See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

This never ever happens anywhere but in the good old United States.

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

wat

It's a shame if you belive in superstitious nonsense that you can get away with child abuse and neglect depending on what nonsense you believe in still.

So?

I'm pretty sure that more children have died in the US of sneezing since 1974, so I'm not really thinking that this is much of a social issue. The parents should be jailed, preferably before the child dies, but otherwise, this isn't newsworthy.

R.A.Danny: This never ever happens anywhere but in the good old United States.

In Africa, they just kill and dismember albino children and sell their body parts for medicine.

At least in the US the deaths of children from religious beliefs are usually due to neglect or, as in the article, failing to medicate them. Thankfully in America, if your child is dying of a curable disease and you refuse to give them treatment, you will be prosecuted, and you will go to jail.

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

There are limits. Some churches have had legal issues because the parishioners are told to beat their children, even with the pastor/priest etc getting involved in the beatings. Is that ok bc it's a part of their religious practice?

/honestly, 274 isn't THAT many
//I know, I know, "one is too many", but 274 over that stretch of time is hardly some epidemic

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

I don't necessarily believe that the issue is regarding freedom of religion as much as it is forcing religious beliefs on sick and dying children. Those kids had religious freedoms as well, but since their rights are controlled by their parents, they're dead today.

not "god bless america." god bless god. he loves his believers so much he wants them in heaven with him as soon as possible, as long as they've done enough abasing themselves to his glory

How many have died from doctor errors?
Or wrong medication?
Or getting hit by lightning?

See, there's this little thing called "revisionist history" where Christians live in this other reality. In that reality, the Founding Fathers were all devout Christians, probably Catholics, and they created this country for the Pope. That's why they were allowed to own slaves and keep women from voting: It's all in the Bible.

Someday our public school system will be more explicit when teaching history and some of this nonsense will go away...

I wonder how many would have died anyway, even with medical intervention. I can't imagine that every case would have been resolved by a doctor. If a long-shot procedure may result in a great deal of suffering and the death of a child, I can understand if parents may opt not to have it, but if they say they're going to pray instead, they're vilified.

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

What if your religion believes that it's okay to f*ck eight year olds?

pwhp_67: See, there's this little thing called "revisionist history" where Christians live in this other reality. In that reality, the Founding Fathers were all devout Christians, probably Catholics, and they created this country for the Pope. That's why they were allowed to own slaves and keep women from voting: It's all in the Bible.

Now you see people, THAT is how it's done. Bravo, sir! 8/10.

kronicfeld: SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

What if your religion believes that it's okay to f*ck eight year olds?

That contradicts the religion of the eight-year-old whose religion is not to get farked by creepy old men.

Adults are free to practice whatever religion they like and to refuse medical treatment of any kind if they like.

Children are not capable of making these decisions for themselves. If their parents are unwilling to get proper medical treatment for their child and the child dies, the parents should be convicted of child abuse and/or negligent homicide.

manimal2878: It's a shame if you belive in superstitious nonsense that you can get away with child abuse and neglect depending on what nonsense you believe in still.

It's a shame you can have kids when you're poor too, but no one seems to care about that.

the beautiful thing is...if the kid dies, it's "God's will" or it's "Part of God's plan." Win-win either way!

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

What about the rights of the child as a citizen? If an adult wishes to pray themselves out of an illness, all the power to them (or God).

ricewater_stool: Adults are free to practice whatever religion they like and to refuse medical treatment of any kind if they like.

Children are not capable of making these decisions for themselves.

This is exactly where the (scary, IMHO) shift is actually taking place. It used to be that short of beating your kid in to hamburger or sticking your dick in them, parents "owned" their children until they were 18 and could raise them as they saw fit. Now, the government is wanting to get involved at every turn. On one hand, if your 5 year old boy decides to "pants" a girl in kindergarten, he's a registered sex offender for life and your entire family has to go live under a bridge - on the other hand, if you find out he did it first, and spank him to teach him a lesson, he'll be kidnapped by state CPS officers and given to a child molester posing as a foster parent, and you'll go to jail. There is no such thing as common sense anymore.

