Should Religious Beliefs of Parents Overrule the Medical Emergencies of Their Children?
I thought I would post this poll after reading different articles regarding parents favoring “faith healing” over medical attention. We are hearing more and more about these types of deadly cases. In my opinion, it is neglect to allow death to cease your children because of superstition.
Here’s one of the more recent cases. “Parents in faith-healing case never considered calling a doctor” in which a 15 month old daughter dies due to the rejection of medical attention. The result is loss of a child’s life. Where was this little girl’s “guardian angel”, the other mythological being?
When will people finally learn that superstition only wounds the innocent? It certainly does not heal the dying. No amount of prayer or ritualism can replace proper medical care.
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No, it should not. If their God actually existed, he would send people like this to Hell for murdering their children.
And to keep them from dragging down the average IQ of Heaven.
This makes for an interesting question…but take the time to think this through before making a hasty decision. Although the choice seems simple enough, by enforcing your thoughts on others (making the decision that religious people must follow current medical guidelines for their children), you’ll be opening the door to allowing them to enforce what is best for your children (morally, etc). I absolutely grant that the parents are stupid, but we should tread very carefully before deciding that the parents are not allowed to make decisions regarding their children.
In life or death situations, the choice between religious faith healing and emergency medical attention should be easy. Medical attention should win every time.
Medical science has proven itself to be more effective than praying and it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that their children’s physical welfare is maintained.
Another thought….
Who will you sue if your child suffers permanent damage or dies because of superstitious rituals?
It has nothing to do with morality and doesn’t open the door to anything. A civilized society does not let harm come to children when it can be prevented. If the parents put their children in danger, society assumes guardianship for their safety.
The idea that a child should be denied urgently-needed medical treatment because of religious objections is outrageous and amoral. Anyone who claims that a parent’s delusional belief system is more important than the safety of their children should not be trusted with guardianship of any children. They are among the worst examples of humanity and require psychiatric treatment.
Every law we pass that forbids something is a potential slippery slope. When you place restrictions on something it does open the door for further restrictions. But the rights of parents over the lives of their children are not absolute. This has pretty much been established. Exactly what restrictions we can rationally and constitutionally place on parents is and probably always will be in flux as time passes and society develops. But it is no argument to say that because we could conceivably go too far we should just stop where we are. I don’t think that’s what you are saying but you seem to be coming pretty close.
They let their kids die, I call that being horrible parents. If I knew any of those, I would call them ASSHOLES in their face, with tears in my eyes.
How can they freaks dare!
I voted other and need to explain why. No religion shouldn’t play a part in medical treatment. Should a family ruin everyone else in the family trying to save someone terminally ill? I know most families will do all they can but sometimes there is no hope. I know a family that had a situation like this and if it wasn’t for charity I doubt she would have lived to 16.
Well, the poll is under the assumption you have the means to help the child, or at least try something. In countries like the USA with no public sanity (I don’t know 100% about this so someone correct me), if you don’t have money you have no doctors, but that’s a extreme case.
“Parents in faith-healing case never considered calling a doctor”
That’s the problem.
Theists do not sue for religious mistakes, instead it falls under their god’s will or their god has more important plans for them. More succinctly, it is not their fault.
It is evolution by natural selection. Let nature take it’s course. You can still charge the parents with criminal negligence causing death, if the child dies.
Rather sad this even happens isn’t it, they have people so convinced prayer can heal that they let there own children die. what a great source of morals! (that last sentence was sarcastic in case there are any of these kinds of people reading this)
It is sad. And then they have the nerve to falsely claim that atheists have no morals or purpose in life.
And then it’s ever sadder that they keep saying prayer does anything.
There is an option missing here.
If the parents are incapable of making rational discussions on behalf of their children, then their rights as parents are forfeit. The medical profession should be able to overrule the rights of the parents when they are injuring others in their care.
@AndrewSkegg
I agree 100%. You took the words right out of my mouth.
I guess I come at this from a different angle. I’m an atheist (duh). One of my big passions is a woman’s right to birth the way she needs to, without *unnecessary* medical intervention. So I think there’s a line here that has nothing to do with religion. Really, who made doctors “god” such that they have the right to decide what’s best for everyone else? Medicine is not infallible, it changes and evolves and what was life saving yesterday may be considered torture next generation (leeches, bleeding, etc. for example).
What if you’re an atheist who really believes that chemo kills people and instead want to try a raw diet or whatever rather than “poisoning” your kid’s body with chemo? Should you be able to try it? Or we all just hand over our rights to doctors?
So yes, I do think that refusing urgently needed medical care (who decides what’s urgently needed anyway!?) for religious reasons is pretty dumb….but fundamentally I think we ALL should have the right to refuse any and all medical care we deem unnecessary. To me it’s about medical rights, period. Even if I don’t agree with the reason why.
