Prelude: On Easter Sunday, 2007, an 11-year old Wisconsin girl died "of complications of diabetes that went untreated because police say her parents' obscure religious beliefs do not allow medical intervention.The girl's name was Madeline Kara Neumann. Her family is connected to a faith-healing group called "Unleavened Bread Ministries." The group does not believe in medical intervention. Founder David Eells says "We are not commanded in scripture to send people to the doctor but to meet their needs through faith and prayer. ... we know that the best one to trust for healing is Jesus Christ. The foundation for receiving this benefit from Him is repentance and faith in His promises."
Unleavened Bread Ministries is also a Christian cult of death.
Last month, Neil Beagley, 16, died "of heart failure caused by a urinary tract blockage." The state medical examiner for Clackamas County said that a catheter would have saved Beagley's life.
Beagley was a member of Followers of Christ, a cult of death that believes in faith-healing and rejects medical intervention. According to Oregon law, he was old enough to make the decision whether to seek medical treatment or not. Trusting his parents and church leaders, he decided to go the faith-healing route. It was a fatal mistake.
In March of 2008, Beagley's 15-month old cousin, Ava Worthington, died in her home from bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection. Her parents had failed to call for medical help. Authorites filed charges against her parents. The parents are fighting those charges claiming their right to religious freedom.
Followers of Christ derives from a Pentecostal splinter group led by one Walter T. White who arrived in Oregon in the 1930s. White is dead but the group lives on and continues to reject medical treatment in favor of "spiritual healing."
According to oregonlive.com, "Of dozens of children buried since the 1950s in the church's cemetery south of Oregon City, at least 21 could have been saved by medical intervention..."
It is very likely that in the State of Oregon and in the city of Oregon City, if you beat up your child you are going to be put in jail. Child abuse is a crime.
Killing your child by neglecting or rejecting necessary medical treatment is not.
Again from oregonlive: "Lobbied by the Christian Science Church, [Oregon] legislators in 1995 introduced a religious defense to Oregon's homicide statutes, protecting parents who try to heal their children with prayer. In 1997, they extended religious protections to cases of first- and second- degree manslaughter. In 1999, after a series of faith-healing deaths, legislators eliminated Oregon's 'spiritual healing defense' in certain cases of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment. Parents who exercise a religious defense remain immune from prosecutiion fro murder."
In Oregon, you can kill your child by failing to obtain the medical treatment necessary to save his/her life. All you need to do is claim that your skygod made you do it and you're home free!
If your child is 16 or older, however, you don't even need the religious defense. You can legally kill him by suggesting he attend to your belief in "spiritual healing."
The skygod lives on in Oregon City! Have faith, they (Skygod, son and spirit) said. Faith can move mountains, they said. The Oregon City Followers of Christ believed that. The Skygod can heal, said the Skygod. The Oregon City Followers of Christ believed that.
Unfortunately, their faith failed and their healing failed and their children died. Their faith continues to fail and their children continue to die.
They claim that the Constitution's provision regarding freedom of religion applies to them; that they should be allowed to continue to kill their children while relying on the Skygod's intervention rather than medical intervention.
In fact, the Worthington's, who killed their little girl last March and have been charged with manslaughter and criminal mistreatment, have set up a website to garner nationwide support for their "religious defense." Check it out here.
One non-scientific definition of insanity is this: You are insane if you to continue to do something even when you have learned that what you are doing does not work, or is wrong.
Followers of Christ is a Christian cult of death. By the above definition, they are also insane.
1 comment:
What a sad story! I think some members of Christian Science have died when prayer failed. The problem is that we have such a high degree of religious freedom in the USA. It is relatively easy to set up a Church and become a minister. Once that is done, enormous tax breaks are yours, with little oversight. Religion is a good business and governmental agencies avoid controlling them. If kids die because their parents made decisions that allowed them to die, they are following their religious beliefs and no one can tell them to do differently, apparently.
What if all tax breaks were removed from ALL religious institutions? Why shouldn’t the followers pay all expenses? Why should a member of the cloth have any income taxed as all other businesses? Why should church property get police and fire service without paying a fair share as we all do? Why should you pay for your neighbor’s religious school or building, if you do not approve of it and want one of your own? It is the government’s job to provide schooling. If you want something better, pay for it. I am in favor of freedom of religion but the members should pay the bills. I will pay for my group and you all should pay for yours. Christ said to render unto Caesar that which is ….etc. He never asked for special favors.
Bob Poris
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