Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

Preface
Medical treatment is what keeps the world evolving, but not everyone has access to it.
Even when certain people do have the access to medical care, they turn it away due to their faith
in the God(s) they believe in. Many people in developing countries have turned to faith healing
or have created their own form of medicine. Often, they do so without having the specific
information regarding their ailment and are therefore unaware of the consequences of treating it
improperly. Some have rejected the idea of proper medicine altogether because it is considered
science and against Gods will. Without having access to proper medical care, people have
become confident in their faith because it is seen as a natural and pure way to heal someone.
When they see medicine and all of the scientific properties, they shy away, deeming it impure,
unnatural, and against the ways of their God(s). The lack of medical acceptance growing around
the world is causing unsafe pregnancies as well as the death of infants, children and adult women
and men early in their lives Faith healing is not proven to work, but once in a while a special
case seems to miraculously work and it spreads hope far and wide, causing more and more
people to move away from scientific remedies. What no one realizes is they never know the end
result of the miraculous healing; they do not know if that person fell ill again later on, or died
because the ailment was stronger than their faith. Refusal of medical treatment altogether has led
to the deaths of many people around the world.

The importance of Faith around the world cannot be understated and is most widely seen
in underdeveloped nations. However, when it becomes a major political factor in regards to
medicine, it becomes a problem. This is an issue that the western world needs to start caring

Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

more about. Sending in medical help to the developing nations is not going to help if the
believers of faith are unwilling to accept it. Developed nations need to show developing nations
that medicine is a great advancement to the world and helps more than any placebo effect ever
could. Believers of Christianity, and many other religions, talk about how precious life is and
how it needs to be nurtured and taken care of, yet when a new treatment becomes available to aid
their illness, there are those who turn away from it. Western societies need to take appropriate
action if the developing nations are going to keep up and one day become as strong and
developed as the rest. Faith is important during the tough times of a developing nation, but it
cannot be the sole deciding factor of the nation if that nation wants to accomplish a similar rank
and status of more secular nations such as Great Britain, France, and Canada.
Even western society is suffering the consequences of religion affecting the use of
medicine. In the United States with far spread religious group activity, religious followers have
even been exempt from the law if someone is to die from lack of medical care. In a state full of
hospitals and thousands of doctors, the strong followers of God(s) still believe their God(s) will
save them. They believe that, you know, God will heal. And if he does not heal you, then it's his
will for you to die. (Wallace, C.).

Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

Summary of Research Methods

The information provided in this report was collected electronically by using the search
engine Google and the internet database eLibrary. A secondary source used to obtain a
translated piece of an article from a personal blog under the domain Tumblr. Quotes from The
Holy Bible were also used. Another database that was used in gathering the information cited
was ProQuest.

Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

Background
Faith healing has been around for centuries and was sometimes paired with natural plantlike remedies. This pairing occurred before the scientific discoveries that proved that the true
healing came from the plants themselves. Evidence of the existence of faith healing can be
traced back to well before the birth of the modern Judeo-Christian belief system. As faith healing
progressed, medicine advanced and the science behind medicine was born. Strong believers in
faith have turned away from medicine because they see it as impure and against the beliefs of
their God(s).
People with these beliefs often die from easily curable ailments because blood
transfusions, vaccinations, abortions, and anything created by science is deemed too impure for
their sacred bodies. With the new mutations of bacteria and diseases today, faith healing needs to
be considered the last option of treatment, and not the first. The newest epidemic of Ebola was
not something faith could heal as even medical procedures were having trouble keeping the virus
contained or finding a cure. Church groups of many different religions have turned to shunning
their followers if they receive medical treatment. (Alter, S.) Mothers and children, the base of
the collective future of these nations, are dying because they arent being brought to hospitals
and are being denied professional care from the people who are supposed to protect them; all of
this can be linked back to Faith. Kind words and praying mean nothing to a raging infection, a
case of profuse bleeding or a growing tumor; only medicine can ultimately heal these conditions.
The lack of education, knowledge, and real medicine is truly hurting the developing nations that
are trying to keep up.

Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

Western nations try and fund the building of schools in developing countries but dont
follow up on what is actually taught. Education doesnt help unless what is being taught can help
the nation grow and ultimately thrive. Westerners should be funding schools, but should also be
working with locals to create curriculums that target the problems in those countries. Children
can learn language, math, science, any academic skill, but unless they are informed about
situations in their nation that require those academic skills they will never get put to the test.
People in developing nations need to be taught the benefits of what they are being taught and
how the knowledge they receive can be used to help their nation in times of need. Despite the
medical advancements of today and the knowledge of the past, developing countries are still
suffering.

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Expert
Rita Swan
Rita Swan is the creator of CHILD Inc. (Childrens Healthcare Is a Legal Duty). This is
an organization that raises money to protect children from faith healing. Rita is also the writer of
The Last Strawberry, a memoir of her own faith healing experiences. Rita Swan was once a
strong believer in the healing powers of faith, and was a member of a church that frowned upon
medical assistance for anything other than a broken bone. She lived by these rules until one day,
her 16 month old son developed a fever. She and her husband hired a Christian scientist to pray
over their son Matthew, and the Christian Science practitioner said the fever was only fear
(Hall). Matthew recovered from that fever but was soon to be victim of another one, this time
Rita Swan called a Christian Science nurse who talked to Rita Swan more than praying over the
child. As a last attempt they admitted Matthew to the hospital lying about a broken arm and not
mentioning the fever. Unfortunately, Matthew had developed bacterial meningitis and a brain
abscess, too advanced for antibiotics and surgery. This resulted in Matthews premature death.
Soon after Matthewss death, Rita Swan wanted to help protect all the other children
suffering from religious medical neglect; she created CHILD Inc. This organization takes
donations to support children who are neglected because of religious beliefs, while Rita Swan
started this organization she also wrote a memoire of her families struggle with faith healing, The
Last Strawberry. Rita Swan strongly believes in medicine over faith healing, as too many
children have died. After Rita Swan created CHILD Inc., she exposed case after case of child
abuse that would otherwise have gone unnoticed and reported outbreaks of polio and measles in

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Christian Science schools and camps. She documented preventable deaths of Christian Science
children from meningitis, diabetes, diphtheria, measles, kidney infection, septicaemia, cancer,
and appendicitis. (Hall)

Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

Role of Control
The people with the power in this issue are religious extremist and their followers; they
spread the view that medical treatment is bad and will shun you from the group if you think
otherwise. This is abuse of religious freedom and should not be tolerated by any governments
around the world. Strong education needs to be provided around the world to inform people of
the dangers to themselves and the people around them from self-healing and faith healing.
Dominant countries need to show developing countries how to flourish and take care of
their own. Schooling needs to be changed around the world to teach the benefits of medicine and
to teach how to properly heal one illness before it can turn into another one. Medical treatment
needs to become more accessible around the world as well as food, clean water, and safe living
conditions to prevent the need for medical assistance in the first place. Developing nations are
not disease riddled or the home to epidemic diseases, they simply have more outbreaks of illness
due to the living conditions they cannot control. Education, clean water, fresh food, and basic
first aid materials are what a developing country needs to survive and become a cleaner society.
The future of developing nations such as western countries in Africa are dying out due to lack of
education of medicine and lack of access to it.
This is an issue that everyone should be concerned about and aiding. Just because it is not
happening directly in western society does not mean it is not affecting it. If the dominant
countries of the world do not make a move on education and supplying the other countries with
appropriate assistance, the beliefs found in third world countries risk slipping into the first world

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countries.. Faith healing has already made headway into the United States and is slowly turning
people away from medicine.

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Logic of Evil
People turn to faith healing and other forms of non-medical treatment because they see it
as a pure form of healing their bodies, which coincides with the rules of their religion. It is most
often notably heard that God has a plan for me or everything happens for a reason when nonmedical treatment backfires rather than accepting their failure in healing. Healing through
spirituality is seen as the faith that God(s) will heal the patient, not actually from the patient or
healer themselves but relying on the God(s). There is no empirical evidence that would indicate
that any God(s) actually exist and this is why faith and non-medical healing is dangerous and
unreliable. Children are fragile and not every illness can be waited on by God. Religious
literature is being taken too seriously as too many children have died because their parents and
guardians believe more in their literature than they do scientifically proven medicine. Even
western society needs to be educated on the beneficial properties of medicine over religion.
Every parent wants to do what is best for their child, but some have mixed up what is best for
their mind and what is best for their body.
Political and Governmental figures have created legislation against faith healing in
Canada as most Canadians know medicine should come first. The United States has made
legislation as well, but due to the high Christian population and its influence in the government,
many faith healers have taken up non-medical aid as their first and only choice for when they are
ill. Faith healing is not something that should be illegal, as praying and hope of getting better can
be good for the patient (placebo effect) but it should never be the number one choice of treatment
because it can be harmful to the patient and people around them if they do not receive proper
professional medical treatment.

