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ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
 Posted: 03-02-2012 14:24 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Bath Christian group's 'God can heal' adverts banned
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-16871116
Related Stories
Church drops 'God heals' advert
A Christian group has been banned from claiming that God can heal illnesses on its website and in leaflets.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had concluded that the adverts by Healing on the Streets (HOTS) - Bath, were misleading.
It said a leaflet available to download from the group's website said: "Need Healing? God can heal today!"
The group, based in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, said it was disappointed with the decision and would appeal.
HOTS Bath said its vision was to promote Christian healing "as a daily lifestyle for every believer".
'False hope'
The ASA said the leaflet read: "Need Healing? God can heal today! Do you suffer from Back Pain, Arthritis, MS, Addiction ... Ulcers, Depression, Allergies, Fibromyalgia, Asthma, Paralysis, Crippling Disease, Phobias, Sleeping disorders or any other sickness?
"We'd love to pray for your healing right now!
"We're Christian from churches in Bath and we pray in the name of Jesus. We believe that God loves you and can heal you from any sickness."
The ASA said it had been alerted to the adverts by a complainant, and concluded that they could encourage false hope and were irresponsible.
HOTS Bath said: "It seems very odd to us that the ASA wants to prevent us from stating on our website the basic Christian belief that God can heal illness.
"All over the world as part of their normal Christian life, Christians believe in, pray for and experience God's healing; our ministry, in common with many churches, has been active in praying for God's healing (of Christians and non Christians) for many years."
The group said it had tried to reach a compromise, "but there are certain things that we cannot agree to - including a ban on expressing our beliefs".
The Healing On The Streets ministry was started by Causeway Coast Vineyard church in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, in 2005 and has been taken up by dozens of churches across the UK. |
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| rev_dino Great Old One Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Total posts: 248 Location: Arlington, VA Age: 39 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 07-02-2012 16:39 Post subject: |
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You can read more about Hayley Stevens' reasoning behind the complaint here: http://hayleyisaghost.co.uk/
All of the recent posts are about this. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 23-05-2013 13:10 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | US 'faith healers' charged over second baby's death
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22633937
Herbert and Catherine Schaible are part of a church said to shun seatbelts and toothpaste
A Philadelphia couple said to reject medicine in favour of faith healing have been charged with the murder of their infant son.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible withheld medical care from the seven-month-old boy, who died in April of pneumonia and dehydration, prosecutors said.
Four years ago, another son died under similar circumstances.
After the 2009 death of Kent, two, the couple were ordered to seek medical care if their children fell ill.
They were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in Kent's death.
'How many must die?'
Like Brandon, Kent died from bacterial pneumonia. His parents had prayed for him but did not call a doctor.
The couple told police after Brandon's death they did not seek medical help because they believed in God's power to heal, the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported.
Prosecutors in Philadelphia said the couple were entitled to their own religious beliefs - until their children's lives were in danger.
"How many kids have to die before it becomes extreme indifference to human life?" said prosecutor Ed McCann.
"They killed one kid already."
But defence lawyers characterised the couple as loving parents who did not want their son to die.
The couple are members of the First Century Gospel Church, which shuns measures such as toothpaste and seatbelts, the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported.
The couple face seven to 14 years in prison if they are found guilty, prosecutors said.
The couple have seven surviving children under the age of 18, who were placed in foster care last month. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 03-07-2013 23:53 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | US 'prayer cure' couple lose appeal over child's death
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23167489
Leilani and Dale Neumann leave a Marathon County Circuit Courtroom in Wausau, Wisconsin 7 May 2008 file photo
Leilani and Dale Neumann identify themselves as Pentecostal Christians
The reckless homicide conviction of a couple whose daughter died after they tried to treat her with prayer, denying her medical help, has been upheld.
By 6-1, Wisconsin's Supreme Court ruled that a law protecting Dale and Leilani Neumann from child abuse charges did not cover their daughter's death.
Kara Neumann, 11, died on Easter Sunday March 2008 from undiagnosed diabetes.
The couple were convicted in separate trials in 2009 and sentenced to six months in prison.
They have not served any jail time while the case went through the appeals process.
The Neumanns' lawyers argued that Wisconsin child abuse laws granted criminal immunity to "prayer-healing" parents, even to the point of creating substantial risk of death.
'Glory of God'
Wisconsin lawyers argued that such protection ends when parents realise a child is at serious risk of death.
The couple identify themselves as Pentecostal Christians and believe visiting a doctor is akin to worshipping an idol, the Supreme Court opinion said.
Madeline Kara Neumann is shown working on chalk art Wausau, Wisconsin July 2007
Kara Neumann's diabetes was undiagnosed
The family first began to pray after Kara became very tired and pale, and her legs turned blue.
