You might remember the case of Madeline Kara Neumann, an 11 year-old girl who died of diabetic ketoacidosis in March of last year. Clearly in distress, her parents chose to pray over her, rather than seek medical care. Since there's no real difference between praying and doing nothing, the results were predictable -- at least, to anyone gives a damn about reason.The parents are now on trial for second-degree reckless homocide in Wausau, Wisconsin and they're not making the best case for themselves.
Associated Press:
A central Wisconsin man charged with killing his daughter by praying instead of taking her to a doctor read from the Bible while testifying Thursday that he couldn't seek medical help without disobeying God.
"I can't do that because Biblically, I cannot find that is the way people are healed," Dale Neumann told the jury. "If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God. I am not believing what he said he would do."
God promises in the Bible to heal, Neumann said: "For that to take place in our lives, we have to live on God's instruction."
[...]
At one point in his nearly four hours of testimony, Neumann cried and nearly whispered to the jury.
"Who am I to predict death when death is an appointed time for all of us?" he asked.
I'd like to feel sorry for you, Dale, I really would. But I can't. Any doctor could've predicted this death and any doctor could've prevented it. As I wrote at the time:
People use words like "cold" and "hard" to describe logic and reason, while using words like "warm" and "loving" to describe religion and spirituality. I never understood this -- both are just as human and the former has served us far, far better throughout human history. The results of centuries of "cold, hard" reason would've saved her easily, while "warm and loving" spirituality was in reality nothing but neglect. Religion provided Kara Neumann the very finest care available to people of the 1st century.
Centuries of medical knowledge have been accumulated and you go with a book of fables written by a bunch of bronze age sheepherders. It fails and you still think it was the way to go.
If I'm going to feel sorry for you, it's going to be because you're such an obvious fool.
