I have already commented on how the dangerous measles outbreak in the southern USA.  Now there is more news of Mennonite leading the charge of the ignorant in Canada.

Decades of research around the world has shown that there are no miracle treatment for measles, but the M.M.R. measles vaccine is 97 percent effective in preventing the disease. That really is stunning success, yet it does not seem to impress the impressionable vaccine deniers in both Canada and the US. And many of those deniers, it turns out, are Mennonites.  Mennonites seem to be punching above their weight in turns of measles vaccine denial. This is not a record we Mennonites of which  should be proud.

Mennonites have been encouraged in their denial by Donald Trump and his Secretary of State.  In the United States approximately 82% of Evangelical Christians have consistently supported Donald Trump. No other group has been as loyal to Trump no matter what crimes he commits. Felon or not, Evangelicals like Trump. As a result, they also like Trump’s Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  I want to pursue that link. What is the fundamental basis of Evangelicals’ “faith” in Trump? Why is it so unshakeable?

I think that word “faith” is important and will come back to in future posts. Recently in the US the Americans have experienced the largest single measles outbreak in the past 25 years. I have already posted about this on March 1, 2025  (see https://themeanderer.ca/mennonites-lead-the-charge-against-health-protections/) I want to dig deeper into this weird connection between science denial and Mennonites. Actaully it is not that weird.

Recently, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has directed American health officials  to explore potential new treatments for the measles disease such as the effectiveness of vitamins, even though there is no significant scientific evidence to suggest vitamins might be the answer.  And let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with testing or studying new approaches to public health problems.  However, we must be careful not to deflect attention or resources away from more likely solutions as a result of such research.  It could be that knowing there is a possibility that vitamins will protect people, many might think it would be smart to avoid the proven and effective vaccines in favor of false hopes of more acceptable measures such as vitamins.

Frankly, I was very surprised to read in the New York Times about Mennonites have such a profoundly unwelcome influence in the United State. What is up with that? That is what I want to know. It will take me a few posts to get to the bottom of this.

This is what Teddy Rosenbluth of the New York Times said about Kennedy’s new approach:

“The decision is the latest in a series of actions by the nation’s top health official that experts fear will undermine public confidence in vaccines as an essential public health tool.”

Kennedy made the direction to his officials just as he was starting to feel a lot of backlash from the scientific community about his approach to the measles outbreak. Measles is sweeping through the American South-west, particularly in Mennonite communities where vaccination rates are so very low. Low vaccination rates inevitably mean more cases of measles because low rates erode group immunity.

In May of 2025 America experienced 930 cases of measles, most of which were associated with those communities and specifically Mennonite in those communities.  As Rosenbluth reported, “As an example of such a community, Mr. Kennedy pointed to the Mennonites in West Texas, who have experienced the brunt of the cases and hospitalizations in the current outbreak.”

This brings up the question that interests me. Why are Mennonites not trusting the science?