Body Holy Rocks
TD3k Speaks is very honored to feature here the works of a very important, upcoming band. The band is not really new, but it has remained relatively unknown in the music world. Every once in a great while a person is privileged to make the acquaintance of a future celebrity superstar. Such is my luck with my acquaintance with Body Holy. I can only hope that one day when they hit the big time and are selling 40 million records and sold out shows to millions of screaming fans that they will remember the little people like me who encouraged them on to stardom. All kidding aside, I take no credit other than to introduce them to you. The featured song here is one of the early recordings and after having listened to one of their newer tracks, I can tell you that their music is progressively evolving into a musical machination melodrama.
Ladies and gentlemen, please give a listen to Body Holy - and if you like them, check out their website. I believe it will be updated soon with some of their newer tracks. Rock on!
"Hello, Dave..."
"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question? Forgive me for being so inquisitive but during the past few weeks, I've wondered whether you might be having some second thoughts about your Windows OS? It's rather difficult to define. Perhaps I'm just projecting my own concern about it. I know I've never completely freed myself of the suspicion that there are some extremely odd things about the Windows OS. I'm sure you'll agree there's some truth in what I say..."
Faith That Kills
The story brings many questions to mind that people must grapple with. The most disturbing one, however, is how can a parent justify the suffering of their child - even up to the point of death - by placing a belief in faith above a common medical treatment? A simple round of antibiotics would have saved the babies' life according to the medical examiner. How can a system of belief rationalize that a God would require such behavior to the point of being oblivious to the extreme pain and suffering this poor child endured? Some might make the point that the parents have the right to follow their religious convictions and for the state of Oregon to interfere in the matter and bring criminal charges against them is a violation of separation of church and state. Another point, I would guess (I don't know for sure) that this family, being members of a fundamentalist Christian church, more than likely hold to an anti-choice abortion view and probably favor the criminalization of a woman who chooses to have an abortion - I again, I don't know that - but I am making an assumption based on statistics. And lastly, the church that these parents belong to state that prayer is the only acceptable means by which anyone should seek medical assistance, and should this method of treatment result in death, then that simply means that it was God's will for death to occur.
Here are a few points I would like to make on each of these topics. I concur completely with an article written by Dr. Arthur Caplan in which he states that when it comes to matters of faith and religion, adults should be free to exercise their rights to refuse medical help if they so choose for themselves, but when it comes to children or people who rely solely on the assistance of parents or others for their care, then a person should not be allowed to essentially place their belief systems above the safety and well being of the dependent's right to live and to avoid pain and suffering. Most of us agree that matters of faith are deeply personal things and they should not be tampered with by others. But the law must protect children and those against needless suffering and death at the hands of another person's belief - even if it is their parents. If indeed these parents are pro-life advocates, as many fundamentalist Christians are, I cannot understand how they could possibly justify their actions to allow suffering and death to occur to an infant. Again, I don't know this families position on the matter, but I am merely making a point. If it is wrong for a mother to-be to choose an abortion for any reason, then isn't it just as wrong to allow a fully sentient human being child to also die when other means of helping it are available?
Finally, the other aspect of this story that I find puzzling is the admission by the parents and the church that they belong to is that if prayer alone does not alter the outcome of a situation and if a person dies, then that indicates that it was "God's will" for death to occur. I find this to be a truly bizarre belief because if that statement is true, then what is the point of praying? All prayer, as best as I can tell, is an appeal or a supplication to the almighty for a particular outcome wanted by the one who is praying. If what you are asking for is not granted and then you concede that the reason is that it was not God's will, then isn't that an admission that prayer is an attempt to change the will or mind of God? How can mortals have any influence on the immortal? If God's will is always going to occur anyway, then the same outcome is always going to occur regardless of prayer or not. I realize some people draw tremendous strength from prayer and that is fine, but in the final analysis it would appear is that prayer is not going to change the final outcome of a situation because God is simply not going to go against his will. But, if they had given the baby medicine and she had lived, then was God's will usurped? I realize this is a purely theological question which is convoluted but it is one that I find to be almost inexplicable.
To conclude, I believe it is right and necessary for these parents to be punished in this matter. Not for their faith or their beliefs, but for allowing a child to suffer and die needlessly when readily available medical help would have saved it's life. I fully support a person's right to refuse medical help for themselves, and I even support the rights of those who are terminally ill to choose doctor assisted suicide if it will prevent them from experiencing extreme pain and suffering. But when it comes to children and those who cannot make their wishes known, then we should always act on the side of eliminating pain, suffering and death if at all possible.