Faith, Medicine Collide, And A Young Girl Dies (Parents chose to pray rather than get medical help)

JSOnline ^ | March 26, 2008 | Bill Glauber

[Hyzenthlay]

Yeah, it is possible - I had some form of appendicitis for about three months, but it wasn’t until I almost too sick to stand up and walk around like normal that I had a doctor’s appointment made, and it wasn’t until 2-3 days after that that I actually was able to have my appendix removed. Before that, I was just generally tired, faint, nauseous, and occasionally in ‘mild’ (by my definition) pain for a couple months. Looking back, the fact that I started sleeping almost 20 hours a day on weekends and 13-16 hours weekdays should have been a sign something was up.

So I’m split - on one hand, syptoms like thirst and dry skin, and even a bit of the kid lying around saying she ‘doesn’t feel good’ aren’t exactly big red flags that there’s something wrong. On the other hand, if she WAS seriously sick and the parents refused to take her to the doctor regardless, then that’s an entirely different story and they’re clearly guilty of neglect.

[jazusamo]

Yes, you’re correct and it really does hinge on what they knew and believed. It’s difficult to take a stand on most of this type story because the articles don’t spell out exactly what happened and even when you think they do they’re not always correct.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I love that one. Such a great object lesson. :)

[VanShuyten]

Negligent homocide. No different than if they’d starved their kid to death to drive out demons. They believed they were doing the right thing, but they directly caused the death of their child. Same as if they had wrapped their kid up in a blanket (carpet? can’t remember the details of that one) and hugged the demons out of her, causing her death.

[mkjessup]

Considering that the parents told the police chief that they’d pursue the same course of action again leads me to believe that they don’t grasp what they did wrong.

You are absolutely right. At this point, the parents (IMHO) fail to comprehend what their actions (or inaction) led to.

Not making light of the situation, but in some ways it reminds me of that old story about the man who saw the flood waters rising around his house, the police drove by and said "c'mon! let's go!" and the man said "You go help someone else, the Lord will take care of me!" and the police drove on. Into the evening, emergency workers came by in a boat, and the man called out from his second floor window "no worries here, the Lord is taking care of me!" so they sailed on by. By 1:00 in the morning, the man was on the top of his roof, and a helicopter flew overhead, barking through a megaphone "we're throwing you a rope!" and the man yells back, "keep your rope! The Lord is taking care of me!" and before sunrise, the man drowned.

The man finds himself in the presence of Almighty God, and says "Lord, I placed my faith in You to save me, but I died and here I am, what happened?"

And the Lord says "Look you, I sent two cops, a boat and a helicopter, what MORE did you want?!?"

[mkjessup]

Not to mention the million babies a year who die because their 'mothers' do seek 'medical care'.

Oh yes. Makes you wonder where those 'doctors' were when they were teaching about that part of the Hippocratic Oath that says "First, do no harm".

[mkjessup]

I should have scrolled down before posting, that’s a popular story! ;)