It's midnight and your daughter is wailing in pain. The noise--combined with the anxiety you feel--makes it impossible to sleep. You wonder if she'll get better, and go to comfort her. The thought of taking her to the doctor never even crosses your mind. Instead of reaching for medicine (or a phone) you pick her bible up off the nightstand; and begin to recite chapter and verse. In the ensuing days or weeks you repeat this ritual. Then one day your daughter dies. In this scenario you're a firm adherent to a religious teaching that believes only in the healing power of God, and an unwavering distrust of modern medicine.If you're looking for a miracle, you need to dial 911.
As more and more child deaths are linked directly to faith-based refusals to seek medical care the First Amendment's religious freedom guarantee moves ever-closer to the brink. It's increasingly difficult for society to tolerate religious beliefs that neglect or harm children. Denying medical care to a child on religious grounds could soon join child sacrifice, Muslim gang-rape, and spiritual marriages of young girls as a socially-unacceptable religious practice.
Religious zealots need to be open to the fact that worldly manifestations of divine providence may be the best (and only) means of receiving it. I'm reminded of the joke/short story about the guy caught in a flood that refuses various forms of rescue--such as a boat and a helicopter--while awaiting God's aid, and drowns in the process; ignoring the fact that the boat and helicopter may have been God's worldly attempts at delivering salvation. As Benjamin Franklin once said in Poor Richard's Almanack: "God helps those that help themselves."
Blind faith in religion has led to untold wars and deaths over the centuries. It's great to see people holding strong beliefs; but these beliefs must be tempered by reality, and must not bring harm to others.
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