A Modern Code of Honor
By Kent Heckenlively
I was standing in the take-out line at the Rutherford Grill in California's beautiful Napa Valley when the writing on the back of a man's t-shirt caught my attention.
The t-shirt read, "Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Stand brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Protect the helpless and do no wrong - that is your oath."
I tapped the man on the shoulder and asked where the quote had come from.
"Oh, it's the vow of the Knights Templar," he replied.
Okay, Knights Templar, I thought. Not really clear on them. When I got home I did a little research. The Knights Templar were founded in 1129 with the idea of protecting pilgrims on the way to the Holy Land. They were attacked by King Phillip IV of France in 1307, and officially disbanded by Pope Clement in 1312, or roughly 702 years before I found myself standing in that restaurant.
Now I don't want to talk about whether the Knights Templar were a positive or negative force in history, but to pose a more elemental question. Why is it that more than 700 years after they were disbanded we still quote their oath?
I think it's because in any age we recognize courage. And it made me wonder who the people are in this age whose courage I admire. It didn't take me long to come up with an answer. In fact, I know a good many of them. They are the ones writing books and making films to help our community and those helpless children who all too often cannot speak for themselves.
I must start with David Kirby and his wonderful book, Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy, released in 2005.
Next are Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill for their book, The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine and a Man-Made Epidemic, and the work they do on a daily basis with this web-site.
I would be remiss if I didn't include Kim Stagliano's book, All I Can Handle - I'm No Mother Theresa [A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism].
In 2010 Dr. Andrew Wakefield published his book, Callous Disregard: Autism and Vaccines - The Truth Behind a Tragedy, which detailed the campaign of persecution against him and his work.
An excellent book in all ways was Vaccine Epidemic: How Corporate Greed, Biased Science, and Coercive Government Threaten our Human Rights, Our Health, and Our Children, by Louise Kuo Habakus and Mary Holland, released in 2012.
There was the wonderful movie in 2013, The Greater Good by Leslie Manookian and Kendall Nelson.
Our own Lou Conte wrote a great thriller, The Autism War, which is a thinly veiled story which all of us know too well.
There is Science for Sale by Dr. David Lewis, a former government scientist who has published in both Nature and Science as he delves into the Andrew Wakefield case.
I have to commend Robert Kennedy, Jr., Martha Herbert, and Mark Hyman for their book, Thimerosal - Let the Science Speak: The Evidence Supporting the Immediate Removal of Mercury-A Known Neurotoxin from Vaccines, published in August of 2014.
Another documentary which is coming up on release in August of 2014 is Bought: The Hidden Story Behind Vaccines, Big Pharma, and Your Food by Jeff Hayes and Bobby Sheehan.
Then there's Wayne Rohde's book on a great topic, The Vaccine Court: The Dark Side of America's Vaccine Injury Program, being released in September 2014.
Another one of our own, Age of Autism's media editor, Anne Dachel has a book coming out in October of 2014, The Big Autism Cover-up: How and Why the Media is Lying to the American Public.
When I was reviewing this list of courageous people it struck me that the ideals of truth, honor, and selfless sacrifice are still very much alive. You could call them today's Knights Templar, or for a more contemporary reference, our own Guardians of the Galaxy.
I hope you will support their efforts.
Kent Heckenlively is a Founding Contributing Editor to Age of Autism and author of Plague: One Scientist's Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Autism, and Other Diseases, being published on September 9, 2014. Visit his website at Plague The Book. You can pre-order the book HERE.
Kent:
Thanks for this.
However, keep in mind that the Templars ended up being burned at the stake and drawn and quartered.
Hopefully, we can do somewhat better.
Posted by: Louis Conte | August 15, 2014 at 11:05 PM
Since mainstream media censors or declines to publish any review of books questioning vaccination dogma, the public is kept ignorant.
This is willful ignorance sold out to $Billions of Ad revenues. And publishers et al. kowtow to their $Billions of Pharma income.
So, all these informative books are never reviewed, thus exposed, to the Public.
Posted by: david m burd | August 15, 2014 at 08:43 PM
Great list, but I would also add special thanks and recognition to wonderful Dr, Wakefield, who has sacrificed so much for our children!
Posted by: Anne | August 15, 2014 at 11:35 AM
Kent, et al. Here's the 2009 pdf Child Schedule for anybody who can copy it. Other years' Schedules can be pulled up but differences are very minor.
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/immunize/Documents/IMM-232.pdf
Posted by: autism uncle | August 15, 2014 at 07:33 AM
Kent, et al, thanks for specific titles we can easily pass on. Yet we all know the resistance, disbelief, and how even friends & relatives think we are not qualified to question the "benefits" of the Immunization Schedule. Hell! - all it takes is being literate along with motivation. I have sometimes taken the step of ordering a book (such from this list) and having it Fed-exed to people. But I never know if they actually read them - can't recall a single 'thank you.'
I HAVE found that giving a hard copy (8 1/2" by 11") of the CDC Graphic for Children aged 0 to 6 Immunization Schedule DOES get their attention - typical reaction is "I had no idea there were so many shots, so early." I highly recommend this shorthand technique and will relay the pdf. version in a second comment.
