Making Dumb Deals

Here's a story I caught while checking e-mail this morning:

Jenny McCarthy is speaking out about her son's battle with autism and what she did to make him better. The actress has received criticism for her views from the American Academy of Pediatrics, among others, and believes a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination was to blame for her son Evan's condition. Jenny says Evan was eventually cured after adhering to a strict no wheat and dairy-free diet. She tells US WEEKLY, "Before the vaccination, he was huggy, lovey, snuggly. Then it was like someone came down and stole him." Jenny says Evan began to come out of his shell while watching a SPONGEBOB episode, explaining, "I heard Evan laugh...I jumped on the bed and started screaming." McCarthy has become an outspoken advocate for autism awareness, but critics say she has created fear of necessary vaccines. Jenny says she is just sharing what worked for her adding, "I made a deal with God. I said, 'You fix my boy, you show me the way and I'll teach the world how I did it.'"

By coincidence, the previous day I saw this story about comedian Denis Leary's new book:

He's chosen to write a book, Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Lazy, and Stupid. And in this book, Leary writes "There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks…to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't give a s--- what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you—yer kid is not autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."

Denis Leary is now being demonized and denigrated for his views on autism, and rightly so. I don't know enough about the condition, but I know that my preemie daughter was at a higher risk of developing autism. It is a very real condition, but I do sympathize with Leary's views regarding the explosion of autism diagnoses of late - I do not believe that doctors and institutions are immune to the temptation to make knee-jerk diagnoses when they are rewarded with more funding and money.

But, since this blog is about religion and spirituality and how we get it all backwards, I find the story about the blonde ditz today much more troubling.

Reading between the lines, Jenny McCarthy bargained with God to help save her son from his supposed autism. I don't know if her son actually has autism or not - it seems as though her only evidence of autism is that he was snuggly and huggy before the immunization shot, and then grew distant. Some babies are affectionate and want comfort, and some are distant and tough! All babies are different, and sometimes in the same day! But I won't question whether he has autism or not.

Her side of her bargain with God was to "tell the world" what worked for her in "curing" her son's autism. Firstly, can autism be cured? I believe it is a condition that can only be managed. Secondly, now that her son is better, she feels herself obligated to encourage parents of autistic children to not have them given a much needed MMR immunization, not eat wheat or dairy, and watch Spongebob Squarepants? Whaaaaaaat?!

Bargains and Covenants with God in return for some revelation and special favors is what got the human race into trouble in the first place. The idiocy of believing that rejecting immunizations, certain healthy foods, and watching a funny cartoon character cures a very real mental condition is the same as believing that following a certain set of rules, making certain sacrifices, or going through certain sacraments and rituals will appease God and result in everything from rain to the salvation of your immortal soul. And Jenny McCarthy will be full of righteous fire in spreading her own autistic "gospel" as all those throughout history that made similar bargains with God.

God does not want you to avoid needed immunizations for your child. It is our god-given reason that allowed us to figure out how these terrible diseases worked and how we could protect ourselves against them. God does not want you to avoid eating wheat and dairy - over the millennia, we as humans evolved alongside the evolution of these plants and animals - we humans selected these grains and domesticated animals to best feed ourselves. Wheat and dairy are essentially made for us, and us alone.

But, God may want you to watch Spongebob with your child, because it is pretty funny.

Denis Leary's comments are much less damaging than Jenny McCarthy's - it is much better to have a healthy skepticism towards a diagnosis of autism, than to refuse to give your child immunizations and certain healthy foods.