How 'normal' is it to attack those you disagree with?

We humans are incredibly adaptable creatures. We can get used to just about anything and come to live almost normal lives under the most abnormal conditions.

For almost 3 years now, I and other supporters of the AVN have been under attack by the Australian Skeptics and their splinter group, Stop the AVN. The attacks are so persistent and ongoing that it has begun to seem normal to me but it isn't at all normal and those who are responsible for these unremitting attacks should be in gaol but our society doesn't seem to take this sort of bullying seriously enough. That it is serious,  I have had confirmation of  from none other than Professor Brian Martin of the organisation, Whistleblower's Australia.

Dr Martin first became involved in the attacks against the AVN a couple of years ago and, though he holds no firm opinions as to the benefits and risks of vaccination, he has worked for over 35 years with both individuals and community groups who have been put in the same situation I and the AVN have found ourselves in. He said that in all that time, this is the worst attack he has ever seen and I think he's probably right there.

His first article on this subject was published on his website first and later, reprinted in our magazine, Living Wisdom. Entitled Debating Vaccination, it covers the history of the AVN and the group that was set up for the specific purpose of shutting us down, Stop the AVN.

Dr Martin is a Professor of Social Science and he has observed the AVN's situation and commented on it from the viewpoint of how the internet and social media has influenced the way in which we communicate on issues which engender a great deal of emotion and disagreement. FaceBook, Twitter, emails and other forms of 'anonymous' communication tend to strip away the restraint which individuals may exercise when face to face and make them bolder and more willing to push what most people would consider to be the bounds of social normality.

Vaccination is a very good example of one of the issues where this sort of behaviour is evidence and Dr Martin has been fascinated by the way in which SAVN has continued to abuse (my word - not Dr Martin's) those who disagree with them about the relative benefits and risks of vaccines and to maintain a high level of rage towards those he names 'vaccine critical' on a daily - indeed, almost hourly - basis. The tactics they use, the way in which they 'gang up' on those who they disagree with and their constant attacks on anyone who questions the safety or effectiveness of vaccination have become a subject for international study with many scholars around the world examining the situation of the AVN and SAVN.

Today, Dr Martin has completed a couple of new articles on this subject and submitted them to both the AVN and SAVN for our comments. With his permission, I am putting the links to these articles here for you to read as well. Your comments would be appreciated as Dr Martin has done an incredible amount of work on this subject and has thought long and hard about it as well.

The articles are:

Online onslaught: Internet-based methods for attacking and defending citizens' organisations

Public mobbing: a phenomenon and its features (co-authored with Florencia Peña)