Woman, 20, calls on government to prosecute parents for choosing prayer over actual medicine - Polidicks

[quote]Mariah Walton grew up struggling for every breath. Now 20, she awaits a heart and lung transplant, in part because of a congenital heart defect she said could have been fixed — if her parents had only taken her to a doctor. Her parents refused to seek medical care because they believed she could be healed through prayer. Now Walton believes it's time for her parents and people like them to take responsibility for endangering lives. "I think it's time to prosecute them," she said.[/quote] [url]http://www.kgw.com/news/health/denied-medical-care-because-of-religion-she-now-wants-her-parents-prosecuted/142977047[/url] [quote]Mariah Walton believes her parents, members of the Idaho Followers of Christ sect who believe medical treatment intervene with God's will, deserve to be prosecuted. Walton first received treatment when she was 18, after threatening her father to take her to the doctors after she collapsed. She was diagnosed with pulminary hypertension – irreversible heart damage – caused by a small hole in her heart that, if treated sooner, could have been fixed. "Yes, I would like to see my parents prosecuted. They deserve it – and it might stop others," she told the Guardian. ... In Idaho, Walton's parents are immune to prosecution due to a clause in the law that protects faith healers, who believe prayer to the exclusion of medicine can cure illness.[/quote] [url]http://www.christiantoday.com/article/woman.left.permanently.disabled.prosecutes.faith.healer.parents.for.refusing.medical.treatment/84316.htm[/url] Disgusting someone in a Western nation can still get away with that. It's child abuse, no other way to describe it.

[QUOTE]In Idaho, Walton's parents are immune to prosecution due to a clause in the law that protects faith healers, who believe prayer to the exclusion of medicine can cure illness. [/QUOTE] Fuuuuuuck off. I hope Mariah pulls through. That's severely messed up, and has already pretty much ruined her life. Edit: [QUOTE]The mortality rate in the sect is reportedly 10 times higher than the state's rate, and many of those who die are young children or newborn babies.[/QUOTE] Please don't just stop at just the parents.

Faith healing is the most bullshit concept ever and it's only right that someone should get prosecuted for pushing it upon their child rather than using conventional medicine.

Are we exempt from the law if we become faith killers and purge these idiots from our society?

[QUOTE=MR-X;50167454]Are we exempt from the law if we become faith killers and purge these idiots from our society?[/QUOTE] Faith healing has already come around a full circle and become faith killing

growing up, I was always told that yeah prayer helps but if you don't take steps to take care of yourself and go to the doctor and take medicine that's prescribed to you then.... idk what u expect to happen... im not sure if remember ever hearing anything about "faith healing", though sometimes "healing" did happen but usually because someone was smart and went to the doctor ! these parents should definitely be prosecuted cuz that's fucked up.

By extension, hopefully this argument shuts up some of the Anti-Vaxxers.

My opinion on faith or spiritual healing is that sometimes it does "work" because sometimes the body wins its own battles, and then the credit goes to prayer, god, or whatever rock you were holding at the time, rather than the insanely complicated and beautiful body we live in. Then when it fails, it's "God's will" whereas real medicine would have only increased your odds. It just pains me to see people who discredit modern medicine in favor of unfounded ideas just because of ~toxins~ or faith.

[QUOTE=Ajacks;50167606]My opinion on faith or spiritual healing is that sometimes it does "work" because sometimes the body wins its own battles, and then the credit goes to prayer, god, or whatever rock you were holding at the time, rather than the insanely complicated and beautiful body we live in. Then when it fails, it's "God's will" whereas real medicine would have only increased your odds. It just pains me to see people who discredit modern medicine in favor of unfounded ideas just because of ~toxins~ or faith.[/QUOTE] I think that having some sort of faith (And/Or just family/friend emotional support) if you helps with the emotional and psychological component of any sort of serious disease treatment. I'm not entirely saying mind over matter, but it helps with conventional medicine.

What helps with conventional medicine is not being a retard and using your brain lol

[QUOTE=Ajacks;50167606]My opinion on faith or spiritual healing is that sometimes it does "work" because sometimes the body wins its own battles, and then the credit goes to prayer, god, or whatever rock you were holding at the time, rather than the insanely complicated and beautiful body we live in. Then when it fails, it's "God's will" whereas real medicine would have only increased your odds. It just pains me to see people who discredit modern medicine in favor of unfounded ideas just because of ~toxins~ or faith.[/QUOTE] Placebo treatment is a legit thing; and "faith" can likely fall into that category. In fact, religion can relieve stress, which postpones your immune system's reaction time, usually causing possibly dangerous diseases, infections and the likes to get discovered far too late. It is however still best to get a doctor's opinion, and you should by no means try to avoid necessary surgery.

My childhood and youth was strangled by religious indoctrination and extremism. Please do something to regulate this everywhere in the world, it is or should be a violation of human rights.

[QUOTE=Grandzeit;50167765]Placebo treatment[/QUOTE] For anyone who doesn't know what happens from placebo treatment here you go. It gets rid of symptoms and makes you feel better because you believe you're getting better etc/ Which in something minor like a painful burn it's a good method if nothing else can be used. For serious stuff it's completely useless.

I dont even care about faith healing being a thing, but it should [I][B]never[/B][/I] be to the exclusion of actual medicine

It will be awful if she dies in the transplant surgery or dies of complications waiting for a transplant, and this idea disappears again until some other abused child comes of age and speaks up. Of all the atrocities committed in the name of religion, watching your own child die is up there for me. Someone is completely dependent on your love and care and your half-arsed excuse for treatment will not save their lives.

I honestly want to know what her parents are thinking. You know, whether they feel any guilt whatsoever for needlessly ruining the life of their daughter.

