Christians Against Medical Care & Medicine?

[luv2laugh]

Has anyone heard of this before? I haven't ever. I know of a family near me that is though. I don't know why?

[Sunnichick31]

Sadly, it's more common than you think, and not just with Christians. It ranges from not using flouride toothpastes to praying for a cure instead of just getting chemotherepy or whatever.

[maybeizfundie]

I agree, it's not just with Christians. A good bit of the "natural health world" is most emphatically *not* Christian.

My parents met in medical school, and saw no reason to abandon medicine when they became Christian, even in their fundamentalist and cult years (and now they are Pre-Vatican II type Catholics). Anti-medicine folks annoy the living daylights out of them, but it's not exclusive to Christians. But on the flip side, over several decades they've come to recognize that there is huge value in preventative lifestyles (what you put into your body and how you use it), and that natural remedies used properly are often a good place to start. Dad takes his fish-oil regularly and mom told me where to get gentian violet when I had a baby with a yeasty diaper rash. You don't *have* to jump to full-strength modern pharmaceuticals for every little thing in order to be pro-medicine.

I take an herbal supplement that really helps with my "woman troubles", and have no inclination to use the pill for that. This week I am also on prednisone, because natural remedies only go so far when you have a body that reacts to poison ivy like mine does.

Moderation and thoughtfulness is good. Extremes on either side lead to trouble.

[debrand]

There seems to be a segment of the fundie population(not all) who are very suspicious of all authority figures outside their own churches and family. I think it is a type of weird paranoia. It's as if they think that doctors, teachers etc are all in some convoluted conspiracy to destroy their belief system.

[Jessica]

I'm pretty into natural medicine but if something's not working, I'll get conventional medical help. Anyway, I think it's really smug to turn your nose up at modern medical advances and say it's the government trying to get you or "it doesn't really work" when half the world is dying because of a lack of that medicine. And the whole "it's just because we have better sanitation" argument is BS--there's much more to it than that, although it does help. Yeah, I'm sure that little kid in Africa died of aids because he didn't wash his hands enough... riiight. I think modern medicine is a gift FROM God, not anti-God. How can you claim to be pro-life and then rail against life-saving technology? Hmm...

(this is why I'm not popular in either crowd... I have the conventional medicine people saying I'm being dangerous because I try natural remedies first and I have natural medicine supporters saying i'm dangerous and brainwashed by the government because my son had a CT scan when his ped. thought he might have craniosynostosis and he could have "fallout" years down the road, so start taking kelp! Forget the fact that his skull could be smooshing his brain and he could have brain damage--those 15 seconds under the scan will ruin him for life! Puh-leeze...)

[dawn9476]

Sadly, it's more common than you think, and not just with Christians. It ranges from not using flouride toothpastes to praying for a cure instead of just getting chemotherepy or whatever.

You also have parents, who are not religious at all, who don't vaccinate their kids.

[ladypuglover]

What type of Christians are you talking about as I don't know of a single Christian against medical care, myself included. Could you clear that up for me?

[FakePigtails]

What type of Christians are you talking about as I don't know of a single Christian against medical care, myself included. Could you clear that up for me?

There are some who refuse certain vaccines because they think there are bits of aborted fetuses in them. In reality, the vaccines are prepared using cell lines derived from a few fetuses aborted (not for the purpose of the line for the vaccines) decades ago.

And yes, I consider that refusing medical care since it puts their children as well as others in the community (too young to be vaccinated or immunocompromised) at risk of dying or having permanent damage from preventable diseases.

[doggie]

What type of Christians are you talking about as I don't know of a single Christian against medical care, myself included. Could you clear that up for me?

a whole church here in oregon Followers of Christ. I have posted several times of parents getting convicted of letting their children die because they only believed in faith healing. Laws were passed to not let faith healing be used as an excuse in not getting medical help.

[O Latin]

You also have parents, who are not religious at all, who don't vaccinate their kids.

My mom was one of these. She did the research and came down on the anti-vaccination side.

I'm not against modern medicine, but I don't think it's the ultimate and absolute answer to everything, nor do I think it's always necessary. I know people who go running off to the doctor every time they get a little sniffle and I just want to say, "Dude, it's a cold. They still don't have a cure for that. Go get some Kleenex and DayQuil and tough it out like the rest of us."

[BlackHawk]

There are many denominations of Christians who do not believe in modern medicine. The one I can think of off the top of my head is the Church of God in Christ. They are interesting people who eschew all modern medicine for "divine healing" through God's hands.