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Religion and Spirituality

Without religion, or religious influence, this issue would not be so prominent in the
world. Christianity and in particular Jehovahs witnesses, and Mormons, promote the belief that
everything is gods will, and that god will choose whether someone lives or dies; no matter how
little the illness. The most prevalent example of religious influence is the Churchs lack of
education to their followers about the importance of medical care and what it can do for them. I
didn't know any help. I had no idea. I didn't know what an incubator was. If you'd had said an
I.V., I wouldnt have known what you were talking aboutNever been exposed to it. I'd never
been to a doctor. My parents had never been to a doctor. Russ Briggs, a former member of a
group calling themselves Followers of Christ lost two children; two new born sons, to the
teachings of the church. Russ was devastated over the loss of his sons and has since left the
church with his wife. They now have three healthy daughters; his Religion left him sheltered
from the medical advancements of the world, but he was able to escape. Chris Wallace, who
interviewed Briggs, commented he thinks about his boys every day, that if it hadn't been for his
faith in the Followers he might have been able to save his sons. Briggs now strongly agrees with
Oregons movement to remove the exemption from religious parents and start charging them
criminally for medical neglect of their children, It should be chargeable and it should be
punished until they realize they can't do that. And that's only to save the children -- not to punish
the parents, but to save the children. (Wallace, C.)
Throughout the collective gospels, Jesus and his disciples either: pray, use oil, or do not
treat the sick at all. Several verses in fact, use these specific methods. And they were casting out
many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them (Mark 6:13) in
thee verses the sickness is represented as being a demon and not an illness. It is the demon being
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treated with prayer and oils and not the sickness. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call
for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of
the Lord; (James 5:14) Oil and prayer are seen as the main form of care throughout the Bible.
Finally For thus says the LORD, 'Your wound is incurable and your injury is serious. There is
no one to plead your cause; No healing for your sore, No recovery for you (Jeremiah 30:1213) wounds considered incurable due to lack of medical treatment available at the time would
have been seen as manifestations of an individuals impurity and sins. Medicine has advanced
over the years and shouldnt be rejected based on a belief in the principles of a book written
more than two thousand years ago.
Religion is not only sheltering people from medicine, but it is also giving doctors the
grounds to create their own rules of medicine, rules that coincide with their religious beliefs on
how they treat patients. In certain cases, this means completely disregarding their Hippocratic
Oath. A concerning topic of todays debates is the moral ramifications of abortion. The legal
view on abortion within a country or state depends on the religious and societal beliefs of that
community. This does not stop doctors from giving their own opinions on the situation. In a
developed country such as Poland, 94.34% of the population is Catholic and yet abortions are
legal within the first 24 weeks. Doctors do not have to carry out abortions if it is deemed
immoral by their beliefs but are required by law to refer the patient to a doctor that is willing to
perform the abortion. One Polish doctor took the situation into his own hands and also refused to
refer his patient to a willing doctor. Dr. Bogdan Chazan was the doctor for a patient who had
suffered numerous miscarriages in the past and was concerned about her more recent pregnancy.
The patient was correct and when an ultrasound revealed an undeveloped brain, hydrocephalus
and missing sections of the skull. Dr. Chazan refused to perform an abortion due to a conflict of

