As a parent, you would – or should – do anything you can to protect your child. When that responsibility become at odds with your religion, though, tragedy can follow.
Most states have exceptions in their child neglect and abuse statutes for parents who practice faith healing – that is, the practice of shunning medical care in favor of praying for healing. Oregon, however, has restricted that exemption, one of the only states to do so. Two recent child deaths are testing that restriction.
In one case, parents ignored their 15-year-old son’s urinary tract blockage, which eventually led to heart failure. Another family did not see a doctor for their 15-month-old’s bacterial pneumonia and blood infection. The girl died from these treatable conditions.
And before you point fingers at these parents for being benighted fools –and I am not arguing that they aren’t, believe me – I don’t believe this falls too far from that New-Agey “heal your body with the power of positive thoughts” crap.
Of course, this kind of stuff can stop short of death. The story quotes a college professor named Beth Young who had hip dysplasia, which her parents prayed over out never took her to a doctor to treat. She finally was diagnosed in her 20s, when nothing could be done.
And this quote from her sums up the sadness of the prayer and positivism viewpoint: "I can remember times when I would pray and pray and pray, and I would think that maybe I'm healed now, and then I would go check, and I'd go walk in front of a mirror or something, and then I would discover, no I'm not."
Yep, this poor kid thought she didn’t get healed because she didn’t pray hard enough, or God chose not to hear her. That’s a terrible lesson for anyone.
