It's time once again for another rousing edition of the Snake Oil Bulletin, though if our most recent coverage is any indication, we may have to rename this column the Munchausen Minutes because of the sheer number of animals medically neglecting their babies. What is it about a belief in nonsense that makes people so willing to place their children's medical care in the hands of a dead Judean carpenter than in a modern day medical doctor? Because if our first story is any indication, Dr. Jesus H. Christ has a pretty terrible reputation for pediatrics.
I need to be more careful about which of Fare's posts I read. When parents kill their kids through sheer fucked-upedness I have a very hard time taking it.
I read a gut-wrenching book about the fight against the FOC in Oregon called "In the Name of God: the True Story of the Fight to Save Children from Faith-Healing homicide", by Cameron Stauth. It is *astonishing* how deep this goes with them. You have to understand that everybody in the sect has grown up there, and believes the entire rest of the world to be full of horrible, nasty, evil people who are going to hell. Literally. Any trials and tribulations you face are demons. Disease is caused by demons inhabiting you. A good person won't have demons, so there is a lot of motivation to appear well; people will insist they're not really sick because that would mean admitting there's a demon in them. They gather around people who are sick and make heroic (but ultimately pointless) efforts to save them by prayer and annointing with oil. And they have truly amazing levels of denial going on. It makes me think of stories told about life in North Korea, where you accept your situation because you've been told since infancy that it's even worse for people outside your community. And because you never mix with the horrible awful dangerous people outside your community, you have no way of testing this assumption. This is, of course, the perfect environment for a dangerous practice to survive.
There's one guy highlighted in the book (with a pseudonym, since even now, after leaving the community, he still fears shunning) who began to doubt that the faith healing was working. He eventually became something of an undeground doctor for his community. It started gradually, as there were no prohibitions against using herbs, so he'd do research on the Internet and start to understand how disease really works and that there are things that can help. Eventually it progressed to buying real medicine from pharmacies outside the US and lying to people that they were herbs so that they'd take them. He started to become fearful that the community would figure it out since people who came to visit him weren't staying sick as the ones who were prayed over. It also ultimately cost him his marriage, because his wife was a passionate believer and he was terrified to tell the truth to her, so he would lie to her instead. Turns out, she also had doubts, but didn't dare tell him. Nobody the community dared voice any doubts, because that would be a sign of demon possession.
The whole thing was fascinating and terrifying at the same time, with the most depressing part being the ending, where it explains that because Idaho still has a religious shield, most of the FOC members simply moved there when Oregon tightened up their child abuse laws.
Youreply is much more eloquent than my post earlier. But but what I said about Sagan's line needs emphasizing:
These people live in a demon haunted world where lack of faith allows the demons to do harm. For this extreme science is no "Candle in the Dark," (as Sagan's subtitle had it) and the only escape is a fear of God that they think of as being the only wisdom.
Oh yee of little faith. Guess none of them really believed in Jesus but are just pertending. If you have faith in Christ then all wounds will heal it says so right in the bible!
Death to anyone who pollutes a water source, eh? We're coming for you, Rick Snyder.
For a moment there I thought the Department of Homeland Security had borrowed Obama's time machine.
I need to be more careful about which of Fare's posts I read. When parents kill their kids through sheer fucked-upedness I have a very hard time taking it.
Most of Idaho can die in a fire of votes.
What country you going to?
Country? How 'bout 'planet'...
Don't go to Kolob
Probably for the best. I don't want to think what wolf milk tastes like.
For the LAST TIME, you ignorant fucks, this is not what I was talking about!- Jesus
Yup. I got out early enough to escape that fate.
I read a gut-wrenching book about the fight against the FOC in Oregon called "In the Name of God: the True Story of the Fight to Save Children from Faith-Healing homicide", by Cameron Stauth. It is *astonishing* how deep this goes with them. You have to understand that everybody in the sect has grown up there, and believes the entire rest of the world to be full of horrible, nasty, evil people who are going to hell. Literally. Any trials and tribulations you face are demons. Disease is caused by demons inhabiting you. A good person won't have demons, so there is a lot of motivation to appear well; people will insist they're not really sick because that would mean admitting there's a demon in them. They gather around people who are sick and make heroic (but ultimately pointless) efforts to save them by prayer and annointing with oil. And they have truly amazing levels of denial going on. It makes me think of stories told about life in North Korea, where you accept your situation because you've been told since infancy that it's even worse for people outside your community. And because you never mix with the horrible awful dangerous people outside your community, you have no way of testing this assumption. This is, of course, the perfect environment for a dangerous practice to survive.
There's one guy highlighted in the book (with a pseudonym, since even now, after leaving the community, he still fears shunning) who began to doubt that the faith healing was working. He eventually became something of an undeground doctor for his community. It started gradually, as there were no prohibitions against using herbs, so he'd do research on the Internet and start to understand how disease really works and that there are things that can help. Eventually it progressed to buying real medicine from pharmacies outside the US and lying to people that they were herbs so that they'd take them. He started to become fearful that the community would figure it out since people who came to visit him weren't staying sick as the ones who were prayed over. It also ultimately cost him his marriage, because his wife was a passionate believer and he was terrified to tell the truth to her, so he would lie to her instead. Turns out, she also had doubts, but didn't dare tell him. Nobody the community dared voice any doubts, because that would be a sign of demon possession.
The whole thing was fascinating and terrifying at the same time, with the most depressing part being the ending, where it explains that because Idaho still has a religious shield, most of the FOC members simply moved there when Oregon tightened up their child abuse laws.
i lost my virginity . . . it was dark with the only light a glimmer from a streetlamp,
[ . . . if i could remember exactly where i was, maybe i could go back and look for it? ]
we have a winner!.
YOU MONSTER!
Youreply is much more eloquent than my post earlier. But but what I said about Sagan's line needs emphasizing:
These people live in a demon haunted world where lack of faith allows the demons to do harm. For this extreme science is no "Candle in the Dark," (as Sagan's subtitle had it) and the only escape is a fear of God that they think of as being the only wisdom.
Oh yee of little faith. Guess none of them really believed in Jesus but are just pertending. If you have faith in Christ then all wounds will heal it says so right in the bible!
I think that was John 69:420 or something.