[QUOTE=sb27;50167996]I honestly want to know what her parents are thinking. You know, whether they feel any guilt whatsoever for needlessly ruining the life of their daughter.[/QUOTE] It was God's will :/ As for faith healing, there an old story about it. It is called the man on the roof. A man was on a roof during a flood. He prayed to God to save him. A police patrol boat came by to rescue him and the man refused help. He was waiting on God. So the patrol boat left. When the water level got to the roof, the man said "God, why didn't you save me?" The man heard a voice that said "Who did you think sent the boat?" It is not going to do the work itself. It may make it easier to say deal with issues preventing getting treatment (like a reluctant insurance agent refusing to help with paying for the bills) but it won't do the healing it self.

when I was super young, there was another family kiddy-corner to us through our back yard. one day the kid managed to do the dumb thing and grab the handle of a boiling pot of water when my mom was over, accidentally dumping it on himself. His mom just got up, told him to put his coat on, we're going to the doctor's. My mom was in a panic like "why aren't you worried oh my god get him into some cold water" and she apparently just said "if it's god's will, why should I get in the way?" or something to that effect I don't think we ever saw them again why is it always god's will that something happens and stays that way? what if it's one of those many infamous tests he keeps putting out (edit- yeah like the man on the roof thing)

Religion should be treated the same as any other opinion or belief, there's really no excuse anymore.

Trying to look at this from a person of faith's perspective. Taking medicine shows you have no faith right? God (or Allah or w/e) created all that is in the world correct? The grass, the water, the plants and trees, people and animals correct? So by extension, doesn't that mean that modern medicine was created from these things that God created? Doesn't that mean that God created modern medicine, or at least made it possible? Wouldn't God want you to use these available means to help yourself, since it is fruit the things God put on this Earth? I fail to understand religious logic, faith healing even less so. Hope these "healers" get prosecuted.

I guess from a more theological point of view, it's a really intriguing (and shit) way that people have interpreted their religion. The sensible viewpoint (as a humanist myself) and one I think the major churches hold is based on free will; God gave us free will and gave us the instruments to apply the free will to make life better. This includes fighting disease, which I assume is supposed to have arisen from the influence of Satan or something like that. I never really got that far. But yeah, the idea that 'God's will' causes all accident, injury and illness is fortunately bollocks invented by smaller groups and not pervasive throughout theology. It certainly used to be, but the majority of religious people have moved with the times.

[QUOTE=Solo Wing;50168265]Trying to look at this from a person of faith's perspective. Taking medicine shows you have no faith right? God (or Allah or w/e) created all that is in the world correct? The grass, the water, the plants and trees, people and animals correct? So by extension, doesn't that mean that modern medicine was created from these things that God created? Doesn't that mean that God created modern medicine, or at least made it possible? Wouldn't God want you to use these available means to help yourself, since it is fruit the things God put on this Earth? I fail to understand religious logic, faith healing even less so. Hope these "healers" get prosecuted.[/QUOTE] even if you're devoutly religious it's stupid makes no sense - "god helps those who help themselves" seems to have been lost somewhere along the way

Those religious nuts should be happy of dying and reuniting with their lord and God right?

[QUOTE=Axsisel;50168581]Those religious nuts should be happy of dying and reuniting with their lord and God right?[/QUOTE] They are actually. The person who dies is treated as "Leaving to the right hand of god" or some bull shit. It's jarring how detached they become to their own child only to fulfill their religious beliefs. Chances are prosecuting won't stop others, but at least it could save her.

[QUOTE=NeverGoWest;50167794]My childhood and youth was strangled by religious indoctrination and extremism. Please do something to regulate this everywhere in the world, it is or should be a violation of human rights.[/QUOTE] Same here. It seems people want to make themselves miserable and others miserable. For what reason, I do not know.

[QUOTE=sb27;50167996]I honestly want to know what her parents are thinking. You know, whether they feel any guilt whatsoever for needlessly ruining the life of their daughter.[/QUOTE] These people will reason any disgrace in their lives with "it was God's will".

[QUOTE=DELL;50167811]For anyone who doesn't know what happens from placebo treatment here you go. It gets rid of symptoms and makes you feel better because you believe you're getting better etc/ Which in something minor like a painful burn it's a good method if nothing else can be used. For serious stuff it's completely useless.[/QUOTE] tbh placebo should be used more often as a painkiller in medicine. of course, there should be actual treatment as well but we should totally exploit our ability to trick ourselves out of pain. [editline]20th April 2016[/editline] i think i remember reading a study that said that Americans specifically are difficult to trial drugs on because we are apparently too susceptible to placebo effect, as an aside of interesting information concerning the topic it was [URL="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/placebo-effect-grows-in-u-s-thwarting-development-of-painkillers/"]this article[/URL]

[QUOTE=Grandzeit;50167765]Placebo treatment is a legit thing; and "faith" can likely fall into that category. In fact, religion can relieve stress, which postpones your immune system's reaction time, usually causing possibly dangerous diseases, infections and the likes to get discovered far too late.[/QUOTE] There was actually a study done to show if praying for an ill person helps him. Interestingly, if the patients knew that they were being prayed for, they had more complications: [quote]In another of the study's findings, a significantly higher number of the patients who knew that they were being prayed for — 59 percent — suffered complications, compared with 51 percent of those who were uncertain. The authors left open the possibility that this was a chance finding. But they said that being aware of the strangers' prayers also may have caused some of the patients a kind of performance anxiety. [/quote] [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html?_r=0]Source[/url] Therefore there is also the possibility that praying for someone might be damaging, if he knows it.