Religion & Health

"Family and friends had urged Dale and Leilani Neumann to get help for their daughter, but the father considered the illness "a test of faith" and the mother never considered taking the girl to the doctor because she thought her daughter was under a "spiritual attack," the criminal complaint said.

"It is very surprising, shocking that she wasn't allowed medical intervention," Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad said. "Her death could have been prevented."

Madeline Neumann died March 23 -- Easter Sunday -- at her family's rural Weston home. Her parents were told the body would be taken to Madison for an autopsy the next day.

"They responded, 'You won't need to do that. She will be alive by then,"' the medical examiner wrote in a report.

"A day before Madeline died, according to the criminal complaint, the father wrote an e-mail with the headline, "Help our daughter needs emergency prayer!!!!." It said his daughter was "very weak and pale at the moment with hardly any strength"

Unreal.

Originally posted by Kelly_Bean
This happened quite a while ago. They've just recently found out the cause of death but I heard about a while ago.

Originally posted by Schecter
no

Yeah, I dunno about you guys calling it old. The kid died like a month ago, if that's considered "old." Sadly, this premise is nothing new, so you may have heard of a story like this before.

for ****s sake people the article is dated TODAY because the charges of second degree homocide were filed TODAY

This is truly a disturbing story. Although, it is not the first time i have read or saw a news report about a father or mother imprisoning their child only to abuse for their own pleasure. Their is so much to absorb from this story i have to resort to my more cynical side and say, "well, i cant wait for the movie."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/27/AR2008042700752.html

i just think they didnt pray enough.

Originally posted by McLovin
friends had urged Dale and Leilani

Maybe if they'd cashed in their series 1-10 NASCAR trading card collectables, the kid might have stood a chance.

Zing.

Originally posted by Zeal Ex Nihilo
Zing.

Hey, I like to cut people up into the same categoris as the evening news. What can I say?

Originally posted by Bardiel13
Yeah, I dunno about you guys calling it old. The kid died like a month ago, if that's considered "old." Sadly, this premise is nothing new, so you may have heard of a story like this before.

When this story came out about 3 weeks ago, I thought someone would have made a thread about it in the GDF within milliseconds. I was shocked when there was no sign of it. I'll check back in June for signs of the polygamist story, but considering that it looks like a bunch of hooligans carrying out a made-up religious cult, I doubt it'll even get a thread.

Originally posted by chithappens
OMG, I laughed so hard

You laughed at a little girl dying...

Originally posted by ScarletSpeed
You laughed at a little girl dying...

I laughed too, sounded funny.

Originally posted by Bardock42
He laughed [b]hard at a little girl dying. [/B]

The parents are fecking idiots.

That's terrible😐, she died cause her parents are spongos.

Originally posted by debbiejo
Depends on what you call religion....some believe that a vegetarian diet is what was created in the garden of eden and taught by Jesus if he was an Essene...And medical professions do agree with this...and, faith does work many times in heeling's, but not always...I do believe in miracles, and I've seen some...But I believe it is not so much a in "This name or that name." but a strong belief in a power...since this happens in many faiths across the world.

Some religions are very detrimental to a persons state of mind and or family and children with such odd restrictions and guilt that the human mind wasn't made to function in, that state which suppresses natural human emotions and can lead to problems later in life. Many families have broken up because of very restrictive or imagined guilt and superstitions.

I agree.

Originally posted by Deja~vu
I agree.

😱 How strange.

Originally posted by Deja~vu
I agree.

Talking and agreeing with yourself on a message board could be construed as a sign of mental illness, just saying.

😑

Just because YOU can't do my specail trip.......hahaha

The "pray and we'll get better" yahoos are on the fringe, and desite a few newsworthy articles are so rare as to be a negligible part of the discussion.

Where religious practices intervene moreso on medicine is in eartern practices...or rather, those who practice eastern religion and also falsely ascribe alternative medical practices to such beliefs. The medicinal affects of being stress free, relaxed, etc. are well-known, but most practices go beyond this into pseudo-scientific garbage. At best, they are a placebo, having no more or less affect than, say, a good massage. At worst, they are potentially harmful and lack empirical testing to support themselves.

"Alternative" is a popular term in medicine these days, but must always be taken with a heavy grain of salt due to the fact that the word alternative generally means it lacks the proper test results that mainstream medicine demands of its products.