Bad Faith

When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine

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  • In
  • recent
  • years,
  • there
  • have
  • been
  • major
  • outbreaks
  • of
  • whooping
  • cough
  • among
  • children
  • in
  • California,
  • mumps
  • in
  • New
  • York,
  • and
  • measles
  • in
  • Ohio's
  • Amish
  • country
  • --
  • despite
  • the
  • fact
  • that
  • these
  • are
  • all
  • vaccine-preventable
  • diseases.
  • Although
  • America
  • is
  • the
  • most
  • medically
  • advanced
  • place
  • in
  • the
  • world,
  • many
  • people
  • disregard
  • modern
  • medicine
  • in
  • favor
  • of
  • using
  • their
  • faith
  • to
  • fight
  • life
  • threatening
  • illnesses.
  • Christian
  • Scientists
  • pray
  • for
  • healing
  • instead
  • of
  • going
  • to
  • the
  • doctor,
  • Jehovah's
  • Witnesses
  • refuse
  • blood
  • transfusions,
  • and
  • ultra-Orthodox
  • Jewish
  • mohels
  • spread
  • herpes
  • by
  • using
  • a
  • primitive
  • ritual
  • to
  • clean
  • the
  • wound.
  • Tragically,
  • children
  • suffer
  • and
  • die
  • every
  • year
  • from
  • treatable
  • diseases,
  • and
  • in
  • most
  • states
  • it
  • is
  • legal
  • for
  • parents
  • to
  • deny
  • their
  • children
  • care
  • for
  • religious
  • reasons.
  • In
  • twenty-first
  • century
  • America,
  • how
  • could
  • this
  • be
  • happening?In
  • Bad
  • Faith,
  • acclaimed
  • physician
  • and
  • author
  • Dr.
  • Paul
  • Offit
  • gives
  • readers
  • a
  • never-before-seen
  • look
  • into
  • the
  • minds
  • of
  • those
  • who
  • choose
  • to
  • medically
  • martyr
  • themselves,
  • or
  • their
  • children,
  • in
  • the
  • name
  • of
  • religion.
  • Offit
  • chronicles
  • the
  • stories
  • of
  • these
  • faithful
  • and
  • their
  • children,
  • whose
  • devastating
  • experiences
  • highlight
  • the
  • tangled
  • relationship
  • between
  • religion
  • and
  • medicine
  • in
  • America.
  • Religious
  • or
  • not,
  • this
  • issue
  • reaches
  • everyone
  • --
  • whether
  • you
  • are
  • seeking
  • treatment
  • at
  • a
  • Catholic
  • hospital
  • or
  • trying
  • to
  • keep
  • your
  • kids
  • safe
  • from
  • diseases
  • spread
  • by
  • their
  • unvaccinated
  • peers.Replete
  • with
  • vivid
  • storytelling
  • and
  • complex,
  • compelling
  • characters,
  • Bad
  • Faith
  • makes
  • a
  • strenuous
  • case
  • that
  • denying
  • medicine
  • to
  • children
  • in
  • the
  • name
  • of
  • religion
  • isn't't
  • just
  • unwise
  • and
  • immoral,
  • but
  • a
  • rejection
  • of
  • the
  • very
  • best
  • aspects
  • of
  • what
  • belief
  • itself
  • has
  • to offer.
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