Death 2, The Followers of Christ Church 0

And yet, I am no longer surprised any longer at instances such as this:

GLADSTONE, Ore. — Authorities say a teenager from a faith-healing family died from an illness that could have been easily treated, just a few months after a toddler cousin of his died in a case that has led to criminal charges.

We are not living in caves any longer people. Civilization has moved on. Witchdoctors throwing random animal bones over a sacred plate will not solve anything, especially medical issues.

Tuesday's death of 16-year-old Neil Beagley, however, may not be a crime because Oregon law allows minors 14 and older to decide for themselves whether to accept medical treatment.

"All of the interviews from last night are that he did in fact refuse treatment," police Sgt. Lynne Benton said Wednesday. "Unless we can disprove that, charges probably won't be filed in this case."

An autopsy Wednesday showed Beagley died of heart failure caused by a urinary tract blockage.[bold added]

What can be said? What did Neil Beagley and his parents expect to happen? Did he deserve to die? While I cannot say that he did, simply because I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't an initiator of force, he did perish by his own doing. His death is no one else's fault but his own. Neil, as well as his family, certainly didn't expect for him to be healed. After all, God works in mysterious ways.

...Right?

The worst part of this whole ordeal is that, apparently, this isn't the first time an incident like this (i.e. unnecessary death) has occurred with these prehistoric-minded cave-people:

In March, the boy's 15-month-old cousin Ava Worthington died at home from bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection.

Her parents, Carl and Raylene Worthington, also belong to the church. They have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminal mistreatment, and their defense attorneys have indicated they will use a religious freedom defense.

The proof of this group's incompetence lies not only within their willingness to sacrifice their followers to their false ideals, but also that they're willing to do this continually. These guardians of Ava should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Neil Beagley had the ability to voice his disapproval of modern medicine, as inept as that decision was. Ava Worthington did not, and was forced to pay the price of a premature death in exchange for nonsensical, ancient mysticism.