Wisconsin jury gets it right.
08Aug. 09
Madeline Kara Neumann died last year. It was a completely unnecessary death that could have been prevented with a simple shot of insulin, but that was unavailable to her: Not because she lived in a remote area, not because of some health care scandal, and not because of poverty. Madeline died because her own parents refused to take her to a doctor, opting instead to pray for her as she slipped into a diabetic coma. They continued to pray over her, even though she could not walk, talk, eat or drink. Finally, when she stopped breathing, somebody called the emergency services — but by then it was too late.
Thankfully, the jury charged with determining whether or not the father should be punished for killing his daughter got things right and have delivered a verdict — guilty of second-degree reckless homicide.
Of course, it is unlikely that this ruling will result in the prevention of any deaths similar to this. After all, if the imminent death of your child isn’t enough to make you take them to see a doctor, it’s unlikely the threat of jail time is going to be any more effective.
Tags: Prayer, reckless homicide, Religion, Richard Hughes
August 8th, 2009 at 8:24 am
This is such a sad story. The parents are probably still blaming themselves for not have *enough* faith. Of course, the problem is they already have way too much.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Appreciate the acknowledgment of this hideous trend for the crime that it is.
@ Andrew Skegg;
Yup. ‘Tis always an unfortunate side effect of faith. When police arrived, they asked them not to touch the body, as she may resurrect the next day:
http://atheistage.org/?p=772
Almost 46 years since the galling story of Nancy Brewster, this “blinkered faith” insanity is still seen as a type of strength. From childrenshealthcare.org;
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Her mother later became a Christian Science practitioner and published a testimony in the January, 1984, Christian Science Journal with a disturbing omission. “Rearing four children with total reliance on God for healing was a joy. I cannot remember an activity missed because of illness,” she wrote.
As Caroline Fraser writes, however, “In fact, Mrs. Brewster had five children. The unmentioned fifth child who has been revised out of this testimony — indeed, out of life itself — was Nancy Brewster.” (Fraser, God’s Perfect Child, 428)
http://www.childrenshealthcare.org/victims.htm#Nancy
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Neat trick indeed.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Why did they not continue to pray after she stopped breathing?