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Did parents take their faith too far?
The three siblings of a girl who died of diabetes that went untreated as her parents prayed instead of taking her to a doctor have been removed from the home during an investigation, police said Friday. Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said. The children are staying with other relatives, though they were not in danger, he said. “There is no physical evidence of abuse or neglect,” he said. “There is no intent. They didn’t want their child to die. They thought what they were doing was the right thing,” he said. “They believed up to the time she stopped breathing she was going to get better. They just thought it was a spiritual attack. They believed if they prayed enough she would get through it.” Madeline Neumann, 11, died Sunday the Weston home of an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes as her parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, prayed for her to get better. Her mother said she never expected her daughter, whom she called Kara, to die. The family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, Leilani Neumann said. {Associated Press}
The bible teaches that without faith, it is impossible to please God. In fact, Jesus even told his disciples when he caught them trying to keep some children from coming to him that unless we can become like one of those children, we couldn’t enter the kingdom of God obviously challenging us to have child like faith.
Did these parents do anything wrong? According to the report, it sounds like they just thought their daughter was just under the weather, possibly a 24 hour bug, and how many parents have not taken their child to the doctor under those same circumstances? Was this a case of fanatical Christians taking their faith too far, or was it a wrong decision that they will forever suffer the consequences?
Comments
By Obadiah Sheeply, Jr
March 30, 2008 9:55 PM | Link to this
How incredibly sad, foolish and unnecessary. I’ll bet that Jesus’s words did not also imply totally abandoning common sense.
Let us assume that under similar circumstances where prayer WAS NOT invloved, the parents are deemed neglgent or guilty of endangerment or something ( I don’t really know the law on this one.)Then I see no reason why the act of praying instead of using common sense and seeking medical attention should absolve them of responsibility.
By :)
March 30, 2008 10:39 PM | Link to this
Wow! Interesting topic. I’m going to wait to see what others have to say before I start in on this one. Very sad though. Let’s all try to “keep the gloves on” on this topic. I see it getting ugly, hopefully not, this does concern human life.
:)
By Jeff
March 31, 2008 12:09 AM | Link to this
First, we should pray for the parents. If they were atheists who thought their child had a bug and tried to let her sleep it off, would it be an issue? As a Christian though, I believe that miracles are termed as such because they are not everyday occurances. Even more, I have usually heard miraculous stories when someone is under MD’s care and deemed hopeless. Hopefully, the parents’ church is doing more than debating the issue.
By Lorie
March 31, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this
I know God can do awesome miracles. But it has to be his will and not ours. But I don’t really think the parents thought this through. God is the true healer and he gave man the knowledge to cure people and help them with diseases. I honestly don’t know what they were thinking. It makes me sad to see something like this happen. We just need to pray for comfort for them in this time. I can’t imagine what they are going through.
By Nelson
March 31, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Biblically, our faith does not dictate God’s will; God’s sovereign will dictates our faith (1 John 5:13–14). Healing in the New Testament is not a guarantee, but a benefit of the Atonement. God sometimes answers our prayers with a yes and sometimes with a no. He always answers our prayers according to His will and for our best. What is supremely tragic besides the loss of a child is that these people blamed themselves for their lack of faith. Too many people are believing that God has to do what they are praying for, totally disreguarding His will and plans…. Very tragic and wrong!!
By cantw82leave
March 31, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
Whatever happened to the idea that God endowed humanity with the intelligence to overcome illnesses/conditions via medicine, much less the common sense to be able to know when to take advantage of it? If you read the reports on this case, these parents had about 2 weeks to recognize something was wrong with their child and per a CNN article, the mother admitted she had noticed the signs but CHOSE to pray instead of seeking medical advice. I think it’s very sad when people are so misguided that they lose all common sense. (The same CNN article noted that this little girl had not seen a physician since she was 3 years old which was for childhood shots.) Now who suffers and who is utlimately responsible? In the parent’s zeal to apparently prove their worth to their God by having faith in the healing ability of a god, they chose to let their child die. Very sad. For them, their family and their fellow believers.
By LFV
March 31, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
It’s sad to say that it may be a decision the parents will have to live with. The bible does not condem medical help, in fact one of his desicples was a physician. Don’t confuse faith with foolishness. To me, the main thing now would be to lift the parents in prayer that thye can find peace. You never know who may be the next person to make a decision like this.
By :)
March 31, 2008 4:30 PM | Link to this
Your right LFV, we should pray for them. I am sure these parents lovesd their child. They may have made a decision that will haunt them forever. I will have to read the story before I decide. But, lets never take away from the fact that God does heal and he does use physicians. A combo of both.
By Fred
March 31, 2008 5:57 PM | Link to this
Christians should never put God to a foolish test. God is not to be played with. God is not our Genie or Wish-granter. God gave mankind the intelligence for advancements in Medical Science. Use this Medical Science to heal your children.
By GJ
March 31, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this
I knew a woman who died this weekend. She gave birth to twins 2 weeks ago, but contracted a rare post-birth blood disease.
The problem could have been resolved, but it was against her religion to have a blood transfusion.
Her twins have no mother.
By Obadiah Sheeply, Jr
March 31, 2008 9:21 PM | Link to this
Wow, GJ. Unbeleivable. For many this will seem like a perfectly rational and indeed a moral choice. When religion can poison something as natural as the mother child instinct, it is truly abominable. All in the name of things we cannot see and for which we have no evidence, as opposed to Medicine and Science for which the evidence is overwhelming.
By KDF
March 31, 2008 10:14 PM | Link to this
I hope and pray the family finds the comfort it needs. No matter how one looks at it, is seems like a poor choice was made (free will). No one else is hurting more than the parents, I am sure.
Hebrews 11:1. Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.
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