When Belief Kills

Bad Astronomy is on a roll today. Chalk up one homicide for the Unleavened Bread Ministry.

favorite line from this: "In this country, we have a right to believe what we want. I agree with that idea. However, we do not have the right to necessarily act on those beliefs."

excerpt:
When Belief Kills
Where does religious freedom end?

This is an important question, a vital one. At times, a matter literally of life and death.

In Wisconsin, the parents of Madeline Kara Neumann are going to stand trial soon for killing their child. She had juvenile diabetes. Her parents did not take her to get medically treated, but instead prayed over her. Last March, she died of diabetic ketoacidosis: she dehydrated, and her body basically shut down. She was 11 years old.

Diabetic ketoacidosis occurs in people with diabetes who don’t get insulin. It is almost completely preventable with regular insulin shots, a simple medical procedure. In other words, had Kara been diagnosed with diabetes — and that’s a relatively easy disease to diagnose in children during routine medical checkups — she would almost certainly be alive today. Medical science provides children with diabetes the ability to live a relatively normal life.