Anti-Vaxxer Ostracised By Their Community For Believing People Actually Flew By The Moon Last Week

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

A vaccine skeptic from our town's bohemian French Quarter has become persona non grata in their community this week after falling out of step with what is real and what they want you to think is real.

There are a number of controversial topics that freethinker Banjo Clemente is in lockstep with the vaccine skeptic community. These red-blooded Australians tend to cluster around a broader distrust of mainstream institutions and scientific consensus. Such as space exploration.

But more specifically, they often doubt the integrity of health agencies like the CDC, WHO, and the ACMA. They also suspect that pharmaceutical companies prioritise profit over patient welfare, which is at the shallow end and probably true to a certain point. This institutional distrust frequently extends to skepticism about other areas of scientific agreement, such as human-caused climate change, evolution, and the safety of GMOs. On the medical side, many anti-vaxxers also reject conventional treatments like chemotherapy, psychiatric medications and water fluoridation, preferring instead alternative approaches like homeopathy, naturopathy or the belief that diet and lifestyle alone can prevent serious illness. Some even question foundational concepts like germ theory. At the more extreme end, vaccine skepticism can overlap with broader conspiratorial thinking. Stuff like doubting official accounts of major historical events or believing in coordinated elite efforts to control the population. That said, these are tendencies and correlations, not universal rules and many people who hesitate around vaccines hold otherwise mainstream views in every other area of their lives.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Except, as the 28-year-old told this masthead, the freethinking community of the French Quarter.

"I just happened to say in passing that I thought all the pictures we got from Artemis were pretty awesome and after that, you could've heard an ant fart," he said.

"They were like, 'Uh, you actually believe that happened?' and they all laughed and said they thought better of me. Now, the once hyper-active Whatsapp group we were all in, it's not dead, so they've obviously made a new one without me. This is going to be very hard, I think. I've built a life and lifestyle around this community that now thinks I believe that space exists,"

"I dunno, maybe my Dad was right. Maybe I do need to get a haircut, sew my ears up, put a suit on and get a fucking job?"

The Advocate reached out to the true believers for comment but have not yet received a reply.

More to come.