Autistic boy dies at faith healing service

[monobrau]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/08/24/autistic.boy.death/index.html

(CNN) -- An 8-year-old autistic boy died during a prayer service at a Milwaukee church that the pastor said was meant to heal him of "spirits," and the pastor's brother is facing child abuse charges, police said Sunday.

----

"From his statement and from our investigation, it was determined that there was probable cause that he had committed physical abuse of a child," she said, without elaborating.

[monobrau]

1. reposted from locked thread

With correct headline.

As mentioned in the previous write-up, here is a good example of faith-based social services in action.
I'd like to take a belt to this "pastor" myself.

[CO Liberal]

15. Just Put Him In The Same Cell ......

....as the neo-Nazi who just killed the pedophile ex-priest.

[stevedeshazer]

2. Another death by fundamentalism

Sad story. Healing him of "spirits" my ass.

[Gman]

3. The kid may have become autistic from childhood vaccinations

and they think it was an evil spirit. So it's ok to pass legislation giving the pharmaceuticals a free ride for giving kids autism...

[PartyPooper]

4. Can these people be tried for practicing medicine without a license?

"Faith-healing" is not a recognised science or medical discipline. Nor, is it good common sense when applied to a sick child like this one. Prayer is good...but, please, leave out the charletans!

May this child rest in peace.

O8)

[qb]

14. Politicians grant them waivers under the guise of "Religious Freedom"

It's disgusting. Politicians are to scared to pass laws restricting someone's religious practice, even if it kills children.

[sasquatch]

5. God Damned snake handlers

Whom ever said man was De-evolving must have been watching these people.

[EOTE]

9. That would be Devo.

[QuietStorm]

6. AngryWhiteLiberal

Response to Reply #4
7. I mentioned Bush in the thread title because of his Faith-based Initiative
This horrible incident is EXACTLY the kind of crap that will happen with more frequency if Bush's idiotic push for faith-based mental health treatment goes through or is implemented further.
Bear in mind, under faith-based approaches to mental health treatment, Bush's plans will NOT require substantiation of the efficacy of treatment nor licensure of mental health pseudo-professionals. So, the "holding/exorcism" therapy used in this sick incident would not be necessarily banned under a faith-based treatment program.
Religious Nutballs Leading Us Back to the 15th Century...with Bush as the Tour Guide.
JB

You know what I find so ironic... there is that fiasco in Alabama with the religious freaks and that rejected appeal regarding that monument of the 10 commandment coming down. The appeal to leave it was rejected. I was a wise ass in that thread because of realize Bush is playing the religious zealot born again christian card. ... this is faith based initiative as you describe it (which I do not doubt nor am I questioning) make me wonder why the court in Alabama would reject the appeal to leave the state in favor of separation of church and state when this faith based initiative clearly works agains that law?

this kind of think waxes of eugenics as well. As the eugenics movement considers handicapped citizens as undesireable as various minorities.

[farmboxer]

7. Benny Hinn

must have taught them?

[ikojo]

8. Believing that "spirits" cause illness

is absolutely mideval! It doesn't surprise me though. My supervisor is a fundamentalist (and she is black so this is not the purvue of only whites even if that is what the repukes and the media want people to believe) and she always says things like homosexuality (why are all fundies OBSESSED with homosexuality?) is caused by "spirits." This is the type of mindthought found in the snake handlers and Christian Scientists. Oy vey!

She literally views things in black and white. There is no negotiation with her. I am Jewish and since she started here last year she has tried overtly and covertly to "share the word" with me. When I told her that I didn't feel proselytizing at work was proper, after I defined the word proselytizing, she would let up for awhile but then start right back up.

I firmly believe that if this kid has any siblings they should be removed from the house. If there was a condition it may have been overlooked by his fundie mom and who knows she may do the same thing again if she has other children.

Dear Jesus...please protect us from your followers.

[chiburb]

10. Aha! That explains this:

Snip:

Alice Kellogg was astounded when the head of her church's Sunday school told her that other parents didn't want her daughter in class because she has autism.

They told him they'd leave the church if Victoria was excluded, Kellogg recalled.

"The youth pastor said, 'Good luck at your next church,'æ" said Kellogg, who lives in Naperville. "To have them do that was just very hurtful.

Kellogg's experience is not isolated. Former Naperville resident Alyson Beytien, who has three children with varying degrees of autism, encountered similar trouble and knows of six other families of different faiths who essentially had their church's doors shut on them.

"That's earth shattering to a family that's already struggling with so many areas of their lives," Beytien said. "You call that Christian? You call that accepting to say, 'You're not perfect so you're not welcome?'æ"

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=3785727

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=226645

[TahitiNut]

11. "As ye do even unto the least of these ..."

:eyes:

[noonwitch]

12. This group must be crazy

It's one thing to pray as a group for someone's healing, and put that person in the middle of a circle. It's a whole different thing with an autistic child-they don't like to be touched, for the most part, and holding the child down would cause him or her to panic and fight even harder.
Jesus touched a lot of the people he healed, but he also could heal long-distance, when necessary. My belief, to some extent, is that autistic kids are overly sensitive to outside stimuli, and they turn inward. They may have a deep spirituality within them that they are either unable to express or that they find unnecessary to express. They distrust words because they instinctively understand the emotions of those who are speaking to them and sometimes that is very different from what that person is actually saying. And some may feel they don't need any healing, that perhaps those who think they do are the ones who need it.

[WillyT]

13. Another Artcile On This:

Link: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0803/25churchdeath.html

Saw the church Pastor on CNN saying, "The only thing we're guilty of is following the word of God."

So boys and girls, open to the old testament, and sharpen your scabbards!!!

I used to be more tolerant of people's religious beliefs, until the Literalists came to power!!!

:grr:

[phrenzy]

18. No It is not

>>Jesus touched a lot of the people he healed, but he also could heal long-distance,
>>when necessary.

Reality called and told me to tell you "No, he didn't do either of those things"

You're mindset (believing in fairy tales) is exactly what led to this kind of crap.

[Must_B_Free]

16. Saw a documentary on this on TV (MSNBC)

The faith healer is getting about $100 a head for this show, between the attendence ticket and product package he is selling.

[Kbowe]

19. What would Jesus charge?

This is shameful...and this is the religion that our men and women are dying to preserve?

[David Zephyr]

17. Everyone Read This Story.

:kick: