Tell me, how often, in a normal human body, not …

Comment on Mandates vs. Religious Exemptions by Sean Pitman.

Tell me, how often, in a normal human body, not a tumor or a bunch of cancer cells in a petri dish, does RNA to DNA reverse transcriptase followed by genomic integration happen? – outside of infection by a retrovirus (like HIV for example) that has both of the necessary enzymes? – both reverse transcriptase and integrase?

I’m sorry, but if what you’re suggesting were at all common, it would make normal life for a human being impossible. Also, it doesn’t make the vaccine any more risky than exposing one’s self to a COVID-19 infection – which is the main point here.

You write:

You and others, seem to try very hard to discount and disparage this type of research, simply because it doesn’t agree with your personal pro-vaccine views.

Oh please. Just because I don’t agree with everything published in scientific journals, especially open access journals that have a questionable history, doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to good scientific research. Of course vaccines have risks. However, these risks have been proven to be minimal compared to the known risks of getting infected by COVID-19. The claim that “The safety profile of BNT162b2 is currently only available from short-term clinical studies” is also false. There are few vaccines or medications in general that have been more studied or that have more empirical evidence in support than the mRNA-based vaccines. The mRNA technology has been around and has been studied now for more than 30 years. The spike protein itself has been carefully modified to avoid known risks like antibody-dependent enhancement. And, the vaccine has now been given to hundreds of millions of people over an extended period of time with amazing clinical results and very high safety profile. The vast majority of those who have been getting very sick and dying in the ICUs around the world since the mRNA vaccines came out have not been those who are unvaccinated. The all-cause death rate is actually lower for those who are vaccinated as compared to those who are not.

Please, those like you who seem to demand absolute knowledge before you will accept advances in medical science end up ignoring the weight of evidence that has the potential to save many lives and reduce many needless long-term and permanent injuries. These mRNA vaccines are truly miraculous, gifts from God Himself that have dramatically reduced the suffering of those who have actually taken advantage of these gifts.

Sean Pitman Also Commented

Mandates vs. Religious Exemptions
I’m just saying is that if you think that what you say on blog sites like this one doesn’t really affect people, especially when you present yourself as an MD, you’re mistaken. I know that people have been influenced against taking the mRNA vaccines by what you’ve said here in this forum. You’re not simply being neutral in what you’ve posted. You do, in fact, come across as being opposed to the mRNA vaccines – also noting that you didn’t get vaccinated yourself and chose to get infected by the live COVID-19 virus without pre-established vaccine-based immunity. You’ve also come across as being strongly against any response by me to the articles that you’ve referenced where I point out how these papers really do not actually undermine the efficacy and/or the relative safety of the mRNA vaccines. Clearly, you don’t come across as being neutral on the topic.

And, such comments have an effect on people – they really do. While that upsets me, again, it’s more important to me to allow for those who disagree with me to also post their comments rather than to only allow what I personally think is true to be posted.

Beyond this, no one is twisting your arm to post our comments here. You can post or not post as you wish. That’s entirely up to you. But, don’t expect that I won’t push back when you post comments that I think will increase the risk of those who read what you have to say…


Mandates vs. Religious Exemptions
The difference between us is that I see people in the ICU, as does my brother-in-law Dr. Roger Seheult (a pulmonologist in S. Cal.). You might see the occasional person die from COVID-19, but those who work ICUs in larger medical centers see far too many people die from COVID-19 – to include young people (not just those in nursing homes). You might offer the vaccine to those whom you see, but if you present arguments to them like the ones you’ve presented here, such advice most certainly does result in increased injuries and even death. For me, that’s a big deal. You might call it “weird and overly dramatic” if you want, but for me the effort to save lives and reduce injuries is neither “weird” nor “overly dramatic”. I mean, that’s why I do what I do…

Now, you say, “The discussions that I have on blogs like this are my personal thoughts and concerns. They don’t reflect the way that I actually practice primary care medicine on a daily basis.”

That would be great if this were a private conversation, but it isn’t. It is a public conversation and your words have an impact on the hundreds who read this blog every day. I mean, in a very real sense, especially given that you include your title “MD” with your name, and often point out that you are a medical doctor when you post to this blog, you are, in fact, practicing medicine when you post public comments like you do. You cannot simply say, “I don’t actually follow my own advice that I post in blogs when I practice primary care medicine on a daily basis.” Your influence simply isn’t limited to what you do face-to-face with patients in your clinic. Your influence also extends to what you say and do in front of people outside of your daily medical practice.


Mandates vs. Religious Exemptions
Well, I’m glad you go at least this far… although I still think that the kinds of arguments you present here really do put people’s lives and health at increased risk. I know you don’t agree, but that’s how I see things from my own perspective.

Now, I’m fine with you, and those who think like you, having the ability to freely share your opinions – despite how mistaken and damaging I personally think these opinions may be. That’s just the nature of living in a free society – which I think is far more important than restricting the freedom of speech.


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Thank you Ariel. Hope you are doing well these days. Miss seeing you down at Loma Linda. Hope you had a Great Thanksgiving!


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Thank you Colin. Just trying to save lives any way I can. Not everything that the government does or leaders do is “evil” BTW…


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Only someone who knows the future can make such decisions without being a monster…


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I fail to see where you have convincingly supported your claim that the GC leadership contributed to the harm of anyone’s personal religious liberties? – given that the GC leadership does not and could not override personal religious liberties in this country, nor substantively change the outcome of those who lost their jobs over various vaccine mandates. That’s just not how it works here in this country. Religious liberties are personally derived. Again, they simply are not based on a corporate or church position, but rely solely upon individual convictions – regardless of what the church may or may not say or do.

Yet, you say, “Who cares if it is written into law”? You should care. Everyone should care. It’s a very important law in this country. The idea that the organized church could have changed vaccine mandates simply isn’t true – particularly given the nature of certain types of jobs dealing with the most vulnerable in society (such as health care workers for example).

Beyond this, the GC Leadership did, in fact, write in support of personal religious convictions on this topic – and there are GC lawyers who have and continue to write personal letters in support of personal religious convictions (even if these personal convictions are at odds with the position of the church on a given topic). Just because the GC leadership also supports the advances of modern medicine doesn’t mean that the GC leadership cannot support individual convictions at the same time. Both are possible. This is not an inconsistency.