Susan K. Smith
Senior pastor, Advent United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio

Susan K. Smith

Smith, a Yale Divinity School graduate, is author of "Crazy Faith: Ordinary People; Extraordinary Lives", a winner of the 2009 National Best Books Award.

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Getting Vaccine a Moral Responsibility

Q: Polls show a majority of Americans are concerned about the H1N1 virus (swine flu), but also about the safety and efficacy of the swine flu vaccine. Is it ethical to say no to this or any vaccine? Are there valid religious reasons to accept or decline a vaccine? Will you get a swine flu shot? Will your children?

It was the Israelites, according to the Hebrew scriptures, who first instituted quarantines to halt the spread of what they thought might be a communicable disease. A person inflicted with certain maladies, especially leprosy, was to stay "outside the camp" until he or she was healed. Lepers were actually put into separate villages and were not allowed to re-enter society until they had been declared healed by the priests.

I call that the ancient form of a vaccine, an attempt to save society.

When the Black Plague hit Europe in the 14th century, killing millions, the spread of the disease didn't stop until people started instituting quarantines.

The H1N1 vaccine is at present the best existing weapon against the onset of swine flu; to me, getting it, especially people who work in hospitals, seems a step one, if you will, to quarantine. The more people who get it, the fewer people, at least theoretically, will become infected with the disease. Conversely, the fewer people who get it, the more some sort of quarantine might be necessary, possibly drastically reducing the pool of people available to help those who become ill.

When I heard reports of people protesting the fact that they might be forced to get the vaccine (health care workers), I groaned. There are times when this "these are our rights" battle cry gets exhausting. When does the well-being of the society take precedence over individual rights? Why is it more important for one to declare his or her "rights" than for that individual to want to help halt the spread of a disease which is, apparently, threatening to become a pandemic?

Were I a health care professional, I would get the vaccine for two reasons: to protect myself from those infected who will most certainly be in hospitals and doctors' offices, and to help make sure I would not get the disease and give it to someone already infected with other illness.

Since I have no reaction to eggs, I will most probably get the vaccine, along with the regular flu shot, and I advised my daughter, who has asthma, to get both shots as well. I am teaching my congregation rules of hygiene so as to help thwart the spread of the disease and am encouraging those of my members who feel sick to stay home. We provide antiseptic hand cleanser and encourage people to use it after shaking hands and before they leave the church.

Were a large number of the congregation to get sick with the flu, we would institute a quarantine.

There is a time, I think, when individual rights have to take a back seat to the well being of the institution or society. If getting an H1N1 vaccine will help keep more people well, then I think we who should ought to get it. Saving masses of people from illness or possibly death by getting a shot is not an infringement on my rights. It is a moral and ethical obligation.

By Susan K. Smith  |  October 14, 2009; 4:55 AM ET
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"You made fun of this hanus act,..."

No, I made fun of your paranoia.

"And yes it is true..."

No, neither you nor I know that it is true; you just want to believe that it is true.

"...and if this kind of trade secret that is used to make children's vaccines doe's not bother you, I suggest you check your soul that is if you still have one!"

I have never had one.

"And pray to get your conscience back."

I don't pray.

Posted by: PSolus | October 19, 2009 10:48 PM
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PSolus you said;

"One of the children's vaccines is grown on fetal retinas."

I read somewhere that the vaccines are grown in baby jebus's tears and the bvm's blood, and that children who are given the vaccines are turned into agents of lucifer to do the biddings of satan.
Just so's you know.

You made fun of this hanus act, that they call a trade secret. And yes it is true
and if this kind of trade secret that is used to make children's vaccines doe's not bother you, I suggest you check your soul that is if you still have one! And pray to get your conscience back.

Now you think about this,you made fun of a
procedure that takes a dead baby's retinas
and uses them to culture a vaccine on them.

Industry can't get any sicker that!

Posted by: ccdaddy57 | October 19, 2009 1:40 AM
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DanielintheLionsDen You asked for body's,
how about an 8 yr,old dead. 1 week after flu shot.

The unexplained death of an 8-year-old Kings Park boy at Stony Brook University Medical Center has sparked a state Department of Health probe, authorities said Wednesday.

