Zakk Swezey died at 17 from a treatable illness
It’s happened again. On March 15th, Zakk Swezey took ill. His parents thought he had food poisoning. But Swezey’s condition worsened. What did his parents do? The answer is they prayed; no visits to the emergency room, no medications, no nothing. The Church Elders were called, but that was the extent of the family’s concern, since they believed in faith-healing. On March 18th, Swezey died. The cause? A ruptured appendix.
You may be wondering what happened to Swezey’s parents. The answer is that the case is still under investigation. What’s so troubling is that if a woman hears the voice of God instructing her to starve her children, the insane asylum is her destination. However, when a Christian denies medical treatment to a minor, culminating in his death, that is protected under a Washington state statute.
Although it may appear shocking, Washington State law has an exemption for faith healing. Apparently, it specifies that if treated “by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care, [the child] is not considered deprived of medically necessary health care or abandoned.” Sadly, the law is on the side of Swezey’s parents. However, in this case, the problem is not only with the parents; it is also with the law.
That law must be stopped. People clearly don’t understand the implications. If you want someone dead, just claim you’re a faith healer and you were “praying” for them while you had them locked up, dying from something that can easily be cured medically.
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[...] kill all the men, boys and babies of a rival tribe, saving only the young girls for themselves, or tells a couple to let their teenage son die rather than seek medical help – suddenly God’s ways become mysterious and unfathomable by us puny humans with our [...]
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Thanks for bringing this out into the light. I appreciate the efforts of people like you to help the rest of us understand the world around us.