The Followers of Christ is a religious sect that preaches faith healing in states such as Idaho, which offers a faith-based shield for felony crimes – despite alarming child mortality rates among these groups
Mariah Walton’s voice is quiet – her lungs have been wrecked by her illness, and her respirator doesn’t help. But her tone is resolute.
“Yes, I would like to see my parents prosecuted.”
Why?
“They deserve it.” She pauses. “And it might stop others.”
Mariah is 20 but she’s frail and permanently disabled. She has pulmonary hypertension and when she’s not bedridden, she has to carry an oxygen tank that allows her to breathe. At times, she has had screws in her bones to anchor her breathing device. She may soon have no option for a cure except a heart and lung transplant – an extremely risky procedure.
All this could have been prevented in her infancy by closing a small congenital hole in her heart. It could even have been successfully treated in later years, before irreversible damage was done. But Mariah’s parents were fundamentalist Mormons who went off the grid in northern Idaho in the 1990s and refused to take their children to doctors, believing that illnesses could be healed through faith and the power of prayer.
As she grew sicker and sicker, Mariah’s parents would pray over her and use alternative medicine. Until she finally left home two years ago, she did not have a social security number or a birth certificate.
Had they been in neighboring Oregon, her parents could have been booked for medical neglect. In Mariah’s case, as in scores of others of instances of preventible death among children in Idaho since the 1970s, laws exempt dogmatic faith healers from prosecution, and she and her sister recently took part in a panel discussion with lawmakers at the state capitol about the issue. Idaho is one of only six states that offer a faith-based shield for felony crimes such as manslaughter. Continued here http://tinyurl.com/ha3xukd
Regardless of the legality of what these parents do in states like Idaho and Oregon, and regardless of their sincerity and certainty about their faith (and the power of their prayer), do Christians here on the Spirituality Forum ~ i.e. those people here who believe in "sin" ~ think that the actions of the parents described in the article at the link above can be considered "sinful"?
Originally posted by FMF The Guardian UK http://tinyurl.com/ha3xukd
[b]The Followers of Christ is a religious sect that preaches faith healing in states such as Idaho, which offers a faith-based shield for felony crimes – despite alarming child mortality rates among these groups
[quote]Mariah Walton’s voice is quiet – her lungs have been wrecked by her illness, and her respira ...[text shortened]... he actions of the parents described in the article at the link above can be considered "sinful"?[/b]
Do you happen to know what those six states are that are mentioned in the article as having a "faith-based shield" for felony crimes?
I mean, yeah, okay, there's Idaho, what are the rest?
Originally posted by Suzianne Do you happen to know what those six states are that are mentioned in the article as having a "faith-based shield" for felony crimes?
I mean, yeah, okay, there's Idaho, what are the rest?
I Googled it and found Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio and West Virginia.
Do you think parents rejecting medical treatment for their children ~ to the detriment of their children's well being ~ are being "sinful"?
Originally posted by Suzianne Any child abuse is sinful, yes. Children rely on us to protect them and keep them from harm. To betray that trust is about as sinful as it gets.
So putting ~ as those parents did ~ that much faith in their God and in the power of prayer is, theologically speaking - and to your way of thinking - a transgression of God's will?
Originally posted by FMF So putting ~ as those parents did ~ that much faith in their God and in the power of prayer is, theologically speaking - and to your way of thinking - a transgression of God's will?
No. Failing to properly care for their kids is a transgression of God's will.
Their faith doesn't much enter into it.
They could have the faith to move mountains and pray until the cows come home, but they damned well better take their kids to the hospital when they get sick. Absolving yourself of your parental responsibility is not God's will.
Originally posted by FMF Do you think there is a correlation between a failure to properly care of children and being Republican?
Not "per se". There is, however, a correlation between being Republican and having a less-than-comprehensive understanding of the separation of church and state.
Witness the attempt this last week by the Tennessee legislature to adopt the Bible as the Official State Book of Tennessee.
Originally posted by FMF The Guardian UK http://tinyurl.com/ha3xukd
[b]The Followers of Christ is a religious sect that preaches faith healing in states such as Idaho, which offers a faith-based shield for felony crimes – despite alarming child mortality rates among these groups
[quote]Mariah Walton’s voice is quiet – her lungs have been wrecked by her illness, and her respira ...[text shortened]... he actions of the parents described in the article at the link above can be considered "sinful"?[/b]
Conversely, I know of a father who had a teenage daughter who obtained an abortion without his consent and died from the procedure.
Meanwhile, the child in question could not obtain so much as an aspirin in school without his notification.
Should the father be able to sue Planned Parenthood?
Originally posted by whodey Conversely, I know of a father who had a teenage daughter who obtained an abortion without his consent and died from the procedure.
Meanwhile, the child in question could not obtain so much as an aspirin in school without his notification.
Should the father be able to sue Planned Parenthood?
I don't have any difficulty getting my head round the belief that abortion is "sinful". But what about the actions of the members of Followers of Christ sect? Do you think parents rejecting medical treatment [to the detriment of their children's health] is "sinful"?
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15 Apr '16 13:11
Originally posted by FMF I don't have any difficulty getting my head round the belief that abortion is "sinful". But what about the actions of the members of Followers of Christ sect? Do you think parents rejecting medical treatment [to the detriment of their children's health] is "sinful"?
I do think it is wrong. While I do believe God can and does heal people today, many do not get healed for reasons unknown. I personally think it is unbelief.
So having said that, I thank God for doctors, otherwise many Christians would be dead.
I think it foolish to not see a doctor when your prayers are unanswered in a reasonable amount of time.
The Followers of Christ sect, Idaho
14 Apr '16 04:231 edit
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