When The Anti-vaxxer Is In The Family (So I Have This Uncle)

So I have this uncle. He’s like 80 or thereabouts, I don’t know exactly. I haven't talked to him in years. For one thing, there was some questionable stuff surrounding his interest in underage girls (including family members), and for another thing there was something shady about his overseas finances that was never explained. He is definitely, without a doubt, 100% a liar, and not a very convincing one at that. My Lord, the stupid lies we've caught him in over the years...

Before I ghosted, he told me in a text that he's a doctor now.

A doctor? Why, whatever do you mean, uncle?

Uh, Not A Doctor

Turns out he had completed courses in Ayurvedic healing at the California College of Ayurveda. 

I immediately looked up the practice of Ayurveda, and what is the top level of certification one can achieve at that college. The website says you can become a "Health Counselor" in 3.5 years. Uh, not a doctor. See what I mean? Lies fall out the front of this guy's face so much that even he doesn't know what's true anymore. Doctor, my ass.

Pharma vs. An Onion On Your Belt

So here's what I found out. Ayurveda is one of the ancient Eastern alternative medicines, originating in India over 3000 years ago. You likely practice some of the therapies yourself, as do I— they include body/mind practices like yoga and meditation. 

But Ayurveda also peddles pseudoscience in the form of laxatives, enemas, oils and herbal remedies to treat everything from mild illness to cancer. It's not so much medical science, more like a religious practice that could harm or hasten death in believers. 

Acolytes tout the ancient origins of many alternative medicines as proof of efficacy, Ayurveda included.  However, the millions of actual medical doctors in India, not to mention the millions of Indian doctors in the states and worldwide, all say that 21st century science has long ago surpassed these ancient medicines, and that modern medicine has long ago extracted all that's good from the ancients. Today we have lab-tested, scientifically proven and regulated medicine, a great deal derived from natural herbs, roots and other plant matter. But not all.

It's one thing to put Aloe Vera on a burn, take Echinacea to fight a cold, and improve your mood with St. John's Wort. We all use so many tree oils, herbs, roots and spices to enhance our lives, and these things are awesome. My husband loves his Turmeric-Ginger tea. I used Tea Tree Oil on my face for years. I have a Lavender-Chamomile lotion that I swear by for sleep and relaxation.

But there's a limit, you know? Thinking persons would prefer a vaccine to tying an onion to one's belt. The pandemic showed us who among us was a thinking person, and who went for the onion.

Science vs. MAGA

Now, I don't know who Uncle Charlatan voted for, or if he bought into any of Trump's psychotic COVID-19 cures. If you recall, those included hydroxychloroquine, bleach injections, UV light, and Ivermectin. Thousands believed that clown, and died. Ludicrous.

These days Uncle Faker is constantly Facebook posting stories from a certain organization that *appears* to be all about children’s health...until you get past the headlines. Jesus take the wheel. His Facebook feed is nothing but bonkers stuff about killer vaccines with nothing to back up the claims, childhood death statistics based on far-flung fantasy theories, and tales of government “chem trails” plots.

You know what chem trails are? That's just the condensation trailing behind planes in the sky, the kind we've been seeing our whole lives. Alas, conspiracy theories abound! From Wikipedia, "Those who subscribe to the theory speculate that the purpose of the chemical release may be solar radiation management, weather modification, psychological manipulation, human population control, biological or chemical warfare, or testing of biological or chemical agents on a population, and that the trails are causing respiratory illnesses and other health problems." Bring on the tinfoil headwear.  

Oh, It's Just Our Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

My friends, I dug a little deeper into this organization that *appears* to be all about children’s health but which reads like an issue of Psycho Moms Weekly.. 

It's JFK Jr's organization. The Health and Human Services guy. The "drink raw milk" guy and the "swim with your grandkids in sewage" guy. The "worm ate part of my brain" guy and the "roadkill eating" guy. 

I can't even. So I won't.👎