Two Faith Healing Parents, Two Dead Children

This one’s going to be a quickie because we were out late last night …

Today’s article comes to you thanks to my friend Erin, who clued me in on the story of a couple of parents who have lost their 7-month old son after refusing to get him the proper medical treatment for their son’s bacterial infection, instead relying on faith healing to cure him.  BONUS:  this is the second child they lost like this.  The first was in 2009.

Herbert and Catherine Schaible are accused of not getting treatment for their seven-month-old son, Brandon Scott Schaible — choosing instead to pray over him — when he became sick last month and eventually died April 18. The couple was already on probation after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of two-year-old, Kent.

Ladies and Gentlemen! Straight from the 1st century, Catherine and Herbert Schaible! (Photo from DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer )

Brandon Schaible began showing difficulty breathing, irritability and decreased appetite three days before he died of bacterial pneumonia, the same thing that killed Kent, according to an autopsy.

As of right now, the couple’s surviving seven children are in protective custody, where they will likely receive medical care that was developed after the Enlightenment period.  Where their final destination is, I’m not sure.  The article doesn’t say whether there are any non- or mainstream religious family members who can take them in.  That’s a tall order for any family, but I suspect it would be better than leaving them in the foster system.

What I want to know is how in the goddamned world these parents were still allowed to care for their other kids when they already let one of them die from a preventable illness.  The most obvious response is:  where else would they put the kids?  If the parents have a court order to make sure their children get regular medical care, that should improve the situation and disrupt the family unit as little as possible …

… except for the fact that you’re imposing secular law on a couple that ignores 2,000 years of modern medicine in favor of the Bible.  I’m not too sure what the judge was thinking when he decided these people could be reasoned with and that this would not happen again to at least one of their (then) eight children.

But hey, at least we draw the line somewhere, right?  I mean, we still have laws allowing people with “firmly held” beliefs to opt out of vaccination, because as we all know from centuries of prayer that if you believe something strongly enough, it magically becomes true.  And, since vaccination clearly only affects the person being immunized and does nothing for overall public health, it’s clear that such decisions should be left up to the individual and not health organizations like the CDC.

Days like these make me wish there was a sarcasm font.  Kind of like italics, but with spikes or something.

I Am Blessed!

Friday of last week I posted a quote from Primo Levi, an Italian Jew who came to the conclusion that there could not logically both be a god and a place like Auschwitz, where he was imprisoned during the war.  Comments like his, in my opinion, give a somewhat broader perspective when contemplating the scope of the mercy and compassion of a personal god … especially when the modern First World criteria for determining such qualities will commonly include such pointless trivialities like finding spare change in the couch cushions or getting an extra McNugget in our Happy Meals.

I wrote my commentary on Friday, before the disaster struck Oklahoma earlier this week and took the lives of over two dozen people.  When things like this happen, I’m of the general mindset that the last thing people need to hear in the face of tragedy is that their belief system is wrong, stupid, or not based on empirical evidence.  I might still hold that position, but I’ll also hold my tongue because it just smacks of poor taste.  That whole “bitter atheist” thing again.

I’ve heard from a few friends recently who said that they prayed for the safety of the people affected by the tornado … even agnostics or deists who don’t even necessarily hold any kind of firm belief in a personal god, but who still wanted to feel as if they were doing something while sitting thousands of miles away watching the tragedy unfold on their TV screens.  I can’t say I blame them.  Even as an atheist, I still think it’s only human nature to reach out and appeal to some kind of higher power in the face of great tragedy, loss, or time of need … especially if you feel that all other hope is lost.  I, myself, am hard pressed to say for sure what I would do if a person I loved were suddenly and prematurely taken from me.  Logically, I would have no more reason to believe in a god, heaven, afterlife, or anything else than I did the day before.  But when faced with the anguish of the loss of a loved one, logic and reason give way to the raw emotion of simply wanting them back no matter what.  If that means believing in an afterlife to accomplish it, then that’s what the mind will do if only to avoid completely unraveling.

So, in short, I get it.  I understand why there are people who believe in something.  No, it doesn’t make logical sense, but it doesn’t have to.  Sometimes its only purpose is to give the comfort and support so desperately needed in order to allow a person put one foot in front of the other … if only to keep pace with a world that didn’t grind to a halt when theirs suddenly and painfully did one day.