Health authorities sought to assure the public that Sean did not die from a reaction to a flu vaccine shot last week,

They will always explain the damage away.

Flu shot suspected in Redskins cheerleading hopeful's neurological condition


This body of a Redskins ambassador, that was damaged by the flu vaccine is still with us today but no quality of life.

list of symptoms for the young girl
nausea, vomiting, body aches, fever

The 8 yr, old's symptoms fever, nausea and a sore throat.

The older girl had weight, over the 8 yr, old. But was still damaged.

Symptoms very similar,

You go a head and get it, be my guest.

IOM U.K. they looked at inactivated flu vaccines; This is their findings

There is little to no evidence that the inactivated vaccine even works. This was after looking at thousands of pages of studies.

They also found that the mortality of the elderly did not change, in fact there was a small increase in the deaths of the vaccinated compared to those who did not get the Flu shot.

They also checked children six mos to two
years of age, they found those children get absolutely no benefit except that of a placebo effect from the inactivated Flu Vaccine.

It doe's appear the FDA and the CDC is in the snake oil business, or should I say their pimps are. BIG PHARMA

Recently a study found that children who received the Flu vaccine, were 3x more likely to be hospitalized later after getting sick, than children that were not vaccinated with the Flu vaccine.

Some people just deserve to learn the hard way.

The Bible puts it this way; There is none so blind as those, who will not see.

This is a post on the girls article


Desiree, you are still a beautiful girl with a lot of potential. The Redskins suck anyways! Thank you for being brave enough to share your story with us. I have certainly changed my thinking on the flu-shot. I think you said it perfectly at the end:

The young ruined for life said;

I would rather play the lottery!

This is a no brainer!

The SCIENCE is in, the Flu Vaccine doe's not work and is very dangerous. It is also loaded with TOXINS and HEAVY METALS such as MERCURY! Like I said This should be a no Brainer, for anybody who can read and doe's his own research.


Posted by: ccdaddy57 | October 19, 2009 1:18 AM
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Right now our whole society is being torn apart by those who insist on their own "rights" no matter what effect THEIR rights may have on the community; and those who insist that a nation is a community, and so our actions are not strictly individual. With rights come responsibility, and those must be in balance. This is a discussion that we must have as a society, and we must answer the question of where this balance falls. In the last 30 years, the "rights" of gun owners have increased relative to the "rights" of those who do not wish to be confronted with armed neighbors while out in the community, for instance. In a wide swath of our culture, we need to try and determine where to draw these lines of balance. Otherwise, we are going to be having what we see now: People angry and frightened screaming at each other over their fears and hatreds. The civility of society has taken a significant hit, and the answer is, as a society, to talk out our fears and to listen to each other, not just to scream louder.

In regard to the flu and the swine flu, a few observations:

In 1918, there was a huge influenza epidemic in the US. Many soldiers in training, where their resistance was lowered due to the rigor of "boot camp" and where people were living in huge open air barracks became infected with this disease. A significant percentage of those who enlisted or were drafted into the US military, especially the Army, never lived to go into combat, because they died of flu. I have more than a couple of my great uncles who died in this manner.

The flu exists in a variety of strains, and the annual flu shot is usually a combination of strains that are projected to be the most prevalent in the next year. Over several decades, most of us have been exposed to several varieties of the flu, and have built up natural immunities to it, so that, for most of us who are normally healthy and active, we can probably forego the flu shot without serious risk. In general, the effort has been aimed at the population which will have the highest probabilities of difficulty throwing off the flu virus. That is normally the elderly and those who are ill with significant chronic illnesses that provide stress to the body. The natural immunities in the population allow us to focus on the part of the population which will need help in surviving the illness. But those of us with immunity serve to dilute and dampen the spread of flu. When the population has greatly reduced percentages with immunity, the illness will spread more rapidly, more widely, and more virulently through the population. That's what is projected to be happening with the H1N1 flu.

