These Children’s Deaths Were Preventable. Their Parents Prayed Instead of Seeking Medical Care.
www.propublica.org
For decades, Idaho laws have allowed parents who belong to the Followers of Christ and other faith-healing sects to pray rather than seek medical care. Since 2015, at least 15 children have died of treatable conditions.

Malachi died from pneumonia and bleeding lungs, according to an autopsy.

It would have been treatable with antibiotics and newborn care in a hospital, said doctors who reviewed his death records for ProPublica.

But Malachi’s parents belong to a faith-healing sect that doesn’t believe in medical care, based on a literal interpretation of several Bible verses. The Followers of Christ sect believes that God heals the faithful and that life and death must be left to God’s divine will.

When the coroner’s deputy lifted Malachi’s body to take it away that night in October 2023, there was no wailing or sobbing from his parents. Malachi’s father stood quietly as his mother hung her head and rested it in her hand.

  • higgsboson@piefed.socialEnglish
    1·
    11 days ago

    You might find it interesting that the Amish belief holds that one should be baptized as an infant.

    Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized. This stance, commonly referred to as believer’s baptism, is opposed to the baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized.