Zachery's parents chose not to take him to the hospital. They chose to not take him to a local physician. They didn't even consider professional help, but rather assumed that he would be divinely cured; they thought prayer would save him. It didn't. In Washington, members of select faith groups are exempt from being morally accountable when they neglect to use modern medicine to care for their loved ones. The legislature specifies that "a person who, in good faith, is furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care is not considered deprived of medically necessary health care or abandoned." Read it again. A person who believes in Christian Science, divine intervention when sick, is not considered to be a negligent caretaker should the person under his or her care die. Zachery's parents were acquitted of all charges against them. There are a few things that should be addressed here.Imagine this scenario: A father and mother take their child to a park and the child falls into a lake. The parents can swim, but their child cannot. Despite this, they do nothing and watch the child drown. What should happen to the parents? Immediate arrest? Removal of all their other children? Jail time for manslaughter? Some combination of those options?
First, I want to be clear. Zachery would have most likely lived had his parents done the right thing. It takes a special kind of person to watch a child die, let alone a child you raised for seventeen years. These parents put their faith, their untested, unproven, ungrounded faith over tested, proven, grounded science. For anyone who says "faith is a virtue," I say to you that faith killed Zachery.
Second, I want to talk about prayer for just a second. No, I'm not going into the bible, Koran, etc., but rather I'm going to talk about a scientific study on prayer. The study found that not only was there no discernible difference between people who were prayed for and people who were not. Furthermore, and most interestingly, it was found that people who knew they were being prayed for did worse than the other two. So what do we learn from this? If you pray for someone in the hospital, fine. Just don't tell them.
Third, I want to request anyone who reads this and needs help whether it be mentally, medically, financially, etc. to not use prayer by itself. If your marriage is falling apart, and you think your pastor can help, by all means, go see him or her. If all he or she does is hold your hand and pray, walk out and see a professional counselor. If you're mentally ill, and you think your pastor can help, but has no education in mental illness or how to treat one, don't go to him. If your father is in a car wreck and having issues with PTSD, and puts off seeing a professional so he can pray for guidance, do whatever it takes to get him to see a doctor. I've heard far too many pastors, preachers, etc. say that a person is troubled because he or she didn't pray enough or wasn't faithful enough. I sincerely doubt that a divine being blew up Zachery's appendix due to a lack of faith.
Fourth, and I touched on this above: We have medical schools, clinical psychology schools, and marriage counseling schools for a reason. We have divinity schools, seminary schools, and theology schools for a reason. It's rare science and faith overlap, but where it does, you can bet that answers will be found in science. Faith may leave you feeling like you helped someone, or it may leave you feeling more guilty and anxious that you aren't faithful enough. But scientists will be working diligently to find a solution to the problem. You just have to accept the help.
Interestingly, as I recall reading, the parents were not Christian Scientists and did not seek a "professional" Christian Science healer person. They simply pleaded in court that the spirit of that law covers them as well.
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