They continued to do so as their daughter's conditioned worsened, disregarding suggestions from Leilani Neumann's mother to bring Kara to a doctor.
Leilani Neumann rejected a suggestion that she give Kara a dehydration supplement, saying such a treatment would be taking away the glory from God.
Kara slipped into a coma and died.
Emergency room officials testified the girl's condition was easily treatable and her chances of survival had been high "well into the day of her death".
Dale Neumann testified during his trial that he never thought his daughter would die, and believed that even if she did, Jesus would bring her back from the dead, much like the biblical story of Lazarus.
More than a dozen states have some form of legal protection for parents who use prayer healing.
In Pennsylvania, two parents have been charged with the death of their infant son from pneumonia after they refused medical care and relied only on prayer. They were already serving 10 years of probation for the death of their two-year-old son in 2009. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 16-08-2013 21:10 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | HIV patients told by Pentecostal pastors 'to rely on God'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23729684
By Alex Strangwayes-Booth
BBC News
A crucifix necklace lying on an open Bible
Some young HIV patients have been pressured to stop taking medication, a survey of doctors revealed
Some young HIV patients are giving up their medicine after being told by Pentecostal Church pastors to rely on faith in God instead, doctors warn.
Medical staff told the BBC a minority of pastors in England were endangering young church members by putting them under pressure to stop medication.
Healing is central to Pentecostalism, a radical belief in the power of prayer and miracles.
But one pastor denied people would ever be told to stop taking their medicine.
The Children's HIV Association surveyed 19 doctors and health professionals working with babies and children in England; its members had reported hearing anecdotal evidence of HIV patients deciding to stop taking their anti-retroviral drugs because their pastors had told them to do so.
Among 10 doctors who said they had encountered the problem in the last five years, 29 of their patients had reported being put under pressure to stop taking medicine and at least 11 had done so.
The doctors and health professionals reported a variety of cases:
Some said they had dealt with parents who felt under pressure to stop giving their young children their HIV medicine - and some had actually done so
Others were breastfeeding mothers with HIV who refused the medicine that would stop the virus being passed onto their babies
Some were young people, making the decision for themselves
The healthcare workers also reported that some patients had been told by their pastors they would be healed by prayer or by drinking blessed water.
'Miracle cure'
Sixteen-year-old Oliver (not his real name) said he was told by a pastor to swap his HIV medicine for a plastic bottle containing water that would heal him.
He said many others had come under the same pressure.
"I've been to other churches where... the pastor stands forth there, and he says 'come take this water... if you drink it for this certain amount of days, you are going to be healed'," he said.
Later, after his mother had experienced what he believed was a miracle cure, Oliver stopped taking his medication, and his condition quickly deteriorated.
He has since gone back on his medication and said he believed he needed to combine his drugs with his belief in faith healing.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
We need to stay engaged with the families and understand that... their faith is an important part of the support they get in their condition”
Steve Welch
Children's HIV Association
Dr Toni Tan, a consultant paediatrician, said some Pentecostal pastors were endangering the lives of sick followers.
"It's my view that it's very wrong for faith leaders to actively encourage their congregations to stop taking their medication... it will lead to their deaths."
Pentecostals and other Christians see healing, like speaking in tongues, as a sign of the presence of God.
Pentecostal pastor Stevo Atanasio, from the East London Christian Church, said that among his congregation, blind people had recovered sight, deaf people had heard again, and what were considered terminal illnesses had been cured.
"We don't say to people 'don't take your medication don't go to the doctor'. I mean we never say that," he said.
"But we believe that the first healing comes from inside, it's a spiritual healing. Some people are hurt, they have broken hearts. If you are healed from inside, then you are healed from outside as well."
'Avoid culture clash'
Pentecostalism is booming. The number of Pentecostal churches in London, for example, has doubled since 2005.
The overall number of incidents of HIV patients being told to give up medicine is thought to consist of a minority of churches and a small group of people.
But the Rev Israel Olofinjana, who is a former Pentecostal pastor and now a Baptist minister, said he had seen it happening.
"I've heard languages like that - 'put your trust in God, don't put your trust in medicine'."
He said many of these churches served migrants with an exalted view of the authority of pastors.
"Within the context of African churches, if you're coming from a culture where the pastor is like your fathers or mothers, like your community keepers, the word of your pastor becomes very important," he explained.
"It becomes very significant... there is a minority who say 'because God can heal absolutely... what's the need for medicine?'."
Dr Steve Welch, who is chairman of the Children's HIV Association, said it found it difficult to engage with the faith leaders of churches where healing was an integral part of the worship.
"We need to stay engaged with the families and understand that... their faith is an important part of the support they get in their condition, and engage positively with them and not make it a clash of cultures.
"I think it's about engaging with the pastors and faith leaders who are giving this advice because that's how we will actually address the root of the problem." |
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