I’ve been watching some of the videos and reading articles about residents’ reactions to the devastation wrought by the tornado, and noticing a great deal of praise for God from those who realized that they escaped with their lives.  “We’re so blessed”, “God is looking out for us”, and so forth.  At this point even I’m forced to admit that if I had a close shave with a large, violent force of nature and passed through the other side relatively unscathed, I’d probably utter a “thank god” myself … even if I mean it not as praise for a divine being, but simply as an expression.  For the most part, I get the feeling that as (generally) religious people who have just been through a traumatic event and survived, it’s a perfectly understandable response.

But not everyone escaped unharmed.  Approximately 24 people lost their lives, including nine children.  Even those who survived have had their lives and their livelihoods dealt a major blow.  About 1,500 buildings were destroyed, resulting in the displacement of thousands of people and the loss of millions in revenue from businesses within the tornado’s path.  Consequently, when I think about the people who praise God for the miracle of their survival, saying they were blessed or what have you, I can’t help but think of the clearly less fortunate and how they fall in the eyes of God.  What do these same people say about them?  Were they not as blessed?  Did they not have enough faith?  Does God love them, or their loved ones, or their friends any less to take these people away and let someone else survive?  What about the seven children in the Plaza Towers Elementary School?  I can’t think of any situation within the realm of reason or common sense that could make me believe that those children were in any way less loved or less deserving of life than others who survived.

Some people would say such a sentiment makes me bitter, angry, or filled with nothing more than a desire to turn a tragedy into a soapbox for atheism.  Maybe that’s what it’s turned into, but that’s not why I’m doing it.  Similar to what I said on Friday, I think that both saying and believing statements like the ones I described above ignores the greater context of the disaster that had just unfolded before them, and how claiming to be in possession of God’s favor and grace as demonstrated by their survival immediately puts the faith, value, and worthiness of those who did not survive – not to mention the benevolence and mercy of the personal god in which they put their faith – into serious doubt.

EDIT:  Deborah Mitchell from Kids Without Religion wrote about a similar topic a couple of days ago, with specific focus on the Wolf Blitzer interview with one of the survivors.  After he prodded her a little by asking if she felt blessed by the Lord for her safety, she responded that she was an atheist.  A rare breed in Oklahoma, no doubt.  Anyway, the post and corresponding comments are a good read, and I recommend poking your head over to her site if you get a chance.  Tell her I said “hi”. 

That’ll Show ‘em …

Here in the United States, I know plenty of people who feel very strongly about hot-button issues like same-sex marriage / adoption, abortion, freedom of and from religion, climate change, evolution, you name it.  The most worked up I’ve seen them, though, is when they’re angrily protesting wherever they felt their message would be best communicated.  You might get some violence, but for the most part people just get loud.

Well, on the other side of the Pond, Dominique Venner a right-wing essayist and military historian, has set the bar in the same-sex marriage debate by taking out a shotgun and blowing his brains out near the altar of Notre Dame Cathedral around 4:00 PM on Tuesday.

Dominique Venner (AFP)

A far-right writer and activist has killed himself at the altar of Paris’ famed Notre Dame Cathedral, after calling for “spectacular” action to protect France’s identity.

Police confirmed he was Dominique Venner, 78, an essayist and activist linked with France’s far-right and nationalist groups.

In a final essay on his website, he railed against France’s adoption of a “vile law” legalising gay marriage and adoption, urging activists to act to protect “French and European identities”.

In his suicide note, he called for the greater need for words to be backed up with action, and hoped that his suicide would “shake off the sleepiness… and re-awaken the memories of our origins.”

I honestly can’t say I feel too badly about any of this.  I’m pretty surprised that I’m hearing this in a place like France, and adding onto it the fact that it happened in the Notre Dame cathedral … but this man’s suicide was his own choice.  And it was a damned foolish one.  As his last act among the living, he decided he’d show the nation that he felt so strongly against allowing same-sex couples to marry that he’d end his own life just to send the message.  Bold, yes … but staggeringly stupid.  I suppose we should be thankful that he only chose to take his own life, and no one else’s.

Meanwhile … the British House of Commons has approved same sex marriage, and it’s going to the House of Lords next!

DM Day 2013 Already???

Imagine my surprise and horror as I realized yesterday was Draw Mohammad Day 2013.  What the hell sort of self-respecting atheist am I to pass up such a prestigious day with absolutely nothing to show for it?

