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While I disgree vehemently with the governments intrusion and the strong arm tactics implied here, I still think its wrong to deny treatment based on a faith in divine intervention. Im a Catholic, and believe that faith and prayer IN TANDEM with professional care is the best route for cancer or any other potentially terminal ailment.

One of my favorite old jokes:

A man is sitting on his front porch looking at a rising river. A police boat on the river pulls over to the bank and offers to evacuate the man to higher ground. He waves them off. "I trust in the Lord," he says. "He will provide."

A few hours later, the river has burst its bank, and the man is sitting on his porch awning with the water lapping at his heels. A fireman in a canoe paddles up. "C'mon! We're getting out of here!" the fireman says. The homeowner waves him off. "I trust in the Lord," he says. "He will provide."

A few hours later, the homeowner is on his roof. The water is up to his chest. A Coast Guard helicopter appears and lowers a rescue ladder. He waves them off. "I trust in the Lord," he struggles to shout over the sound of the rotors. "He will provide."

The waters rise over the roof, and over the head of its owner, and he drowns.

He walks through the Pearly Gates, and faces a blinding light. Falling to his knees, he cries out in despair, "Lord, You promised that you would protect your people. I kept the faith. Why did You forsake me?"

Suddenly, a voice echoes across the clouds. "I SENT YOU TWO BOATS AND A HELICOPTER. WHAT WERE YOU WAITING FOR?"

It's a parable.

Didn't God create doctors? Didn't God give us the gifts of reason and discernment that allow us to learn more about the world He gave us? God certainly gets the credit for penicillin; it was discovered, not invented.

Miracles aren't always bathed in heavenly light and accompanied by a celestial choir. Sometimes they show up in a vehicle with flashing lights on the top, or with a lab coat and a stethoscope, or even in a Petri dish.

If you try to confine God's work to some preconceived notion you've gleaned from Charleton Heston movies, well, that's Deity Profiling, and it's just not right. Take a step back and consider that God just might be smarter than you, and more subtle. If you don't get it all at first blush, it's because you're not supposed to. That's how fathers (and Fathers) teach.

New thread with updated info : McDonnell (VA Attorney General) Backs Abraham Cherrix's Bid for Delay

On the other hand, miracles do happen. I knew an older gentleman in my church. He was told he had lung cancer. He got a blessing. When he went back for treatment there was no evidence of lung cancer.

I often tell people it must sound weird that I am a slightly crunchy conservative. I would use an M.D. if necessary, but I trust N.D.s a whole lot more.