The right to be wrong.

Here's a video from a guy I don't always agree with.



I happen to agree with him (Amazing Atheist/Distressed Watcher) on that point.

My take on it is this: an individual has the right to their opinions, beliefs, etc.--even if they're wrong. :D

Seriously, though: it's not a crime to be wrong, ignorant, or misinformed. If it were, this entire country would be a massive prison camp. No one's right all the time. No one has all the answers.

For example, let's pick something wrong and fatal, like: "childhood vaccination causes autism". This conclusion is horribly wrong. However, here's a thought exercise: What if Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy are right--that vaccines can wreck your kid's brain and cause autism?

My question here is this: So what? Is autism really so bad--so horrible--that you'd rather risk bringing back polio and smallpox?

Take a good, hard look at this smallpox image, from the link above:







This killed entire populations for centuries. We as a species worked hard, over the course of two centuries, to cure it. We eradicated smallpox for a reason. We want polio gone, and thanks to vaccination, polio soon will join smallpox in the bin of viruses that can't maim and kill us anymore.

We need vaccines.

Now, to autism.

Here's my question: Autism, which has killed no one, or a pair of diseases that wiped out entire populations?

I'd rather confront the likes of Bill Maher with this question, rather than ban him from speaking. Being offended by the lethal, industrial-grade stupidity he spews is a small price to pay.

(The tl; dr version: I'd rather counter something offensive than ban it, if it's all the same to you. Oh, and: autism may suck, but polio sucks harder and can kill people.)