For shame.  Richard Dawkins is going to come down the chimney around Christmastime and leave me a copy of Ray Comfort’s heavily edited 150th anniversary edition of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” as punishment.

For those not familiar with what I’m talking about, “Draw Mohammad Day” was started back in 2010 as an expression of free speech and to support those across the world who have been either threatened or attacked as a result of doing something as harmless as drawing a picture of Islam’s prophet.

You know … like Muslims used to do themselves.

Mohammad’s the guy on the right. Persia, 1307 AD

For as much noise as I make about religion and its influence on our legal system, public schools, and overall daily life, I generally try not to be an asshole about it just for its own sake.  (OK, well, I don’t think I do, but history will decide.)  I will mention idiots like Pastor Terry Jones of Florida, who a little over a year ago decided to have a Quran burning party not to defend free speech or to show solidarity with the embattled Danish cartoonist, but to thumb his nose to Islam.  The response was … well … sadly expected.

For as much as I think stunts like Terry’s don’t help the folks who are serving overseas, it still serves as a very good example of the kind of unique problem we face with Islam today.  All it took to get thousands of people to riot in the streets, burn store fronts, overturn cars, assault innocent civilians and behead others was for some jackass in Florida to burn one of their holy books.

That’s it.

And that’s a big problem.

The thing is, though, it’s not ours to fix.  If the people who pull this kind of crap are doing so because their religion tells them to, then they and their interpretation of whatever religion they follow are to blame.  It’s my personal opinion that the world would be a better place if they found another, less angry one.  Maybe try some meditation and fewer beheadings.  They of all people need to get used to the idea that all the outside world doesn’t care about their religion or its prophet, nor do they have nearly the same reverence for something that so consumes their own lives.  All we see from the west is a backward mass of lunatics who completely lose their minds every time someone doesn’t treat their holy book with kid gloves.

So that, personally, is why I participate in Draw Mohammad Day.  We shouldn’t be afraid to do something as simple as draw a picture of a religious figure because some folks half a world away haven’t poked their heads into the 21st century yet.

As a bonus for reading this far, I also give you Tim Kreider’s depiction a few years back, when he was writing about the world’s religions.  This was actually from his piece on Buddhism, noting it is the only religion whose figurehead’s tummy can be rubbed for luck.

Tim Kreider’s take on Buddhism, with a special appearance by Mohammad.

Sooooo …. Which Part of the Bible?

~~GUYS~~

Do you have a wife?

Do you have a wife and concubines?

Do you have multiple wives?

Ever marry your wife’s slave to start a family?

Did you forcibly marry a virgin girl you took as a prisoner of war?

Did you rape a girl, and pay $400 to her father as compensation for damaged goods?

ARE YOU HUNGRY??

Then you’re in luck.

Just in Case …

… But I Wasn’t Done Calling and Sharing …

Back in 2011, Harold Camping of American Family Radio made one of the few mistakes a religious nut can make that will scuttle his business and ruin his career:  he predicted the end of the world not once, but twice.  First was in May of that year, and then again in October because he realized he didn’t carry the two.  When both dates came and went with no volcanoes, meteors, earthquakes, or whores of Babylon, his followers began to get a little suspicious.

Harold Camping on his 700th birthday (AP)

Funny thing is, it wasn’t the first time he made a prediction of the end of the world.  Back in 1992 he predicted that the end would be on September 6, 1994.  When the big day came and went, he admitted he made a mistake but enough people still gave him money to keep his business afloat.

Not this time around …

The Contra Costa Times reported that the ministry has sold its prominent stations and laid off veteran staffers, with net assets dropping from $135 million in 2007 to $29.2 million in 2011, according to tax records.

The newspaper said Family Radio has sold its three largest radio stations, and saw its cash on hand drop from $1.5 million to $282,880 in 2011. Since the incorrect prediction, donations have dropped 70 percent, ministry insiders told the newspaper. Records indicate the network took out a loan to keep going.

My guess is that this guy has made enough of a fool of himself that people have finally written him off as the crackpot he is.  With the loss of his donations and the sale of his major stations, this spells the end of American Family Radio, and the career of someone who made it his life’s work telling people that God decided whether they were saved or condemned before time began.

That’s a damned shame.  I’m going to miss him so much.