Posted by: autism uncle | August 15, 2014 at 07:25 AM
Great list! I would add "Dissolving Illusions" by Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk, and "The Virus and The Vaccine: The True Story of a Cancer-Causing Monkey Virus, Contaminated Polio Vaccine, and the Millions of Americans Exposed" by Debbie Bookchin & Jim Schumacher. I would also add "The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope" by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. And, of course, I would add "Plague: One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Autism, and Other Diseases" by Kent Heckenlively and Judy Mikovits!
Posted by: Betty Bona | August 14, 2014 at 10:21 AM
I agree .. everyone you mentioned in your column deserves our support .. modern-day Knights Templar .. each and everyone of them.
I would only add .. for his personal courage and the enormous personal sacrifices he has made .. I nominate Dr. Andrew Wakefield .. who exemplifies these two qualities of the oath
"Be without fear in the face of your enemies .. Protect the helpless and do no wrong - that is your oath."
Sir Andrew Wakefield .. I like the sound of that....
Posted by: BoB Moffitt | August 14, 2014 at 07:25 AM
From the UK:-
“Hear the Silence”
Terrific 2003 dramatic reconstruction of Dr Andrew Wakefield's work at the Royal Free Hospital, starring Juliet Stevenson as the mother of an autistic boy, (marvellous child actor), and Hugh Bonneville as Dr Wakefield. This TV drama was heavily criticised by the UK medical ‘establishment’, and was effectively banned in the UK for 10 years, resurfacing on YouTube last year:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkYGSGKI16Q
The BBC report:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3314719.stm
From above:-
"Medics slam 'distorted' MMR drama"
"Leading child health experts have called a drama about the MMR vaccine "distorted" and "entirely unbalanced".
Five's Hear My Silence tells the story of a mother whose child has autism which she believes is linked to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
But 11 experts have written an open letter attacking the link made by the drama between MMR and autism.
No research has ever proved a link, and the overwhelming majority of experts believe the vaccine is safe.
The audience is presented with a piece of fiction that could not be further from the truth
The open letter, signed by leading GPs, nurses and paediatricians says the programme presents an "entirely unbalanced" of the work carried out by Dr Andrew Wakefield at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School in the 1990s.
It was that research which led to fears of a link between MMR and autism, although the paper found no direct evidence of a link. The medics say no evidence has been found for the 'new' forms of autism as described by Dr Wakefield and the drama. (ME - 11 years later PLENTY of evidence!)
The letter adds: "Over 30 years worldwide use of the combined MMR vaccine has shown it to be extremely safe and highly effective at preventing these three potentially damaging diseases. (ME - In 2003 the MMR vaccine was in UK use for 15 years, with doubts about autism links being widely expressed from 1990 onwards -long before the Wakefield et al Lancet paper.)
"It would be a pity if the desire for 'good' television took precedence over the welfare of children and set this back.
'Talk to your doctor'
"Our concern is that because this one-sided and misleading film appears to be a documentary, with some key players and places named, it will have undeserved credibility and inevitably increase the anxieties of parents whose children are due to have the MMR.
"We hope that any adverse effects are minimal and that the film does not persuade any parent to reject the MMR vaccine.
"We recommend that parents who have questions about the MMR vaccine seek advice from their health visitor or general practitioner."
The letter was signed by leading specialists including:-
• Alan Craft - President, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
• David Haslam - Chairman, Royal College of General Practitioners
• Jane Collins - Chief Executive, Great Ormond Street Hospital
• Carol Black - President, Royal College of Physicians
• Beverly Malone - General Secretary, Royal College of Nursing
Stephen Rooney, a spokesman for the Sense, the national deafblind and rubella association, said: "This drama will only add to the confusion that many parents feel about the vaccine.
"It quite irresponsibly links the rise in diagnosed cases of autism with the introduction of the MMR vaccine in 1988.
"This is despite the fact that extensive research has shown that there is no increased incidence of autism among those children who have had the vaccine compared to those who have not." ( ME - Until very recently, when Safeminds conducted a study, there was NO autism research comparing MMR vaccinated V unvaccinated children.)
He also criticised the drama's star, Juliet Stevenson, for what he described as "irresponsible" remarks in media interviews in which she has called into question the safety of the vaccine. (Me The UK is supposed to be a 'free' country, where persons can express their views and concerns.)
But a spokesman for Five said the actress had every right to make her views known. She added: "Juliet Stevenson has never claimed to be a medical expert. She is expressing her views as a mother."
And Vernon Beauchamp, chief executive of the National Autistic Society, said: "Hear the Silence is a powerful drama and many of our members will identify with the mother's experiences of isolation when faced with a lack of help and support in achieving diagnosis for her son."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkYGSGKI16Q
Here's the more recent Dr Mercola analysis:-
Dr. Wakefield Film 'Hear the Silence' Resurfaces After 10 Years
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/03/26/dr-wakefield-vaccine-film.aspx
Remember Dr Wakefield's book 'Callous Regard', (Skyhorse Publishing), which tells his side of the MMR story.
Also Martin Walker's two 'Silenced Witnesses' books, where mothers of autistic children tell their stories. (Slingshot Publishing)
Posted by: Jenny Allan | August 14, 2014 at 07:08 AM