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...this in in turn caused mostly by a combination of ignorance and bizarre religious beliefs...

It's actually better/worse than that (depending on your perspective). People were mislead by a fraud. And not fraud with any kind of a noble purpose - it was for money.

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Yeah - if it were just religious beliefs, those would be rare (although concentrated) enough to preserve herd immunity, I think. It's Jenny McCarthy and Andrew Wakefield who have turned this into a matter of national security.

In addition to the secular anti-vaccination folks like McCarthy, there is also significant evidence of religion-based anti-vaccination movements, most recently seen in the measles outbreak in Texas which was traced back to a megachurch[1].

[1] http://www.npr.org/2013/09/01/217746942/texas-megachurch-at-...

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