Word. It makes me so glad I’m a normal Christian.
I saw a cartoon in the New Yorker last week, and it was God in his throne, glaring at Earth and he said,
“Don’t make me come down there.”
While I think that religion in general is intellectually indefensible, smearing all Christians for the actions of this small band of nutters is unfair, IMO. This kind of DYI exorcism is perhaps an extreme example of fundaloonie behavior (and watching too many horror movies on latenight cable), but I can’t think that it has anything to do with the religious practices of Christendom in general.
I would not impute the insanity of this act to the average Christian anymore than I would want the average Christian to attribute the deranged acts of an atheist to me. There are lots of reasons to rap the knuckles of religious believers, but this is not one.
What irritates me is that they have some protection under the law against being prosecuted for this homicide, because they did it in the name of God.
Huh? Unless God himself testifies, I don’t think that’s going to help them. Is there some specific law in Wisconson that you’re referring to?
Do you swear to the tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help yourself?
I do.
Slacker, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal article I linked to…
Algernon, I’m surprised that’s even mentioned in the article. Did the kid die because they prayed for him instead of giving him medical help? Or was it because they tried to beat the evil out of him? If it was the latter I don’t see how the quoted ordinance applies.
Algernon,
that is protection from charges of neglect, intended to allow religous groups that require treatment to be declined (Christian Scientiests etc) to follow their faith. Though still bad law, this doesn’t seem to be the case here. if any action the parishoners took contributed to the boy’s death, then its murder (degree uncertain).
Although it’s nice that you’re defending Christianity in general, gobear, I think this is not as uncommon as you suspect. The Pentecostals (Assemblies of God, Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, etc.) have several million members and are growing, in contrast to the decline in mainline churches. Pentecostals believe shit like demon possession and exorcism. (In fact our homosexuality is caused by a demon. That what I was taught as a kid in a Pentecostal church.) Even some Baptists are starting to believe in “Talking in Tongues”.
How is either one of these acceptable. I cannot believe that sitting or laying on the chest of someone who is already in distress would not cause problems.
What makes me the most angry about this story is that it is a boy who cannot defend himself at all. He may have not even been able to understand any of what was going on, causing extreme panic before death.
I cannot believe that after the 12 year old girl died this church was not put under more secure watch. This kind of church should not be allowed to continue. I feel that the people responsible should go to jail for a long time. If this had been done at someone’s home instead of in a church, that parent woud be more likely to be charged than this minister.
This type of church is still the minority by a tremendous margin, and even then you have to consider the fact that not every member of a congregation supports this kind of behavior. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that a good percentage of the membership at the church cited in the OP’s story disapproves of their own church’s actions in this case.
And most Christian denominations believe that “speaking in tongues” is real (it’s in the Bible), but not many practice it these days for various reasons (I can go into detail here if need be, but didn’t want to jack this thread more than necessary).
My opinion is that the Wisconsin law should not apply in this case, for the reasons others have noted. However, it is this law which is causing the prosecution to hesitate in filing charges. If this situation had not taken place in a so-called “prayer meeting” then I’m sure they’d have been in custody already.
While I believe they will eventually file (due to public pressure if nothing else), there is a chance that they may get off scott-free.
I’d just like to add that it is possible to believe in demon possession and speaking in tongues and not be a complete whacko.
Oh, I meant to add…
Fuck that church.
Well, I don’t mind if you hijack to mention the reasons, since now I’m curious why it isn’t practiced much anymore. I used to see people speaking in tongues all the time at the church I went to as a kid.
Unless we are working from two different definitions of complete whacko, no it isn’t.
Well, see, there’s some room for consensus–the fundaloonies and gay guys both like to use their tongues!
No, it isn’t. The speaking in tongues described in the second chapter of acts was the miracle of the crowd hearing the apostles preach in their own languages
The “speaking in tongues” practiced in fundaloonie churches, however, is nothing more than gibberish .
This case reminds me of something that happened where I live a few years back. http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general311.html
Dennis Nixon and his wife of the Faith Tabernacle Congregation were convicted in the death of his teenage daughter when they decided to have the church heal her instead of taking them to the doctor. Thing is, that was the SECOND child they lost in this way. They were given community service in the first death. I don’t believe in hell, but if it does exist, to paraphrase Frank Zappa, it’s fires wait for the people like them.
Jon