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conscience. (Devine, D.) The refusal of the abortion was not the main problem of this issue, as
Bogdan Chazan failed to inform the mother the procedure would be illegal after 24 weeks, nor
where else she could go to have it. (Europe). Dr.Chazan waited out the patients pregnancy.
The mayors office accused Chazan of ordering unnecessary tests that delayed the
womans abortion request, prolonging her pregnancy beyond 24 weeks of gestation, the time
when doctors generally consider an unborn baby viable. After viability, abortion of a
handicapped baby in Poland is illegal. (Devine, D.)
By performing multiple tests and appointments until the 25th week had arrived and the
option of abortion was no longer available.
Chazan was named a local hero and true warrior of Jesus in the name of life of the
unborn by many Polish politicians and catholic activists. He used the conscience clause as an
excuse for his actions. The woman gave birth to the child through a C-section. She and her
husband then spent 10 painful days watching their deformed child die a horrible death. When she
finally decided to speak out, she said: During these 10 days, no priest, no pro-life activist or
even Dr.Chazan came to see the child, to ask if they can help. It was really hard to look at our
child. We knew what was coming, but it was still very hard to cope with.(Furmaniak, Z.)
This is not freedom of religion; it is a breach of the law.
Some figures have realized that what they call healing is in fact, wrong. Charisma news,
known for its spiritual input in its stories has reported a story about deporting a faith healer for
child abuse when preaching healing. Helen Ukpabio who is also known as Lady Apostle claims
to deliver people from witchcraft [,] is a danger to children and should be deported from
England, activists say. And There have been numerous cases of children in the U.K. being
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tortured and sometimes killed due to the beliefs that Helen Ukpabio espouses (GRUNDY, T.)

Ukpabio claims that most common illnesses in children under the age of two are actually
servants of Satan.

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Case Study: Sierra Leone & Liberia, West Africa

As the surge in the spread of Ebola started up in the last year, faith in religion has grown
alongside it. With no scientific cure available for the rapidly spreading disease, many West
Africans have prayed for their health. Only about 30% of Sierra Leone believe in Christianity
(Clark, A.) and many of them have read the biblical stories of Jesus healing his followers with
prayer and ointment, faith that god would return them back to a healthy state. Even with no
direct cure for Ebola, this is a dangerous time for Faith Healing.
A known herbalist and faith healer claimed Ebola to be a spiritual disease; and that it
could be cured with prayer. She was claiming to have powers to heal Ebola. Cases from Guinea
were crossing into Sierra Leone for treatment (AFP) The woman called everyone suffering from
Ebola to come and be cured by her. The infected travelled from Guinea to Sierra Leone
spreading Ebola along the way. After coming in contact with so many Ebola victims, the healer
herself contracted the illness later to die from it. A funeral was held in town for the known faith
healer. In Sierra it is customary to touch, caress, and to kiss the body of a loved one that has
passed. Experts say the death rate and infection increased vastly as many people did not believe
Ebola existed, or heard rumors about alternative cures and preventative agents. (Osborne, H.)
Everyone in attendance at the faith healers funeral soon contracted the same Ebola virus. The
Ebola virus had multiple preventable outbreaks of Ebola due to this Faith Healer. (Osborne, H.)

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A fellow prayer woman from Liberia knew of the Faith Healers practices and agreed that
Ebola was just a spiritual disease. Dorothy Sawer, a Prayer Warrior of Liberia, has had many
encounters with Ebola herself. Dorothy says she prays loud, sometimes louder and

"People laugh at me and mock me. They say, 'Every day, [it is] God, God, God business.'
These neighbors say that's all they hear." But a prayer warrior fears nothing not ridicule, not
spiritual darkness, not the witches waiting to steal the souls of children or weak old folk.
(Dixon, R.)

So as the Ebola outbreak made its way into the town Dorothy had no fear. As a child, Dorothy
said she had an encounter with a white spirit, "I believe that was the angel of God that I saw,"
she says, eyes wary, half expecting ridicule. From then on, she had "spiritual fits" and had to
drop out of school. (Dixon, R.) Dorothy had visions and tried to warn others in her village of
terrible events she had foreseen but no one had listened, there would be consequences Dorothy
said but no one ever listened. The Ebola outbreak was sporadic at first but then the spread into
the town sped up. Religion was hard to keep up with when such a terrifying disease was
spreading like wild fire into the village. Standard rules had been put in place such as: Do not
touch the infected due to the fact that Ebola spread easily through the blood and bodily fluids of
the infected, I wasn't afraid because I believed God was with me." It was unthinkable that the
illness people call "this Ebola thing" could be stronger than a prayer warrior. (Dixon, R.)
Dorothy went on her prayer missions as per usual, gripping tightly to her patients as she prayed
for them and with them. Dorothys pastor warned her to be wary of people with Ebola but his
own wife was trying to heal one of their sickly neighbors, she then fell ill herself. Dorothy was
more than willing to help her church mother and prayed strongly with her, gripping her hands

