An actual headline from 21st century American news:
“Wisconsin father kills daughter by praying instead of seeking medical help”.
Killed by prayer? Think about this ‘father kills daughter by praying’. I’m quite sure this isn’t even possible, but apparently there are some who think this is within the domain of reality. Not only is this not possible, it isn’t even close to what happened in this particular case. Those slandered by this misrepresentation of possible truths were surely harmed, and so are the rest of us. It should bother us that this could be written in our modern country and displayed in the media for others to read. A headline convicting people who hadn’t even been in court by this time. This is beyond my ability to understand; I can only shake my head in disbelief. But this should worry us—it should worry all of us—because it means that any of us can be slandered in this way. Consider what this kind of language would do to anyone connected with the ensuing trial. This causes one to wonder:
Can anyone get a fair trial in such cases as this?
Historians tell us of people in the old world being prosecuted and executed, for visiting death and destruction on their neighbors with the Evil Eye. But I thought the world’s most powerful, most enlightened nation was centuries removed from such primitive thoughts. When considering this headline only casually, you get an immediate sense of the mentality one can be confronted with in such important matters as this and, in this case, what a young girl’s parents were likely to have been hobbled with as the judicial process played out in their case.
From what I’ve read of this case, they may have been seriously underserved by the justice system. And until we improve significantly, any similar case will be handicapped in the quest for fair and unbiased judgments. My goal with this essay is to support this premise. To be clear, I am not speaking for these parents in particular; I am speaking for our right to be safe from improper prosecution.
Serious critical thinking is required to get past the initial rush of emotions which inhibit many from being able to make a rational judgment about what happened. To be sure, I am saddened because of the possibility this young girl suffered at all. But I am also saddened for the parent’s loss. Finally, I am saddened for our loss if we can’t collectively figure out how to cope with such complex and emotional situations. So here’s the story as I understand it.
This story starts with a young girl becoming ill. Her parents could have done what many parents do at the first sign of distress and turned their child over to a doctor. On the other hand the parents could have done what many parents do; care for their daughter in their home. So this is what they did! But the young girl’s condition worsened. It was at this point that they turned their child over to their god; as they believed God heals. Were they wrong? Did they legally and morally have a choice? There was a failure here. Was what they did a sign of failed parenting or failed culture? Considering the facts of the case, legal and ethical, it appears that what they did made sense, not that I would do the same . . . but I’m not motivated by the same beliefs. And this is an important distinction to keep in mind while considering what families do in such situations, and why. Her parents called family and friends because her condition worsened, and they joined together and prayed because this is what they believed would be the best thing they could do for her.
The people who knew them spoke highly of the family, but just couldn’t get past their own beliefs that these parents made the wrong choice.
“Parents chose to pray rather than get medical help for sick child.”
This is the type quote you find in the articles about this family and other families like them. Apparently a lot of people don’t understand what it is like to believe in a miracle performing god. But this is ‘the’ key to understanding human behaviors which some seem to think are bizarre. This story is about a family of Christians, living in a Christian country, practicing Christianity and following the dictates of the Bible. The Bible; the first English translations from the 14th century, is the most widely sold book in the world. Some forms of religion have been around for millennia, with evidence of rituals going back hundreds of thousands of years. We’re not particularly dealing with crackpots here; we’re dealing with humans which have a different, or stronger, connection to some of humanity’s oldest beliefs. If you can’t open your mind to this you won’t be able to understand what is really happening.
Comments in the papers said the parents chose to keep their child home and pray—instead of taking her to a doctor. This is also inaccurate. To choose is to pick one instead of another. But if going to a hospital is not a realistic prospect in a person’s mind, there is no choice to be made. In such cases the parents may only have one reality—and it requires no choice. This may be easier for some to accept by considering the opposite view. Consider a parent which is a firm believer of medical science and an atheist. If their child gets sick it is most likely that praying will not happen. If this person ‘really’ believes there is no supernatural help for the child praying is not considered; no prospect. If there is but a single path to follow—there is no choice. In this case one does not choose what to do—one does what is believed to be right.
In American culture were these parents wrong?
