A Pennsylvania judge refuses to drop murder charges against a fundamentalist Christian couple, whose infant son died of untreated pneumonia. Herbert and Catherine Schaible tried to cure him through prayer, rather than calling a doctor or seeking medical attention of any kind.
This isn’t the first time these parents have been charged in the death of one of their children. In 2009 they were charged with Involuntary Manslaughter when their two-year-old son also died of pneumonia. At the time, the judge felt it was important that the parents return to their other seven children, and apparently thought they had learned a lesson. Not so. It is against the tennants of the First Century Gospel Church to use medical intervention. What do you think? Should a child’s health be treated at the sole discretion of the parents, or should authorities step in when the child could easily be helped by the use of antibiotics or hospitalization?