The swine flu, however is different from the more common strains of flu in a few significant ways:

In the first place, most of us do NOT have a natural immunity to this strain, as it has not been floating through the western hemisphere and Europe for several decades. Indeed, most doctors are saying that only those older than the mid-50s have any previous exposure. And so, ironically, those of us who are older may be MORE resistant than our younger family members. But overall, in our population, the ones with immunity who normally serve as the dampening influence in the spread of the disease are not available to the same degree, and thus, the disease may move more quickly among the population, and many more people will become sick this year...on top of those who get the "usual" strains of flu.

Second, while this variety of flu might not be more intense than the others, there are still 100s of THOUSANDS of people in the US who die every year from the regular flu strains we have encountered. We don't know how many would die without the reinforcement of the flu shots, which DO demonstrably strengthen our ability to fight off the symptoms. Nor do we have a way to measure the unrestrained spread of H1H1 flu. Even if it only kills the same percentage as the normal flu does, of those who become ill, it is hard to tell how many may die, because we don't know how many will get the disease. But the lesson of 1918 is that MANY will die, perhaps millions, because the number who will get sick is a multiple of the normal course of disease. This will put a huge strain on our medical delivery systems, and some medical professionals in the public health arena are warning that our medical facilities may be stressed to the breaking point. If 15 times as many get sick this year, for instance, where will the hospital beds come from? Who will do the nursing? Are you prepared to nurse your family members at home, no matter how sick they may become?

Thirdly, the ones most vulnerable to this flu are kids, especially school age kids in dorms and children who are very likely to be exposed to this flu for the first time. It is incorrect to say that no one has died from this flu in the US this fall. Last week, we had some deaths among school kids. Last year, only a small percentage of the population got sick; this year, we don't know. I don't know that no college kids have died of it. But I know that schools at all levels have shut down for some period of time when a significant fraction of their student populations were infected, and that some colleges have had to create makeshift wards for those who are sick (or, conversely, their well roommates, so they don't get sick.) This sort of labor intensive response is not the ideal solution.

The H1N1 flu shot seems to be doing what it is designed to do: Give those receiving it enough antibodies to help them fight it off without a hospital stay, or avoid getting sick at all. In either case, the flu antibodies what we get from this shot will help us not become vectors in the spread of this disease. If this disease pandemic DOES come to pass, we are going to have a medical emergency in this country: hospitals will be required to treat every flu patient possible as a public health/quarantine matter. Where are the funds going to come from? How about those hospitals which cannot absorb the millions of people who have no insurance? How many more people will go bankrupt after experiencing this flu? Many people are barely coping financially as it is.

I plan to get the flu shot, so I am not part of the problem. I plan to be part of the solution.

Pr Chris

Posted by: CalSailor | October 18, 2009 11:13 PM
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"One of the children's vaccines is grown on fetal retinas."

I read somewhere that the vaccines are grown in baby jebus's tears and the bvm's blood, and that children who are given the vaccines are turned into agents of lucifer to do the biddings of satan.

Just so's you know.

Posted by: PSolus | October 18, 2009 12:07 PM
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ccdaddy57

You are paranoid. There is no vaccine that I know of that requires human embryos to produce. You are full of lies and misinformation.

If the flu vaccine is so deadly as you suggest, then show me the dead bodies. Where are they?

If you are afraid of the flu vaccine, then don't take it. But don't try to frighten everyone else into not taking it.

Posted by: DanielintheLionsDen | October 18, 2009 11:06 AM
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Pastor Smith, this was written for the Rabbi. But I think if you read and comprehend you to can glean from it.

Attention Rabbi Wolpe one of the company's making H1N1 vaccines, at one time made the
Gas that the Nazi's used to kill millions
of JEWS.

Here is A bit of history you may not know about:

The PRESENT Role of IG Farben, Bayer and Baxter! And their role at Auschwitz

The Baxter Corporation that is maneuvering to create a mandatory vaccine for everyone in North America is a subsidiary of American Home Products.

American Home Products is a direct progeny of the decartelized German drug and chemical combine known as I.G. Farben (the folks who invented and distributed Zyclon B: The gas used to kill Jews and others in Nazi Germany's concentration camps

I.G. Farben AND Bayer (the folks whose aspirin you probably take) are companies that served Hitler with absolute devotion, including his genocides and Dr. Mangela's "experimentation" on Human beings. These companies all have taken part in direct genocide over the years and they are still in business!.

