We know, we know . . . you don't like Mexicans and you don't like
Arabs.
Of course, you don't have to leave your own country for such news:
"Faith groups which avoid conventional medical procedures:
Many, perhaps most, faith groups recommend prayer as a supplement to
medical care. However, some religious groups go further: they teach
teach that certain medical procedures are not allowed, or that members
should generally reject medical attention in favor of prayer. A
sampling of the latter are:
bullet
The Body (a.k.a. "The Body of Christ"): This is a small Fundamentalist
Christian faith group in Attleboro MA, consisting of several extended
families living together in a commune. It does not appear to have a
formal name; however, members often refer to their group as as "The
Body." They split away from a larger Bible study group circa 1980.
They reject conventional medical support, even to the point where
their members refuse to wear glasses. They have generally withdrawn
from society, rejecting contact with education, government, medical
services, banking services, entertainment. etc. They advocate faith
healing. Two infants in the group, Samuel Robidoux and Jeremiah
Corneau, have allegedly died -- one stillborn and the other allegedly
starved to death -- and been secretly buried in Maine. 1
bullet
Bible Readers Fellowship: This is a small, Evangelical Christian group
in Florida. They shun medical treatment.
bullet In 1996-OCT, 3 month-old Alexus Aitcheson choked to death on
regurgitated milk. Her parents did not seek medical attention. Her
body was cremated in private at a relative's farm. The parents were
charged with failing to report the death, failing to obtain medical
attention, abuse of a dead body and child abuse. They were acquitted.
bullet In 1998-SEP, Harrison Johnson was stung 432 times by yellow
jackets in a suburb of Tampa, FL. His parents allegedly waited for 7
hours while their 2 year old child gradually "succumbed to the massive
amount of toxin injected by the insects." 2 By the time the paramedics
arrived, the child had no pulse and was not breathing. The parents
were charged with aggravated child abuse.
bullet
Church of the First Born: This group is mainly active in Colorado and
Oklahoma. The sect promotes the use of prayer to heal; they do not
believe in doctors or medicine.
Jason Lockhart, 9, of Enid, OK died of a ruptured appendix in 1982-
DEC.
Desiree Camren, 3, of Cushing, OK died after a treatable illness.
Testimony at the trial indicated that the parents knew the child was
dying but attributed it to God's punishment because the father had not
been attending church.
Angela Sweet, 7, of Olathe, CO, died in 1990-JUN of a ruptured
appendix.
Jordan Northrup, 4 months, in Redding , CA, died in 1991-JAN of
meningitis and pneumonia. 3
Loyd and Christina Hayes are members of this church in Albany OR. They
were charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of his 7
year old son. The son died in 1994-NOV from a treatable form of
leukemia. After the 1986-APR trial, the father was given 5 years
probation, and ordered to report any serious illness or injury to any
child in his care. The mother was acquitted. He filed an appeal on
1996-JUL. The state has also appealed, because the judge did not
sentence Hayes to prison, as specified in the sentencing guidelines.
Joshua and Mindy Glory are members near Clifton, CO. Their infant
son, died on 1999-FEB-28 contracted pneumonia and bacterial
meningitis. He was not treated and died. The parents were charged and
were sentenced to 16 years probation.
Billy and Barbara Reed of Clifton CO withheld medical treatment in
favor of prayer for their three-day-old son, Billy Ray. A treatable
heart condition was not detected. He died in 2000-JUL. He seemed to be
recovering, but later stopped breathing. Paramedics were called but
were unable to revive him.
On 2000-JUL-17, Ruth Berger-Belebbas of Olathe, CO refused medical
treatment as she was about to give birth. The fetus was stillborn.
In early 2001-FEB, Amanda Bates, 13, died from diabetes in Grand
Junction, CO. Her parents withheld medical treatment. Her death was
ruled a homicide by the Mesa County coroner, Dr. Rob Kurtzman.
bullet End Time Ministries: They have lost several members in a
number of states due to their exclusive belief in faith healing.
Members Charles and Marilee Myers in Lake City, FL, were charged with
child abuse in 1990. Their son, William, needed an operation to remove
a heart tumor. His kidneys and liver had failed; he had lost 30%% of
his weight. He was near death both because of the tumor and from the
complications of long-term malnutrition. A few months later, their
newborn grandson died from massive hemorrhaging; the parents did not
seek medical treatment. Two other End Time Ministry families in
Florida lost daughters in the early 1990's. Five newborns died in
Sioux Falls SD during the 1980's. They died during unattended births
of women who belonged to this group. 4
bullet Faith Assembly: This is a fundamentalist faith group that shuns
medical care in favor of prayer. The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, IN,
published a series of articles on this group which revealed that in
the late 1980's and early 1990's:
bullet the group had a maternal death rate nearly 100 times the state
average. This sounds horrendous. However, the rate of maternal deaths
in Indiana is quite low, and Faith Assembly is not a large
denomination. One maternal death could have a very large effect in
this statistic.
bullet their perinatal death rate was nearly three times the state
average.
bullet "84 people...died after they or their parents followed the
sect's teachings" This included a number of children who died of
bacterial meningitis, Wilm's tumors, cancer and pneumonia. One child
died of dehydration and malnutrition because he couldn't retain food
due to ear and sinus infections.
bullet Full Gospel Deliverance Church: A member from Fayetteville,
N.C., pleaded no contest in 1994-JUN to involuntary manslaughter. His
15 year old son had also died from complications resulting from
diabetes.
bullet Faith Tabernacle Congregation: This is a Fundamentalist
Christian congregation based in Philadelphia PA, which has "stations"
from New Jersey to Africa. 5 It was founded in 1987 and currently has
about 18,000 members. They teach their members to be consistent: to
follow the will of God tenaciously as they see it. Some members
practice this belief in the area of physical health. Some health
problems have become public:
bullet During the 1970's, 5 children under the age of 3 died in a
Faith Tabernacle family of suburban Philadelphia, due to untreated
cystic fibrosis.
bullet Two other Faith Tabernacle couples in central Pennsylvania were
convicted (one in 1983; the other in 1992) of allowing their toddlers
to die without medical care
bullet In 1990, six children whose parents were members either of the
Faith Tabernacle, or First Century Gospel Church in Philadelphia, died
of complications following measles. A local health official said that
five of the children could have been saved with medical care.
(Actually, all 6 would probably be alive today if they had been
vaccinated.)
bullet The son of Dennis and Lorie Nixon died circa 1990 as a result
of an ear infection that was left untreated, except for prayer. More
recently, their daughter Shannon died at the age of 16 of juvenile
diabetes She had felt run-down and thirsty. She was anointed with oil
and prayed over. Three days later, she went into a coma and died of a
heart attack. Both diseases are not normally life threatening if
treated medically. The parents were tried in 1997-APR and convicted of
"involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment." At the time of the
trial, the Nixons had 8 living children and Lorie was pregnant.
bullet Dean Michael, son of Dean and Susan Heilman, died on 1997-JUL-8
at the age of 22 months. Michael had problems with his left knee about
six months prior to his death. This seemed to cause him pain when he
walked. He limped sometimes; other times, his parents carried him. A
neighbor asked why the parents didn't take him to a doctor; they told
him that they don't believe in medicine. They trusted in the Lord.
bullet Anne Marie and Daniel Foster received 14 year probation in 1998-
SEP because they did not seek medical attention for their son who
developed a lump in his abdomen. The cancerous tumor had spread from
his kidney to his heart and lungs before it was finally treated.
bullet Christ Church: This is a church with about 1200 followers in
Portland, OR. It was organized by Walter White in the early 1900's. He
believed that God appeared to him in a dream and selected him to lead
the group. He taught that illness must be cured by prayer, and
anointing with oil, not by medical treatment. If the individual dies,
then it is God's will. Women in the congregation give birth at home
with the help only of a midwife. No medical care is provided, no
matter what the emergency. Members have full faith in the power of
prayer and anointing oil to heal themselves and their children. The
church owns a "cemetery on the outskirts of town...[in which] dozens
of children are buried...in tiny graves." 6 Medical experts have
stated that the lives of many of them could have been saved if they
had received routine medical attention. "Over the past decade, 18
children have died--a 4-year-old who suffered from an infection for 46
days, babies and mothers dying together in childbirth." The Oregonian
reported that 3 children of Followers of Christ children died
needlessly between 1997-JUL and 1998-MAY. 7 According to Dr. Larry
Lewman, Medical Examiner for the state, all could have been saved. The
Oregonian newspaper has stated that of the "78 minors buried in the
graveyard over 35 years, 21 'probably would have lived with medical
intervention.'" 8 According to a former member, the congregation
believes that they are chosen people, and that everybody else (over
99.998%% of the human race) will go to Hell. Members who leave the
church are shunned by everyone else, including members of their own
family.
One needless death raised the profile of the church in Oregon. Bo
Phillips, an 11 year old boy, developed childhood diabetes - a
disorder which is routinely treatable. He was given liquids, prayer
and oil, but no insulin. He died a slow death. "Christian Science
spokesman Gary Jones describes as 'terrible' the prospect that public
rage at the Oregon deaths might 'stop the inquiry into more effective
means of treatment' by spiritual means. 8"
http://www.religioustolerance.org/medical8.htm
