussion. But an honest look at where we stand now—rather than an idealized view of what vaccines have contributed to the arsenal of modern medicine—makes it clear that as a society we have taken on risks the magnitude of which we are only beginning to realize.

Vaccinating is one approach to preventing an illness. Vaccines, like all drugs, aren't 100% effective, and they have side effects. These facts seem self-evident, but we have been given half the story for so long that people don't always recognize that there is a serious downside to vaccinating.

And the downside is magnified because of the sheer quantity of vaccines that children receive, because of the very young ages they begin to receive them, and because of the toxic preservatives and other ingredients found in all mass-produced vaccines.

Seeing the personal stories of vaccine-injured children brings home the real risk posed by our current vaccination policies, and I don't think any intellectually honest person who watches this film can miss that. And the irony of the title itself, The Greater Good, rebuts the most common defense of vaccines—that some small number of injuries is worth risking for the benefit of society as a whole. Plain and simple, it is wrong to knowingly sacrifice the health and lives of some people for "the greater good."

And that's the whole problem with mandatory vaccination programs. It is known, if not widely publicized, by the "powers that be" that vaccines can harm. Yet people are coerced to impose these risks on their children.

The debate isn't really about being pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine. It's about informed choice—educated consumers analyzing both the benefits and the risks of each vaccine. I think the film makes it very clear that the parents of these vaccine-injured children were never informed of the potential risks. 

Critics may (rightly) point out that a documentary tends to be sympathetic to one side of an issue and not give equal treatment to the other side. This film certainly makes no attempt to be balanced—but the balance comes from the fact that virtually everything we hear from the media about vaccines is PR in favor of the status quo. (In the film, the clips of experts speaking positively about vaccines come across as ironic, in the context of what comes before and after.)

So while it's true that an opposing documentary could be made that highlights the stories of children who have been harmed by illnesses such as measles, rubella, polio, and even chicken pox, I doubt it would be necessary. Everyone knows disease has the potential to harm. What everyone doesn't know is that vaccines can also harm—and this film makes that point compellingly. It also makes a strongly supported argument that although vaccines have their place, vaccination is not, in fact, responsible for the decline in "vaccine-preventable" illnesses.

And I think it does so in a way that speaks both to the heart and the intellect, and on enough levels to be of value to people who know a little, a lot, or nothing at all about the issues.

What did you all think of the film?

Great comment Yael!

I agree, and what is astounding to me is that in spite of thousands, hundreds of thousands, who have had adverse reactions after vaccinations, some, including Dr. Offit, continue to deny ANY possible association.  This is simply not good science.  We cannot overlook the experiences of real people, with real names, and real families, who were devastated after an adverse reaction.

I have to look at the state of our "health" as a nation and wonder if we have not simply substitued communicable diseases such as measles, chicken pox, and whooping cough for more long term, debilitating "syndromes" and "disorders."

Thank you for this forum and the ability to discuss such important information.

Blessings to you!