And Baxter/I.G. Farben wants to require YOU and YOUR KIDS to take THEIR new "flu vaccine"!!!!!!

AND MOST PEOPLE GLADLY WILL!!!

Bayer, Baxter, and Rhone-Poulenc are infamously known for having infected more than 7,000 American hemophiliacs with the AIDS virus during the early 1980s. They admitted foreknowledge in selling HIV-tainted blood clotting products and settled the class action case for $100,000 per claimant.

Just last year Baxter was Caught Shipping Vaccines With Live Avian Flu Virus To 18 Countries Worldwide
Czech newspapers are questioning if the shocking discovery of vaccines contaminated with the deadly avian flu virus which were distributed to 18 countries by the American company Baxter were part of a conspiracy to provoke a pandemic.

The claim holds weight because, according to the very laboratory protocols that are routine for vaccine makers, mixing a live virus biological weapon with vaccine material by accident is virtually impossible.

“The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses,” reports the Canadian Press.

Baxter flu vaccines contaminated with H5N1 -otherwise known as the human form of avian flu, one of the most deadly biological weapons on earth with a 60% kill rate -

animals given this accidental mixed vaccine "DIED"!!!!!!!!!


Just think if they the animals, had a delay in dieing then 18 country's would have had people dieing all over the place. With a 60% kill rate' it would have been a disaster.

So is this someone you would trust ?????? To make a Pandemic vaccine to save your children and your selves ??? or any vaccine for that matter.

Posted by: ccdaddy57 | October 18, 2009 2:50 AM
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I find it amazing, that a Rabbi and a Pastor would comment on this issue. With out even knowing the truth about vaccines. One of the children's vaccines is grown on fetal retinas. Excuse me, Pastor Smith but when God says in the word that children are a gift from God.
I assume that making $$BILLIONS$$ off of vaccines, that are cultured on aborted body parts is a "SIN" of the worse kind!!!!!

Posted by: ccdaddy57 | October 18, 2009 2:35 AM
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Aboutthatit

You are the one who is a little misinformed. The nasal spray flu vaccine, which is an innovation, has live flu viruses in it. It is recommended that anyone with a weakened immune system not take the nasal vaccine. This includes very young children, people over 50, and anyone who may be otherwise immunosupressed. People with asthma do not have weak immune systems.

You can get the seasonal flu vaccine and the swine flu vaccine, both, either by injection, or by nasal spray. If you choose to take both vaccines by nasal spray, it is reccomended that you not get them both on the same day.

The purpose of the nasal spray is to spare people the shot, because, evidently, many people are terrified of the shot. However, I feel a little queasy about the nasal spray with live viruses in it, and I would rather have the shot.

The flu vaccine works. It definitely provides immunity to people against the specifically targetted virus. If you get soon after getting the vaccine, then you may have been exposed to it already, and got the shot too late. Or, if you get the flu even though you were vaccinated against the flu, you hay have gotten a differnt strain. There are many strains of flu active at any given time, and a person get any one of them, any time, even in mid-Summer.

But the seasonal flu vaccine is targetted at the projected dominating flu strain for the upcoming Winter. Just because a person may have had bad luck with the flu vaccine and getting the flu does not mean that it is not medically and scientifally valid.

Science is not magic. Doctors aren't magicians. But when a projection is made of the strain of flu for the upcoming flu season, and then a vaccine is developed for it, it is a good risk, and a good bet to take the shot.

I have the experience of taking the flu vaccine year after year, and not getting the flu, but then skipping a year and getting the flu.

Merely living well, eating well, excercising, and taking care of yourself will not protect you from the flu; it simply will not. It is just luck, and chance who gets exposed, and who does not.

My co-worker, this year, got the swine flu. I work closely with him; we sit at each other's desks, and chat at close quarters, often. But I didn't catch it.

What luck! I dodged a bullet. How? I don't know. Statistical luck. But I know that I want the shot as soon as it is more widely available.

