Was Father's Conviction in "Death by Prayer" Case Just?
Submitted by DeepDiveAdmin on Aug 2, 2009
A Wisconsin father whose sick daughter died after he chose to pray instead of seek medical attention was found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide yesterday.
Dale Neuman, 47, convened a prayer meeting for his eleven-year-old daughter, who suffered from diabetes, when she became so ill she could no longer eat or speak. Without medical attention the girl passed away on the floor of their home.
Neuman's wife was also found guilty of the same charge.
OpposingViews asks: Should Neuman have been found guilty of murder?
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Let me preface my comment by saying that I personally wouldn't have chosen the route this man took. His choice to substitute medical intervention with faith healing was foolish. I believe as many others on this thread do; God has blessed us with intelligent and skilled individuals in the medical field for a reason. Just to play devil's advocate for a moment. How is this different than abortion, infanticide, euthanasia or simply pulling the plug on a loved one? When a family chooses not to seek further medical attention and pulls the plug on a loved one, we don't try them for murder.
- The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.-
This is sad...very sad. God loves and can heal, but when someone is in need take them to the doctor! God can heal through the doctors . What I mean is God can grant the medical attention received to be successful. It's a shame this young girl had to die.
Yes this is sad.God did make MD's also. Prayer can heal.But MD's are there he a reason!
Kill one he/she is a tragedy , kill 100,000 he/she a statistic.
This one tragedy was wrong in my opinion. If someone chooses not to be treated and prey for their health that's fine when you don't allow a Child or anyone for that matter to recieve medical attention it's murder .
A man's boat sinks and he is stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean.
A boat comes by and the driver askes the man if he needs a ride. The man reply's,"no god will save me."
Another boat comes by and has the same outcome.
A third boat comes across the man. "Do you need a ride? There's another storm coming." the driver says the the faithful. The man reply's yet again,"No god will protect me."
Well the man drowns.
When he get's to heaven he asks god,"why didn't you save me?"
God reply's,"Didn't you get the boats I sent?"
Prayer does not kill! She died from complications of diabetes . She died because her parents were negligent and did not seek proper medical care. Not praying and refusing to take their daughter to the doctor has the same result. Prayer is important, but this girl did not die by prayer . There is no direct causal relationship between prayer and death.
Since the current evidence does not indicate that prayer has any beneficial effect, it's effect is the same simply sitting on your hands. So, if a child dies, from someone just watching over them and wishing they'd get well while sitting on their hands, you would have negligently killed him by sitting on your hands. Same thing happened here but instead of sitting on hands, they put their hands together.
Technically I think he should not be convicted due to the mistake of fact. He had some misguided belief that God would condone his neglect of his child by intervening or that God is unaware that he could have just gone to a doctor and there is no need for a miracle. His obvious confidence in that belief is not consistent with a guilty mind.
However whilst I don't think it is good law to convict him I think it is necessary as a matter of practicality. It sends a message out to others who might be as misguided not to try it and thereby could protect a child in future.
What if the Nazis had a "mistake of fact"? Are they innocent, by your standards?
"Those who would trade their liberty for security deserve neither" - Benjamin Franklin.