'Inoculate yourself with the word of God': How religion can limit medical treatment

[trotsky]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/07/health/religion-medical-treatment/index.html

Evangelical Christian minister Gloria Copeland, who sat on the Trump campaign's evangelical advisory board, is drawing criticism for recent comments about avoiding flu vaccination:

"We don't have a flu season and don't receive it when somebody threatens you with 'everybody is getting the flu,' " Copeland said in a video on her Facebook page.

...

Her comments come in the middle of one of the United States' worst flu seasons in recent years, one that has killed dozens of children and resulted in the highest number of hospitalizations recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copeland is not the first evangelical to call for limited medical treatment. Some fundamentalists don't believe in medications or psychological treatments for mental illness. Small groups of faith healers believe that prayer can heal and shun conventional medical support.

[Zoonart]

1. Brilliant plan to "fix" the health care system in this country.

just convince all of the myriad of Protestant splinter evangelical and mega-church members to become Christian Scientists and refuse medical care at all.
Boom...Done! What could possibly go wrong? This is so incredibly dangerous and nefarious.

[MineralMan]

2. A perfect example of religion doing harm.

For a minister to advise that people forego a vaccination is outrageous. Some people who listen to such advice will die because of it. As I hear stories about people dying from this year's influenza season, I keep hearing, "he/she did not receive the flu shot."

While this year's flu shot isn't as effective as it might have been, it can still lessen the severity of the illness if you do get it.

I detest this sort of misuse of religion. I cannot say how much I detest it.

[trotsky]

3. It's bad enough when adults are misled like this.

But when medical decisions are made for children, it's on a whole new level too. My contempt for religion in those cases is off the charts.

[MineralMan]

4. Exactly. And advise like that will lead to parents not protecting

their children, who have no choice in the matter.

My advice for evangelists with regard to health issues: Just STFU, damn it!