A Vaccine Or This Marriage: Conspiracy Theories Are Tearing Couples Apart

[Nevilledog]

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Jesselyn Cook
@JessReports
New: I spoke to people whose marriages are crumbling under the weight of antivax disinfo. Their stories are gutting—and more common than you think.

"I was sneaking out to get my vaccine and felt like it’d have been better had I been seeing another woman.”

A Vaccine Or This Marriage: Conspiracy Theories Are Tearing Couples Apart
"He said if I take the vaccine I could pack my bags and leave his kids here."
huffpost.com
10:39 AM · Jul 24, 2021

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anti-vaccine-conspiracy-theories-divorce_n_60faf8b6e4b05ff8cfc8086b

For Lucy, a 59-year-old metastatic breast cancer patient from Washington state, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 was a matter of life and death. After undergoing aggressive chemotherapy for months, the coronavirus almost certainly would have killed her. Yet as relief washed over her upon receiving her final Pfizer dose in March, she knew she’d have to keep it to herself. Her husband had begged her not to get the shot.

At the outset of the pandemic, Lucy’s husband and partner of seven years, Shane, was as cautious as anyone about the virus. He kept a big container of hand sanitizer in the car and fanatically washed his hands, keys and other items. He wore a face mask everywhere he went, showered and changed his clothes immediately upon returning home from necessary outings, and was anxious for Lucy and her elderly mother, who lives with them, to get vaccinated as soon as possible due to their heightened vulnerabilities.

But as the crisis dragged on, 60-year-old Shane spent months cooped up inside on YouTube and Facebook, where a vortex of coronavirus conspiracy theory videos was waiting for him. Many declared that the virus was nothing to fear — that it was the vaccines he should really be afraid of. Before long, he was also tuning into the increasingly malicious disinformation networks Newsmax and OAN, which regularly rehashed the lies he’d been fed online. He was completely enthralled, Lucy said, and over time, his worldview “did a 180.”

Among other delusions, Shane is now steadfastly convinced that the COVID-19 outbreak was orchestrated by government-allied forces, the coronavirus is no more harmful than the flu, and the vaccines alter recipients’ DNA — condemning them to slowly perish.

*snip*

[GPV]

1. I can't imagine going through that

[Hugin]

2. I've got news, dude.

"... condemning them to slowly perish." It's gonna happen anyway and it has nothing to do with anything other than being born.

It is the source of my embracing the it-is-the-journey-not-the-destination philosophy. Because, the ultimate destination sucks.

I do what I can to prolong the journey... LIKE GETTING A VACCINATION!

[LakeArenal]

3. Well, if he thinks of it as flu... go get the flu shot for it.

Duh. Folks have just gone crazy.

[Marius25]

4. I really wish there were criminal penalties

for Facebook, OAN, Newsmax, Fox, etc.

[Duppers]

10. +100

[tanyev]

5. Oh, wow. So thankful hubby and I are on the same page with this.

[dalton99a]

6. Kick

[Wounded Bear]

7. Funny how so many of the "my body, my choice" folks are so aggressive in deciding what others do...

[Bev54]

8. He would be out of my house in a NY minute

Sorry but someone who will not listen to the professionals for the safety and life of his wife and other family members does not belong with those people.

[XanaDUer2]

9. you can die from influenza