Between 1990 and 2005, 292 children died in this country because their parents let them play with toys. God bless America.

BobtheFascist:
It's a shame you can have kids when you're poor too, but no one seems to care about that.

Liberty and Justice for the rich!

Does that number include children who were possessed by a demon, and had to have the evil beaten out of them, and died of it?

Since 1975, 274 children have gone to heaven instead of hell.

God Bless America.

PurplePimpSaber: BobtheFascist:
It's a shame you can have kids when you're poor too, but no one seems to care about that.

Liberty and Justice for the rich!

Nope. Just suffering the consequences of your actions.

No matter one's personal choice of religion (or lack thereof) I'd like to think that if there IS any eternal reward or punishment for one's deeds while on earth that allowing a child to die of a curable disease instantly earns one a lifetime reservation in the "razor-sharp spiked penises that ejaculate boiling lead" suite of wherever the bad people go -- either that or Camden, whichever's worse.

Maybe God answered your prayers by endowing a scientist with the ability to create a "miracle" drug and making available a physician capable of diagnosing the need for such a drug in your child?

Since the dawn of time, several tens of millions have died because this or that group of ill-educated douchebags felt that their belief in a particular ethereal being was important enough that other groups of people, who may believe in different ethereal beings or none at all, needed to be killed.

More people have died to placate what is essentially a supernatural 7-year-old with a universe-sized Erector set than for any other reason.

This isn't sad...even on the fringes of the most modern societies there exists a minority of retards not fit to reproduce. These retards are destined to be killed off by their environment.

Since 1975, 274 children have died in this country because their parents thought prayer, not medicine, would cure them. God bless America

And zero have died in the U.S. from socialized medicine.

I wonder how many have died from complications of innoculations.

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

Homicide is not protected by freedom of religion.

Neither is neglect.

Parents are responsible for the well-being of their child. If the child is sick with a curable illness and they reject treatment, resulting in the child's death, they have willfully killed their child.

/Religion isn't based on reality
//Mythology doesn't cure illness
///Be prepared to face the consequences of your (in)actions

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

My religion says I get to shoot self-righteous asshats and that if I do, God is going to give me a medal. You're my next medal. Should I be prosecuted? By your logic, then no, I should not. Win/win, right?

SpeshilEdjukashin: Now you see people, THAT is how it's done. Bravo, sir! 8/10.

From the Pulpit: Time for a Christian Revolutionary War

In a couple of days our nation will celebrate its 233rd year of independence.

The American colonists had exhausted all of their efforts to remain united with England. Their only option left was to declare freedom from the oppression of the mother country. Thus began the official Revolutionary War. On July 4, 1776, 55 men penned their name in ink onto the Declaration of Independence, and committed their life, liberty and possessions to see a new nation birthed with religious freedom.

It is time for a new Christian revolutionary war. It is time for Christians all over the United States to stand up for our Judeo-Christian heritage. Our nation has slowly turned its back on God. We have forsaken our call as a nation, which is to be a light to all other nations. We have allowed a few in the secular minority to rob our freedoms, which came by the blood of many brave men and women throughout history.

Freedom of religion should be allowed so long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of the individual (ie. saving a life using known medical, scientific methods that could potentially save a life)

It's too bad all Christians don't hold those beliefs. The problem would have solved itself a long time ago.

Over the same period about 8500 kids under 5 have drowned in swimming pools.
...and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.

Agent Nick Fury: How many have died from doctor errors?
Or wrong medication?
Or getting hit by lightning?

Wow. You went to college at some point?
When mentioning preventable causes of death, I assume you would approve of measures to mitigate them.

