No answer:William Saletan
asks:
Should parents go to jail for believing so devoutly in faith healing that they don't seek lifesaving medical treatment for their children?
He doesn't give a straightforward answer to that question. All he ends up is concluding that parents should take their ill children to the doctor; that his application of faith results in that preferred outcome.
Good comment in message thread
here.
posted by Quiddity at 1/22/2009 01:48:00 PM
Here's an answer: yes, they should go to jail.
There seems to be premise in these kinds of discussion that children are the "property" of their parents. That leads to a lot of conclusions that are based on property rights.
Change your thinking. Children are human beings wih full rights. Unfortunately, due to their lack of mental-emotional maturity they are not able to exercise their rights. Parents are suppose to be their guardians until they come of age. It may seem aribrary to set that age at 18 but it has to be set somewhere. The guardians MUST act in the child's best interest. If they cannot act in the child's best interest, the state must step in to protect the rights of child, i.e. the future citizen.
If faith prevents you from taking your children to the doctor, why wouldn't it prevent you from wearing seatbelts, helmets or parachutes?
Why stop at faith-based medicine?
Imho, these people do not have faith. They have fear of appearing to be without faith. What they have is ignorance or self-righteousness.
