Want to kill someone? Pray for them!

Guess what -- it looks like it's legal to kill someone, and all you've got to do is pray for them. Yes, time and again, parents, caregivers and clergy have allowed children, the elderly and the sick to go to the "final reward" by simply praying. The latest case from Oregon involves a 16 year old boy who had a minor medical condition that ended up costing him his life.

The medical condition apparently has been ongoing for years, but did his family go see the doctor when he was sick? Nope -- they PREYED (oops, prayed) for him. This young man was ill for over a week, sick with pain, weakness and fever, and did his parents seek medical attention -- not on his life! Instead, they called their church! The doctor quoted in the article says that not only is this condition treatable, it's 100% FIXABLE with minor surgery. But the parents didn't want to "fix" their child, they wanted him to go to heaven (apparently, sooner than they expected). And the really sad/disturbing part is -- this is the second child from the same family that has died in less than 6 months from these faith-healing fools!

The most disgusting part is the parents probably won't even get to spend a night in jail for this murder. I guess if you really, really believe (and can convnice the authorities that you do), you can get away with it. It seems Oregon (and a number of other states) have "religious non-discrimination" laws that make it legal to withhold expedient and necessary medical treatment.

The church this family belongs to (Followers of Christ) believes in faith-healing so much, that they will actually expel members who seek medical treatment. In fact, in the last decade of the 20th century (that's the 1990's, for those of you trying to figure it out), at least 25 church children died of easily treatable/preventable illnesses (some so minor, that a simple course of antibiotics would have cured them). Were the church, families or clergy prosecuted for ANY of those wrongful deaths (murders?)? Not a one!

So, it seems that if you really don't like someone and wish them dead, you just have to join a church (or make up your own).