Doctor Errors: training and rigid checks of procedures.
Wrong Medication: training and rigid checks of procedures.
Lightning: proper grounding and lightning rods can help.
Prayer Instead of Medical Care: Criminal prosecution of offenders is a good start.

If any of these deaths were gonna happen anyway after long painful bouts of treatment, well I can't say prayer wasn't the right thing. Otherwise, yeah, charge the parents with neglect at the very least.

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

You're not just a troll, but a predictable troll. Good job on being consistent.

These are some of the same people who say Universal Health Care will ruin our medical establishment.

And how many children have died since 1975 because their parents put their trust in medicine rather than prayer?

I've just recently joined a religion that tells us to punch Christians in the right cheek, and if we don't, we're condemned to hell. It also tells us that doctors are evil and that taking children to see them condemns them to hell. Also, it tells me that I am obliged to sleep with your girlfriends and daughters if they're disease-free, under 140 pounds, and have all their teeth.

It's my religion, so if any of you gives me crap me for it, they're violating the constitution.

How much cool stuff can i stack on there and still do it with impunity? This is fun!

Hopefully they were the only child that family had so at least the retard genes stopped there.

deadapostle: kronicfeld: SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

What if your religion believes that it's okay to f*ck eight year olds?

That contradicts the religion of the eight-year-old whose religion is not to get farked by creepy old men.

So what about the religion of the eight-year-old whose religion is not to die from a curable disease?

Wow, a whopping 274 in 34 years, huh? Meanwhile, an estimated 225,000 people die EVERY YEAR from iatrogenic causes (when a patient dies as a direct result of treatments by a physician, whether it is from misdiagnosis of the ailment or from adverse drug reactions used to treat the illness)

/not saying to head to church rather than the hospital when you get sick, just saying making a mountain out of a mole hill is equally retarded

If parents want to allow natural selection to take its course, I say, let 'em.

And of course the article makes no mention about the MILLIONS of children whose lives are saved by the power of prayer every day.

h2ogate: If parents want to allow natural selection to take its course, I say, let 'em.

Might as well. "Neglect" as much as I hate to say it, is subjective and the way the government defines it does nobody any good.

My dad didn't get proper dental care when he was young, even though it was available. My uncle lost most of his teeth as well. Is that neglect or, "Too poor for dental care and took what was available."

A friend of mine is a practicing Jehovah Witness. They don't allow blood transfusions. Things are probably going to get interesting for them.

Our society has become infatuated with "Life at any cost".

274 is a frigin drop in the bucket. We should be happy at such numbers. It shows that the problem is largely nonexistant in a population of 300 million. It's not worth wasting out time and attention on as there are far more pressing problems to address.

unlikely: I've just recently joined a religion that tells us to punch Christians in the right cheek, and if we don't, we're condemned to hell. It also tells us that doctors are evil and that taking children to see them condemns them to hell. Also, it tells me that I am obliged to sleep with your girlfriends and daughters if they're disease-free, under 140 pounds, and have all their teeth.

It's my religion, so if any of you gives me crap me for it, they're violating the constitution.

How much cool stuff can i stack on there and still do it with impunity? This is fun!



You built a big one there. Should take awhile to burn.

That's a really low number of deaths, 274 in 34 years. I'm not sure this is a huge problem, and it's probably not even in the top 1,000 ways that anyone regularly dies in this country.

Those of us who enjoy freedom of religion have to understand we're not always going to agree with other religions. While many of us can't understand someone dying, or letting someone die, because they believe in prayer over medicine, I'd rather people have that freedom than not have it. Forcing them to do something that goes against their beliefs is wrong, and in my mind, goes against the protections built into the Constitution.

SpeshilEdjukashin: See, there's this little thing called freedom of religion... It's a shame that activist judges don't believe in it anymore, because it is one of the main ideals that our country was founded on, and supposedly one of our "rights."

my religion says I can kick you in the nuts for 16 hours straight, don't deny my rights.