Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[Yahoo]

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. The parents and social services experts agreed the move would be best for everyone, 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.

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.

The children removed from the home range in age from 13 to 16 and are expected to return to their parents once an investigation of the girl’s death wraps up, Vergin 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.”

Read about it here.

[From me]

When I first heard this story last week I was angered.  I thought what parent would not take their child to the emergency room or doctor.  But I don’t know what these parents were thinking.  They were not trying to harm their child.  They wanted God to heal them.  So is this child abuse?

What do you think?

[Fox News]

A transgender woman in California has gone to court, claiming that a Catholic-affiliated hospital discriminated against her when it denied her request for breast augmentation surgery. The man-turned-woman, Charlene Hastings, filed the complaint in December and said she wants to have the surgery because it will make her look more feminine, but the hospital has refused to operate because she was not born a woman.

“I honestly believe that God has plans for me to have this surgery,” Hastings told FOXNews.com.

“I felt simply less than equal,” she said. “Here I am, a woman. I had the reassignment surgery, and not to allow me this right, I felt violated.”

Hastings, who was raised Catholic and says she attends church every Sunday, said the hospital told her that the surgery was not part of God’s plan for her. She filed the complaint in San Francisco Superior Court alleging harassment and discrimination on the basis of gender.

The Catholic hospital does not allow transgender surgery, the statement says.

“Seton Medical Center, a Catholic hospital and a member of the Daughters of Charity Health System, provides services to all individuals. However, the hospital does not perform surgical procedures contrary to Catholic teaching; for example, abortion, direct euthanasia, transgender surgery or any of its related components.”

Read about it here. 

[From me]

This person had to know it goes against the teachings of the Catholic church.  Why not go to a public hospital and stop trying to make a statement?

What do you think?

[Lexington-Herald Leader]

The family of a woman bitten by a rattlesnake during a church service in southern Kentucky is suing a hospital and several of its employees, accusing them of ridiculing her religious beliefs rather than providing proper care.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Sad is the only word I know to describe this tragedy.  If the hospital staff did laugh and ridicule this woman rather than provider her with excellent care then they should be sued.   I think snake handling is crazy but I would try to help anyone in need despite their wacky religious views.  Tragic!

What do you think?