I am all for natural remedies at first. I work very hard to not overuse antibiotics and pain medicine. I also get a lot of flack from my doctor about not just calling her when I don't feel well. I firmly believe that we as a species have stayed alive this long using natural remedies, we don't need to run to the doctor at the first sign of a sniffle. I also, however, believe that modern medicine is a god-send!

I dunno, I enjoy being able to get a script for my strep throat, and knowing that when I need surgery I will have access to a clean and knowledgeable team of professionals. I also think a lot of Americans (as I don't know how many other areas do things) rely WAY too much on running to their doctor for every little sniffle. That's just my opinion.

[maybeizfundie]

I'm not sure about "many denominations". COGIC is only one. Some might say Amish/Mennonite but that too depends on the particular church or family. We see Amish at the hospitals here in our town, especially the children's hospital. My friends in those groups tend to lean towards natural remedies first, and not run to the doctor for everything, but will go when it's clear that they need some more serious intervention. OTOH, there was my friend's granddad who was from the background but a bit of a strange guy, and against the advice of his church, decided he would cure his cancer by eating only dry toast and peanut butter. :/

Most Christian denominations run a pretty wide gamut, and may include a huge variety of congregational culture, not to mention individual family culture, and local culture.

[kb2]

Christian Scientists have been around a while and believe in faith healing, sometimes delaying medical care of children so long that harm is done. Technically they believe resorting to real medical care is OK, and Wikipedia claims believers are all "practical," but there are plenty of child abuse cases involving children who should have gotten medical care sooner. They also tried (succeeded?) to get "spiritual health care" approved as something that should be reimbursed by health insurance companies. :roll:

The granddaughter of Carol Balizet said on her blog that she wasn't given proper medical treatment during her childhood because part of her grandmother's cult involved distrust of all medical personnel, not just those associated with birth.

Jehovah's Witnesses won't accept blood transfusions. Receiving one will lead to excommunication, and therefore hell. People have died rather than receive a blood transfusion. CPS can get involved and override a parent if they refuse a blood transfusion on behalf of their child, and if a blood transfusion is forced on a child (by way of CPS) the child is not damned. I heard a medical worker say once that they were involved in a case where CPS overruled Jehovah's Witness parents to give a child a blood transfusion, and the parents were relieved because it meant their child could survive and not be damned.

[emilymea]

Has anyone heard of this before? I haven't ever. I know of a family near me that is though. I don't know why?

I know several Christians that are anti-modern medicine. I ended up parting ways with them because they kept pushing me to treat my bipolar disorder with unproven natural remedies. It was as if I became a lesser person to them because I chose to take a mood stabilizer and anti-depressant to control my symptoms.

I know several families that are anti-vaccinations and not because of the fetal cell line used to create them, they just don't agree with vacinnations being absolutely necessary for a healthy child.

[Kelya]

I know quite a few, and whole denominations (like aforementioned Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists) are in this camp.

As a healthcare worker they drive me absolutely insane and I want to poke each and everyone of them. Vaccinate against polio, people, seriously.

Personally, I use more natural treatments, as well as a balanced diet and listening to my body. So when my body says its time to see a doctor, I see one. When my body says it isn't a big deal, I bring things back into balance and seek help if needed. But some things, like vaccines for polio, hepatitis, MMR are just not optional to me. I'm moderate and both extreme sides tend to be irked by me, but I think its a really healthy way to approach things: take modern advances as a wonderful thing, use them when appropriate, and keep some of the old wisdom around as well.

[Jessica]

Vaccinate against polio, people, seriously.

But... b-b-but... but it might cause AUTISM! And that's a zillion times worse than POLIO!!!

(ugh!)

[countressrascal]

It is an issue of god’s plan. I deal with them everyday; their fetus has a serious medical issue. I talk to them about it and give them their options, explain the long term to them. All they can say it is god’s will. Best one I had been a mother that was going to die if she continued her pregnancy, her and her husband said it was in god’s hands not mine. They had 8 children at home under the age of 12. Guess what she did die, it broke my heart I hate to lose anyone. Even the ones that don’t use the common sense that god gave them

[dcmhejbl62]

So... are we getting into a vaccine discussion, or aren't we?

Or do we just need a gentle reminder that some thinking, researching, intelligent, and yes, loving parents can make different decisions regarding vaccines (or the causes of autism) than others and that does not make them insane, infantile, or stupid (ugh!)?