When the media found out the young girl died in her parent’s home the frailty of human sensibilities became evident again. From the early reports one easily understood; rationality and compassion weren’t going to play a big part in this community while the outcome of this event unfolded. These parents were going to pay for their indiscretion!
Simply trying to avoid sending the wrong signals here; I’m not advocating for or against religion. I’m looking for a rational way to explain the irrational behaviors we exhibit in such instances as this one. For this commentary I, respectfully, refer to the god of the Christians as God because this is common in the Christian community in this country. As an atheist I am not defending religion, I’m defending the right of Christians to do what Christians should based on their particular creed as long as it doesn’t violate any rights or laws. In this case it may be that what these parents did was right, according to their creed and the law.
The facts are simple, the questions obvious, the answers difficult—but forthcoming to rational inquiry. I think most rational people, particularly parents, will agree ‘normal’ parents should have the right to raise their children the way they believe is best. Furthermore, as an evolving society we have learned to respect the rights of children; this has not always been so. And very important in this case; this country boasts the right to freedom of religion and in fact . . . guarantees it. This case is easy to misunderstand and easy to misrepresent. So for everyone’s sake, we need to be open-minded and rational as we consider it. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read about this case and the personal comments from others, most people aren’t considering the complexity of it, but as usual, are making judgments based on their emotion laden feelings—and not much more!
This case brings head to head religion and science. It pits the rights of the parents against the rights of society in determining the rights of children. It warrants that we consider our fitness to make such important decisions and our ability to judge others for theirs. And, it shines a light into a murky area—the Christian’s belief about God when applied to real life, as is revealed in the sharp contrast between Christian behaviors. Finally, the facts in this case point to the guilty! But here’s where it gets tough. We have to consider the facts and the effects of human nature and culture if we want to get anywhere near an informed, intelligent understanding of the truth in this case. We must consider only the factors which are truly relevant in such a serious case, not our feelings. Some religious, and some non-religious, have said the parents must be prosecuted and others claim the choice belonged to the parents.
Sadly, the young girl died and for their part in this the parents have been prosecuted. This result brings to the fore a simple truth—it seems most people think these parents deserved to be punished for their actions. Did they? Were these parents wrong; or did they have the right to do what they did? What if this was the young girl’s choice as well; and what is society’s business in this anyway?
These Wisconsin statutes help shed some light on a parent’s prerogative in such cases.
948.03 (6) TREATMENT THROUGH PRAYER. A person is not guilty of an offense under this section solely because he or she provides a child with treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone for healing in accordance with the religious method of healing permitted under s. 48.981 (3) (c) 4. or 448.03 (6) in lieu of medical or surgical treatment.
448.03 (6) PRACTICE OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. No law of this state regulating the practice of medicine and surgery may be construed to interfere with the practice of Christian Science. A person who elects Christian Science treatment in lieu of medical or surgical treatment for the cure of disease may not be compelled to submit to medical or surgical treatment.
Nobody, other than the parents, can know the motivation for their actions, but from what I’ve read it appears the parents ‘really’ believed God would provide for their family, but they lost their daughter! And if that’s not enough, they had to face prosecution and jail. A very important fact in this case is, to those who do believe, the sole factor, the only factor which would determine whether this girl would live or die, was the will of God—regardless of whether she was being treated by doctors or being prayed for by family. There is no doubt; the Bible instructs believers to pray for healing. (James 5; 14, 15) So if the parents were wrong . . . then Christianity is wrong!
As this country formed and then flourished those before us decided it was important to ensure freedom of religion; so they did. Now it seems there are people who want to take this away. But on the other side of the coin, there are people who will be happy to create laws forcing religion on everyone, and some of these people are lawmakers. It makes sense to me that the scientific faction in this debacle would lean toward invalidating religion, as would I, but when self-proclaimed religious prosecute the religious, it’s time for serious reflection.
So, we’re a blend of religion-based, technology-enthusiasts, trying to figure out which way is up. I’m atheist, but I came from a religious family and I was a Christian at one time. I’m also from one of the generations whose parents grew up using kerosene to soak a cut or whose neighbors grew up using spider webs to wrap a laceration; the time just before the medicine we know exploded onto the scene. Point being; the medicine we know is a new phenomenon. The religion we and our ancestors have all depended on . . . it’s been around for millennia.