Posted by: DanielintheLionsDen | October 17, 2009 9:30 PM
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Mrs. Smith,

"The H1N1 vaccine is at present the best existing weapon against the onset of swine flu; to me, getting it, especially people who work in hospitals, seems a step one, if you will, to quarantine."

I would disagree with your first statement, as a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition, regular threshold exercise, and a more alkaline diet beat, hands down head up, pharmaceutical companies latest allopathic dirty cocktail. Of the dirty cocktails out there, the powers that be in this industry have declared this the best they have to offer. I do not know but trust there is some oversight. Trust is a faith based word, considering the oversight that has been woefully lacking from government over industry as they seek to serve and protect the people. (It is "the people", right, or is it national interests or some other muddy area?)

To the second part of your above quote the metaphor of quarantine is interesting when applied to vaccines, don't you think. You are in some way suggesting that everyone has a moral obligation to get vaccinated for H1N1, and so everyone quarantines themselves from everyone else, based on the fear that they COULD become contagious? Quarantine thyself now, in case you need to be quarantined.

Let's live that way, can we, please?

Posted by: justillthennow | October 15, 2009 2:39 PM
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Ms Smith:
With all due respect, you are a dangerously ill informed woman. You are recommending that your daughter, with a compromised immune system due to asthma, get both shots? Have you read about the Canadian study which states the regular flu shot makes susceptibility to the swine flu greater? Do you know what is in the swine flu shot? Squalene, mercury, and yes, live H1N1 virus. You madam are an ignorant and dangerous person who should keep her mouth shut until she has done the research to back up her ill informed opinions.

Posted by: abouthadit | October 14, 2009 4:55 PM
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A continuation off of the Stanlippmann post.

"Coupled with the reality that there have been over 250,000 cases of H1N1 infection at colleges with 0 fatalities show that this whole swine flu scare is a bunch of hysteria, propagated and amplified by paid stooges like Agent Smith."

Susan Smith no doubt believes in what she wrote, and many have similar beliefs. Look after all at how popular flu shots have become. It boggles the mind, at least my mind, but on the other hand it it so obvious.

We easily buy and believe the propaganda and hype that is crammed down our throats from multiple sources, like multi-phonic noise mainlined into our appetites. Who doesn't want to keep from hay fever symptoms this year? Take this. Who doesn't want to save their kid from the flu? Here's the way. Who doesn't want a dictator with WMD's threatening us? Here's the proof! To war!

Multinationals and mega corporations are directing our lives and choices without us even staying conscious about it. For there are multi billions to be made if they can scare up enough mass hysteria around a swine flu, or any other threat, in order to get the sheep to line up for their little shots.

Not me. A healthy and functioning immune system is the best defense for the body, hands down. Antibiotics and the like are wonderful little drugs when needed, and when the immune system is in the corner. Mass immunization for some very mutable threat is idiocy, in my unschooled and rebellious opinion. And next year the scientists at the competing pharmaceuticals can work themselves into a foaming tizzy trying to get a vaccine to hit the next moving target, so to deliver to their masters the next cash cow.

While the sheep line up, baying, wondering when will there be enough to get their shot, and holding out the furry forearms or rumps of their progeny.

Not me.

Posted by: justillthennow | October 14, 2009 1:53 PM
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Ms. Smith should resign in disgrace, as she does not know anything about anything. First of all, it is clear to everyone but the paid that the flu vaccine is ineffective, and like any vaccine, has about a 1/10000 chance of killing or maiming you. The standard public health ethical limit for marketing a vaccine is 1/250,000 to 1/1,000,000, depending on which authority you ask. Coupled with the reality that there have been over 250,000 cases of H1N1 infection at colleges with 0 fatalities show that this whole swine flu scare is a bunch of hysteria, propagated and amplified by paid stooges like Agent Smith.

Posted by: stanlippmann | October 14, 2009 12:37 PM
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I used to get a flu shot every year, and got the flu every year. In the decade since I quit getting flu shots, I have had the flu twice, both times mild cases. I will never get another flu shot as long as I live.

Posted by: lepidopteryx | October 14, 2009 9:37 AM
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