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Religious Faith and a Sick Boy
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
A 13-year-old boy and his mother have gone into hiding rather than comply with a court order to undertake the process of obtaining chemotherapy for the boy, who suffers from Hodgkin's lymphoma. They're objecting to the treatment on religious grounds.
The boy, Daniel Hauser, stopped chemo in February after just one treatment. His parents say they are supporting his decision to use alternative healing methods favored by a Missouri-based religious group, the Nemenhah Band, which bases its beliefs on natural healing methods advocated by some Native Americans, according to the Associated Press.
Nemenhah's founder, Philip Cloudpiler Landis, said he had cancer similar to Daniel's and treated it with dietary changes, visits to a sweat lodge and other natural remedies.
A Minnesota trial court found that Daniel does not understand his medical situation and lacks the ability to give informed consent on medical procedures. In its decision last week, the court found that Daniel had responded well to the initial round of chemo. It concluded that he didn't seem to know much about his religion:
"While he is 13 years of age, Daniel is unable to read. He does not know what the term 'elder' means, although he claims to be one. He knows he is a medicine man under Nemenhah teachings, but is unable to identify how he became a medicine man or what teachings he has had to master to become one. He believes in the principle of 'do no harm' and attributes his belief to Nemenhah teachings."
By
Jacqueline L. Salmon
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May 20, 2009; 3:48 PM ET
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Posted by: mcjay1 | May 25, 2009 5:57 PM
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I have nothing against herbal and natural treatments for some cancer fighting agents.
But he had only one chemo, even though he
feels strongly I believe the mother is convincing the son by useing the religion thing to discourage this Daniel from giving chemo a real chance. Faith plays a big part in healing,but sometimes it's not
god cant preform miracles it's the desease that can over whelm the cancer and when faith no longer is working for this family
then you can ask god to show you what he thinks daniel needs?? I ask god everyday to show me his will and which direction to go and to guide me threw my day. You do get answeres threw what ever tool god uses to help you. So I feel the mother of Daniel is not thinking clearly and i pray that they make the right choice as a family.
Posted by: firstconnlake | May 22, 2009 8:53 AM
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He's got more than just one problem if he's 13 and unable to read.
The whole family should be given a Darwin Award.
Posted by: dlkimura | May 20, 2009 6:00 PM
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It's hard to sit back and watch the effects caused by someone making what we assume to be a bad decision. I would of course accept traditional medical philosophy for treating my own family. Yet if a family's religion teaches that medical care is not permitted, I do not have the right to force my own beliefs on that family. If the child were a few years older, he would be legally capable of deciding for himself the course of treatment. I think we should assume that, based on his upbringing and the values taught by his parents, he would still elect not to be treated. I would therefore not force him into treatment that is against his religion. If we really are a free country, we should recognize that people have the right to be wrong and allow them to suffer the consequences (or the benefits) of their own actions.