I saw an article a few days ago about a girl who died of diabetes after her parents relied only on prayer to treat her. Apparently, simple treatment would have easily saved her. I had contemplated a blog entry on the issue. I believe in prayer, but I also believe in medicine. It is always an interesting debate between faith, prayer, and action. When I am hungry, I eat. I don't pray for God to fix my hunger for me. The Bible links work with eating. So human effort is not anti-faith. So where is the line? I personally feel that you always pray first, but you also use your God-given mind to make wise choices, like going to the doctor. God may heal you. God may use the doctor to heal you. God may not heal you no matter what modern medicine does.
So now I read this article and it is concerning. While I think the parents who prayed and watched their child die did the wrong thing, I think they have probably suffered the worst punishment for their choice. I am sure they loved the child very much and are devastated. So this article
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23885944/ is very interesting. There are some strong statements about parental rights. I am interested in what others think about this issue. Do you agree with this article? Where is the line between society's need to protect children and parents right to teach children their faith? A difficult slope indeed.
