This is somewhat relevant to the research paper I wrote on the effects of religion as a stressor with regards to sexual minorities — a girl recently died because her parents refused to seek medical treatment and opted instead to pray for healing.
Apparently they weren’t aware of the numerous studies that showed that praying actually does nothing (see picture to the right).
This whole incident reminds me of a parable I heard in an episode of West Wing. While it pertained to the President commuting the sentence of a prisoner about to receive the death penalty, it’s nonetheless relevant. It goes as follows:
The man that lived by the river. He heard a radio report that the river was going to rush up and flood the town. And that all the residents should evacuate their homes. But the man said, ‘I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.’ The waters rose up. A guy in a row boat came along and he shouted, ‘Hey, hey you! You in there. The town is flooding. Let me take you to safety. ‘But the man shouted back, ‘I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me. ‘A helicopter was hovering overhead. And a guy with a megaphone shouted, ‘Hey you, you down there.The town is flooding. Let me drop this ladder and I’ll take you to safety. ‘But the man shouted back that he was religious, that he prayed, that God loved him and that God will take him to safety. Well… the man drowned. And standing at the gates of St. Peter, he demanded an audience with God. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘I’m a religious man, I pray. I thought you loved me. Why did this happen?’ God said, ‘I sent you a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. What the hell are you doing here?’
For those of you who are dense, and don’t quite grasp the concept here (read: people like this poor child’s parents), the moral of the story is this: God works in mysterious ways. He won’t reach down with all his might and save you from the floodwaters — but he will send you a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. He won’t miraculously cure your child — but he did provide mankind with hospitals and medical experts.
Sad as it is, this incident can be marked down as just one more reason why the Christian fundamentalists are wrong — on almost everything.