If you were born in the first half of the 20th century you may easily think science is our salvation; it will save us from all our shortcomings and recklessness. Within the current population there are some who experienced this recent evolution of modern medicine and the progress of the modern medical model. To some this would have seemed nearly miraculous because of what it was like before, but my suspicion is it will be considered post stone-age medicine in the not-too-distant future. There are good aspects of technology and medical institutions, but in historical fact; they were bleeding people not too long ago. And we know that millions die each year while in medical care and because of medical care, but probably just as many die while being prayed for. So there are pros and cons on each side; or so it would seem. Unfortunately people get hurt, even die–on both sides. So neither philosophy seems to be good enough.
In a society which claims to believe in God and miracles, and teaches their children to do so, is a parent praying for their child any less responsible than a parent taking their child to a medical institution? If my grandparents had diabetes, their parents wouldn’t even have had the choice to take them for insulin treatment. As recently as the early 1900’s diabetic children lay comatose in hospital wards while their parents watched them slowly die. Furthermore the use of antibiotics wasn’t wide spread even in my mother’s day. Would praying for your child at those times have been acceptable? Would those who didn’t pray feel the scorn of their neighbors and be prosecuted for doing nothing for their children?
So how do we know which is right, how can we rationally choose the best for our children? During the time I professed to be a Christian I firmly believed God could, and would, take care of my family. During that time I had more faith in prayer than medicine so I understand how powerful faith can seem. We do irrational things; in fact little of what we do is based on rational thinking. The majority of the time we follow the dictates of our predecessors; we do what we were taught and, for the most part, we repeat what we did yesterday.
The stats I looked up indicate approximately 90% of the population claims to be Christian. In this same 2003 poll 93% of the professed Christians claimed to believe in miracles. Statistics like these make the following example one of the unexplainable paradoxes in American culture. By the statistics this is a predominately Christian country but Christianity can’t be taught in schools. If you want to be successful running for government office you’d better claim to be Christian. When you talk to someone who claims to be Christian they will tell you God is the creator, the giver of life, the all powerful healer. Surely these Christians will pray if they suspect they are ill, but just as surely—it will be on the way to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment. The parents of this girl chose to believe the Bible; to trust God to give or take–as only God can. Please notice, I’m identifying a vast disparity in the way Christians live their faith. Does this make the act of obeying God’s instruction in the Bible wrong? This should be a tough question for a population of over 80% miracle believing Christians.
Presumably the parents were tried by a group of their peers. If the jury selection was legitimate and the profile of the jury representative of society, then based on the statistics shown, nine out of ten people on an average jury would be people claiming to believe in God, and most of those believing in miracles. This says something very important:
Miracle believing Christians condemned the Christian parents for actively believing in a miracle performing God.
Most children are enculturated with the concept of God, but also learn that science and medicine will provide the important remedies. Still, in public, most claim to be miracle believing children of God. Many claim our morals are based in religion and will fight to defend the inscription on our currency claiming ‘In God We Trust.’ And many take the same stand to justify ‘One Nation Under God’ in the pledge. But, when parents really expected God, which most claim to believe in, to take care of their family, they not only lost their daughter—they were persecuted by a predominately Christian society.
There are people trying to use this incident to forge new laws which will dictate to all parents when they must take their children to medical institutions. This should truly scare all clear thinking individuals. I did an online search and found that in the last 25 years approximately 300 children in the U.S. have died of diabetes while their parents chose not to take them to a hospital; this is around 12 a year. I am not making light of this loss, but according to the statistics it’s clear that diabetes claims a lot of lives of those in medical care as well. The CDC reports that in 2007 diabetes was the cause, or contributing cause, in approximately 300,000 deaths in the U.S. (www.cdc.gov/diabetes . . .)