I am an Atheist as well… But I disagree with what you are saying specifically, “think we ALL should have the right to refuse any and all medical care we deem unnecessary.” We DO have the right to refuse medical attention that is not the argument, some people have refused having their fingers or hands reconnected and the doctor cannot do anything about it unless they are classified as unable to make a coherent decision. This discussion is about making that decision for your child who does not have the ability to make it. By your standards if you personally cut off your child’s’ leg and then let them bleed and brought them to the hospital the parent can refuse to have the leg connected because they believe their God will do it for them.
I think if the child is found to have a life threatening disease and the parents are refusing to even look at medical solutions because of purely religious reasons then the state should intervene. However as someone said this is a slippery slope as one can change their words (say it wasn’t because of religious reasons but something else). However the argument that it’s a slippery slope for what it could lead to I disagree with.
IMO the parents should pray and take the child to a doctor. If the it is incurable, keep praying. Just praying while there are actions we can do is never been taught. At least from what I believe in.
1) A very biased and loaded post.
It is like me saying:
If a child is on a life support machine should the doctor have the right to overrule the parent’s decision regarding the medical treatment of their child?
2) There are thousand of people dieing in hospitals.
Where are the mythological doctors that are supposed to save the innocent kids dieing in hospitals?
3) No doctor has ever saved a life ever.
Maybe they can prolong it for a while but never save it.
WE ALL DIE!
So do we measure the worth of a life just by the length of it?
How do you know the girl was not better off dieing?
4) That being told, I believe a parent should do the best to protect their children and putting religious belief ahead of a child welfare is a criminal act.
But replacing God with science is not an option I would vote for!
You would never call 911 for EMT assistance?
I don’t even know what you’re talking about for the first two but I find your #3 to be unbelievably hypocritical.
“How do you know the girl was not better off dieing?”
Theists are constantly screaming at whatever television camera they can find about abortion, because they claim to be pro-life.
The Catholic Pope puts millions of African people at grave risk of disease and death by spreading disinformation about condoms, because it’s a birth control device.
Theists lobby against the “morning after” pill that prevent rape victims from conceiving their rapists’ child on the grounds that it constitutes an abortion.
Theists lobby against assisted suicide, because they believe people suffering torturous pain caused by fatal illnesses shouldn’t be able to hasten the inevitable end of their life.
But you’d be fine withholding medical treatment from a child and letting her die because her parents believed praying would fix her illness? You actually have the fucking gall to ask if a 15-month old little girl would be better off dying from the common cold than getting basic medical treatment? You are despicable.
And people wonder why we get angry when idiots say atheists have no morality without religion.
If anything, this “faith healing” thing should be used as something in addition to medical treatment, not as an alternative, especially when it’s something that’s easily treatable (unless one doesn’t wish to be treated, but this wasn’t the case).
Now, this irresponsible act has left them without their daughter, facing prison time and looking like a couple of religious nuts, not to mention making their religion (and religious community, as they weren’t alone in their prayer) look worse than it does to the eyes of many.
It’s funny that they resorted to prayers to try and “heal” their daughter, but didn’t think twice about lawyering up. They’re rather selective in their use of prayer as a weapon.
Yes, this is why ADULTS are not forced to seek medical attention, in most cases. Children (especially 15-month-old daughters) do not have the mental capacity or the legal freedom to make such a decision. I agree that it is important to give citizens a choice, but clearly someone that forces their child to forgo available, life-saving treatment on religious grounds is not fit to be a guardian.
To allow parents to refuse medical treatment for their children in situations like these would be a unique liberty. Parents that don’t want to send their kids to public school have other options (private school, home school), NONE of which include completely removing the child from his/her education. If we wouldn’t allow it with attending school, why should it be any different when the child’s life is potentially in question?
Poor parents.. they should have taken proper medical care & continue with their prayers.
This is very sad to see cases such as this increase. This child is just a victim of overly religious parents, the kid might have not even believed what the parents believe in but was forced to go along. If anything, this should be a lesson but I have a feeling these cases will continue to go on because they will think that they should prey “harder” and “better”.
God helps those who help themselves and the rejection of medical aid is ridiculous. When a child dies needlessly for lack of medical attention I believe the parents should be charged with murder.
Makes you wonder why these religious people don’t come to the conclusion that their God gave mankind brains and expects them to use it. Why should he have to magically heal them when the brain he created has invented medical science to do the job?
As far as legislation, you can’t legislate the stupid. People will do what people are going to do. A “true believer” will just end up breaking those laws anyway because they feel the law infringes upon their personal freedoms just like a weed smoker disregards anti-pot laws for the same reasons.
I think of it as a kindness. They’ll never have to be raised and indoctrinated by those crazy fundies, and hopefully they’ll all just die out!
If prayers cure children and others from illness we don’t need medical help-ever!
To allow this child to be gasping for air and clearly troubled not to call Medical help is a crime. A beautiful little child died due to the parents obsession and hope that God alone can cure all.
I still don’t understand why people think praying will cure you. Of course if they die then, “God works in mysterious ways” or “God has other plans for them” or some bullshit excuse. However, if they child were to live, then all of a sudden it’s all because they prayed for her. It really scares me that people believe in talking snakes, virgin births, and burning bushes. It’s the grown up fairy tale that somehow people still believe in. It’s quite flabbergasting if you ask me.