Is homoeopathy a religion?
Religion often makes people do – and defend – the strangest things. But never so strange as when parents knowingly let a child die rather than defy some arcane religious dictate. Jehovah’s Witnesses immediately spring to mind. Many children – and many more adults – die each year from refusing life-saving blood transfusions. For purely religious reasons. Not that there’s any clear “thou shalt not…” injuction against blood transfusions. No, you’ve got to contort your mind around a few obscure words in the bible to see any possible interpretation against blood transfusions. And for this JWs are willing to die – and kill their children. Very, very strange things indeed.
Of course it’s not only Jehovah’s Witnesses, nor indeed only Christians, who are willing to sacrifice their children at the alter of religious dogma. Take the recent case of Daniel Hauser, a 13-year-old cancer patient who refused medical treatment. The boy is illiterate and appears to have little understanding of the chemotherapy treatment and the fact that his form of cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is very curable in the earlier stages. His mother actually went to court to justify his decision – based on religious principles. His family belong to a faux Native American cult called Nemenhah, who peddle “cures” for AIDS and cancer. Feeble little Daniel Hauser’s parents were willing to let their son die through their belief in a religion run by a huckster. Luckily the court came to his aid and he will have a chance to live.
Some are not so lucky. Take the sad case of little Gloria Thomas, aged nine months. Her homoeopath father, Thomas Sam, let his little daughter suffer to her death from a case of eczema. Her skin got infected and with her body trying to fight it she could not get enough nutrition from her mother’s milk. She died in a pitiful, highly malnourished state – in great agony.
So what religion proscribed proper medical treatment for this innocent baby? What promise of after-life glory was made in an ancient manuscript? What undeniable holy truth led her parents to the conviction that they should spurn the medical advice of many, many doctors to treat their baby’s skin with medicines and relieve her of her terrible suffering?
Homoeopathy.
As they watched their child die, they persisted in treating her with pure water – with nothing. Was Thomas Sam a true believer? Did little Gloria Thomas’s mother, Manju Sam have absolute faith in giving pure water – without so much as a single molecule of active ingredient – as treatment to her easily treatable baby? What would cause a mother and father to reject the the urgings of various health professionals and persist in pursueing homeopathic remedies which time and again obviously had no effect? Wouldn’t some inkling of doubt creep into their deluded minds?
This bears all the hallmarks of religous fanaticsim. Homoeopathy is not a science. At best it can be called psuedo-science. It is such a crazy idea, so far removed from the realms of the possible, that it takes blind faith to believe that it can have any effect at all in treating any condition. In the pantheon of strange ideas, homeopathy is up there with the stangest.
Gloria Thomas’s parents were convicted in an Australian court of manslaughter by gross criminal negligence. They face 25 years in jail. Thomas Sam is unrepentant.
Homoeopathy might not be a religion, but it sure looks like one.
Comments
3 Comments on Is homoeopathy a religion?
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Scott Adams on
Tue, 9th Jun 2009 4:22 pm
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Tim on
Tue, 9th Jun 2009 4:50 pm
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Scott Adams on
Tue, 9th Jun 2009 7:53 pm
The boy is illiterate? That’s a pretty harsh indictment if true. Do you have facts to back that up?
If not, then I wonder if the rest of your opinion piece is as equally distorted?
And like every story there are two sides. Have you read this one yet? Perhaps Chemo is not quiet as wonderful as you might believe.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026386_cancer_side_effects_disease.html
As an aside I do agree with Homeopathy being ineffective, but that doesn’t have a thing to do with Daniel or the parents and his belief that chemotherapy is a dangerous route to take.
I would give a child Homeopathy long before I would give them chemo. At least there are no treatment risks involved.
Scott Adams says
The boy is illiterate? That’s a pretty harsh indictment if true. Do you have facts to back that up?
Sure – there are many, and it’s in the court record. Here’s one.
I stand corrected Tim. That’s really sad indeed!
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