From what I have seen of religion and medicine in the last sixty years, both leave humanity suffering and hurting too much of the time. This case seems to have brought to the surface a blatant disparity in American culture. When a child dies in the care of a physician the parents and doctors are blameless, even consoled. When a child dies in the care of the ‘omnipotent’ God, who everyone claims to believe is the creator of life, the parents are branded as unfit and are persecuted and imprisoned for being so evil and foolish as to believe the word of God.
So who can we blame for this fiasco? Well, if we can believe the statistics from the poll—almost everyone.
The guilty party is . . . society!
Is this not a country in which 90% (2003) of the citizens claim to be Christian? Doesn’t the population of this country claim to believe in miracles? Aren’t there churches everywhere you go? Are you not the oddball if you’re atheist? Do the math! But, it’s way easier to just blame a couple parents now and then, rather than society! Almost an entire society claims to believe in God but prosecutes people for demonstrating they believe in God and God’s word—the Bible. The only rational conclusion is this behavior is not rational! Is society at fault? No doubt about it!
When a society’s culture influences its population to believe the tenets of religion and people do just that; isn’t it wrong to blame them for doing what they were taught? When a child develops diabetes in a society which spends billions teaching children and parents to indulge in a junk food diet, shouldn’t there be blame assigned to those responsible for the plight of the sick children? When a child becomes obese on a diet which is sure to produce obesity, shouldn’t we blame somebody? Should we punish the child for doing what it was taught, or would it make more sense to punish the parents for teaching the child to eat incorrectly? And might it make even more sense to punish those in the industry which mass produces and ferociously markets the junk food? But maybe we can’t blame anybody, or maybe we need to blame everybody. But then, how could we call this—civilization?
The easy way out of this conundrum is to just blame a couple people, like the young girl’s parents. It happens that when we make someone else appear to be wrong—it has the desirable affect of making the rest of us appear to be right! Whether we are or not!
The parents of this young girl, if they are typical of the majority, learned about God starting in childhood. It usually starts at home, and then people hear about it and read about it throughout their lives. They could hear about it from those in government and may have been required to swear an oath on a Bible somewhere along the way. They would learn about it in church and from relatives and friends. They certainly could have heard about God through TV and radio—all day long! Bottom line folks, these people are nothing more or less than the product of their culture. Just give them some apple pie, a cup of coffee and turn on the TV after church on Sunday and you have—Americans. If they were wrong—American culture is wrong!
In the midst of this situation emerges a paradox; most people claim to believe in God, most people teach their children about God—then most people condemned these parents for putting God before Man. There’s no way to rationally explain this. At least I can’t figure it out! Our society seems to halfheartedly support two philosophies, which can’t help but lead to the very point to which this case took this family and society—pseudo-justice. This was so wrong it’s hard to imagine such dichotomy existing in an intelligent species! Generation after generation society perpetuates the environment in which this happened and will happen again. It’s ambiguous and convoluted, it’s irrational and unexplainable—and it stays this way. Then periodically, someone suffers for it.
I’m atheist. But I claim these parents acted correctly when judged according to Christian beliefs, American culture and the laws in their community. After the fact, it’s easy to say their daughter would probably have been better off at the hospital, and I agree with this. But based on the preceding statistics, we don’t really know. While on the other hand, if I were a Christian, and I was at one time, I would claim ‘it was God’s will this girl died’ and would claim to be happy she is with God, or soon will be.
As a society we need to either accept religious freedom or not. If it’s a religious country and if it’s predominately Christian and still uses the King James Bible as a guide, then prayer should be legitimate. If it’s not legitimate to pray for God’s care then there’s only one rational solution for our society—get rid of religion. That’s it, a rational choice! This probably sounds ridiculous to the majority, but if you’re a Bible reader you know how God feels about ‘lukewarm Christians’ anyway (Rev. 3:16). I have to say, the aphorism in this verse is one instance in which I agree with the Bible.
The outcome of the trial was the parents were sentenced to 10 years probation with a requirement they serve one month a year in jail for the first six years. They were to do some community service and they are supposed to take their other children in for regular checkups. In sentencing the parents this way the judge said he wanted them to spend one month a year in jail so they could contemplate the lesson God is trying to teach them.
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