Church HIV prayer cure claims 'cause three deaths

[cleanhippie]

At least three people in London with HIV have died after they stopped taking life saving drugs on the advice of their Evangelical Christian pastors. The women died after attending churches in London where they were encouraged to stop taking the antiretroviral drugs in the belief that God would heal them, their friends and a leading HIV doctor said.

Responding to the BBC London investigation, Lord Fowler, the former health minister responsible for the famous Aids awareness campaign of the 1980s, condemned the practice.

"It's just wrong, bad advice that should be confronted," said the Tory peer, who chaired last month's House of Lords committee into HIV.

Jane Iwu, 48, from Newham, east London, described one case, saying: "I know of a friend who had been to a pastor. She told her to stop taking her medication - that God is a healer and has healed her."

"This lady believed it. She stopped taking her medication. She passed away," said Ms Iwu, who has HIV herself.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14406818?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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Hooray for religion!

[Hugabear]

1. Prosecute these bastards

These fuckers are killing people with their fake bullshit.

[provis99]

2. religion can kill you.

[Kurmudgeon]

4. No, misuing it can kill you if you listen to the wrong people.

Christ said very firmly, "'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'".
That means seek medical treatment if needed, don't jump off of high walls expecting the angels to carry you, etc, etc...
People who are completely ignorant of religion often get confused on this.
There are plenty of warnings throughout The Bible if you only take time to read it.

[trotsky]

5. "if you listen to the wrong people"

Oh, what a huge point you're missing. Who are the wrong people? And then you go on to perfectly illustrate the core of the issue - you quote an out-of-context bible verse and then quite confidently declare EXACTLY what that verse means. Which just so happens to coincidentally be the point you want to make.

The bible also says that the truly devoted can drink poison and handle snakes and not be hurt. How's that for a warning?

[cleanhippie]

6. How do you say things like that with a straight face?

the "wrong kind of people"? Seriously?

[David Sky]

8. But how do you know who the WRONG people are? Instead of looking for

the warnings in the Bible, why not just go to a competent medical professional and get treatment?

I don't heal myself with ANY of the remedies we find in the Bible. I hope YOU don't either.

By the way... "Do not put the Lord your God to the test" can be interpreted in more than a few ways.

How is one to know the right interpretation? How about not even bothering to believe in the first place?

Saves a lot of chances of people misunderstanding or misinterpreting.

[NMMNG]

9. The Bible says a lot of things

Mark 16:17-18

17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”


Why is your Bible verse any more authoritative than this one? And who are you to judge who is or is not "ignorant of religion"? What makes you the ultimate authority?

[Confusious]

3. Why wouldn't god heal them without stopping the drugs?

Did the drugs interfere with gods power? Is he really god then?

These people make no sense. ever.

[NMMNG]

10. If she's taking drugs she's putting her faith in them/mammon

instead of in God. That's why God wouldn't heal her while she was taking the drugs. Behold the manipulative, controlling power of religion.

[David Sky]

7. I'm so happy this wound up on this forum, yet so ANGERED by

this kind of medical quackery parading as a religious belief system.

To my mind, people that don't believe in evolution theory are just one short step away from these quacks.

I hope they send them to prison, these folks that perpetrated this stuff on innocent AIDS victims! To my mind, it's MURDER!