"Pray: To ask the laws of the universe to be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy."
-Ambrose Bierce
Well, that's what I think of faith healing, as I imagine most of you have gathered.
Even though Xantar has grossly simplified the issue for our benefit, it is still a very tricky siuation indeed... but here is what think.
Scientifically speaking, even if a 100% cure rate is not possible, surely a 60% cure rate is better than a 100% chance of death if medication is withheld?
Personally I don't think it should be up to the parents to decide the fate of their child, either wilfully or by accident (I won't go into the whole indoctrination aspect) and I believe they have no right to arbitarily determine whether their child should die or not. There have been cases of children being harmed in accidents and given emergency blood transfusions, only to find that their parebts belong to some religion that doesn't allow blood transfusion, and have refused to accept the child back, as it is now possessed by the devil or something.
Maybe it's cos I don't understand the whole religious aspect thing, in that I don't see how I can place my life in the hands of something as ephemeral as a deity.
But where does it all stop? What if a child of 16 wants to be treated but his parents won't let him? What would a doctor do? What would any human do? They would give the person the right to the life they wanted IMO.
In this scenario, it would be the parents fault if the child were to die as a result of lack of medication (obviously if the child lived it would prove that god exists
), and although I think a penal sentence would be a bit harsh I think it would be a good idea to try to make them feel even more rotten.
Just another humouristical note on what I believe about this whole prayer thing...
There's a man living in a house, but the river nearby has flooded, and the water is rising. So he puts on his wellies and goes upstairs to the first floor. Looking out of the window, he sees his neighbour float by on a boat.
"Hey Fred!" he shouts "Come on, get in the boat, the water's rising"
"No-thank you" say Fred "God will save me if I pray hard enough"
The neighbour shrugs and rows away. In time the water rises again, and he goes upstairs into the loft. Looking out of the skylight he sees a dinghy flaot past with members of a life saving team on it.
"Hey man, get on - we're evacuating this area!"
"No, the lord will save me"
Having better things to do than argue, the life saver crew rows on.
The water rises higher, and the man climbs out of the skylight onto the roof. A lifeboat manned by the army chugs past, and throw a life ring to him and ask him to swim towards them in the rapidly intensifying current. He throws it back.
"The lord will take care of my safety, thank you very much"
"Aww come on man, this water is lethal, you're one of the last few people we've not rescued yet" they shout
Fred remains resolute. "Sorry, but only the lord will rescue me"
Annoyed, the boat meanders off. The water rises still further, and we find Fred standing on his chimneypot with the water lapping around his neck. A rescue helicopter hovers overhead and lowers a rope.
"Hey man, grab a hold of it! Why didn't the lifeboat crew pick you up?"
"The lord is taking care of me. Please go away."
The helicopter flies away, and the water rises even further. Fred is swept away and eventually drowns.
Fred goes to heaven, and storms off in a huff to go and see god.
"God, why the heck did you let me die out there? I've always been a good man. Why did you not try to save me?"
God rolls his eyes. "Not try? I sent you three boats and a helicopter..."