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and touching her feet, but prayer was not enough for the pastors wife. She died at home within a
few days. Soon after the death of his wife the pastor fell ill too and called Dorothy to his side,
unfortunately prayer was not enough for the pastor either. Dorothy wondered "I believe maybe
it's God's will," says Sawer, puzzling why so many died and wondered why all that healing
prayer didn't save a good man like Pastor Garpou. After trying to help the pastor and his wife,
Dorothy herself started to feel unwell, she prayed and fasted trying to make the uncomfortable
feeling go away but instead she went to an Ebola treatment clinic for tests: they came back
positive. Dorothy had contracted Ebola. Dorothy did not fear anything, she did not want
medicine or water; she wanted her Bible and to pray, pray that God would heal her. She lay in
her bed, temperature soaring, sweating and trembling, feeling as if her belly and her back were
on fire. It was the worst sickness I ever had," she remembers. "One night I felt a hand patting
me on my shoulder." A nurse checking she was still alive? "I don't know who touched me. I
think it was the spirit of God." The next morning, she left her bed. She recovered, as swiftly as
she had gotten ill. (Dixon, R.) Dorothy still continues to pray with people, pray for their health
but without touching them. People are scared that she had Ebola but still enjoy the security of her
prayers.

There has been no follow up of this story, it is not known how many people Dorothy has
helped since then or if she was still infected with Ebola and it has come back. To this date there
are still reports of Ebola infections in Liberia.

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Caste Study: Manapla, Philippines

Choosing to be treated by someone who is not certified to practice medical procedures

would not be the first choice of someone from Britain or Canada, but in a country where
healthcare is not free like the Philippines, many people turn to alternatives such as faith healers
to save money.

In this case, choosing a faith healer was not the right path to take. Jerry Aguirre was
suffering from discomfort in his teeth and was recommended to visit a faith healer named
Diosdado Mahilum. Mahilum was mostly known for performing rituals and prayers for his
patients but decided extraction would be the best option for Jerry. The sessions were paid for and
Jerry came back periodically to have a new tooth removed in hopes of his pain going away. Jerry
returned to Mahilum on August 1st, August 11th, and August 15th of 2014. (Garde, C.) After the
15th Jerrys sister Joane noticed him becoming very weak, Joane was unaware that Jerry was
visiting a faith healer for his pain. After Jerrys 3 third visit to faith healer Mahilum, A total of
five teeth were extracted from Aguirre (Garde, C.) Jerry was too weak to associate with his
sister and went straight to bed. He was found dead the following day due to septic embolism
secondary to dental infection based on the death certificate signed by Dr. Eriberto Jaime, the
Manapla Municipal Health Officer. (Malo-oy, R.) Where Jerrys teeth had been extracted, Jerry
suffered a septic embolism infection. Mahilum, being a faith healer, not a licensed practitioner,
had extracted Jerrys teeth with the lack of anesthetic and has not disinfected or sterilized any of
the extraction tools he used. Joane thought her brother had been seeing a professional had been
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supplying him money for the appointments. Joane has since filed homicide charges against
Mahilum (Garde, C.) and Jerrys other relatives are readying charges against Mahilum as well.
(Malo-oy, R.)
It is unknown if Jerry sought out this faith healer due to his own beliefs or due to
financial reasons; but this is a perfect example of how faith healers should not be chosen first as
opposed to licensed professionals because faith healers are not trained to perform any form of
treatment for their patients whether it be prayer, ritual, or even simple medical procedures.
Trusting a faith healer over a doctor is more likely to lead to death than to relief or a cure.

This is not an isolated case.

Faith healing in the Philippines, as well as other developing countries is a common

practice due to the lower quality of life and the lack of licensed medical practitioners. The
following story is an example of how faith healers use not only the ignorance of those they heal
as well as their belief in the supernatural to justify acts of gross cruelty.

Randy, a 13 year old boy from the Cebu, Philippines, was another victim of faith healing.
In January of 1997, Randy exhibited signs of mild schizophrenia. In response to this, his parents
enlisted the aid of their local faith healer; Eutiquia Carmen. Randy sent his father away claiming
Eutiquia had instructed him that the evil spirit controlling his body could jump freely to him and
therefore it would be best to not be in the room. The father acquiesced to this request and left his
son with Eutiquia and several cult members. Mere hours later, Eutiquia returned to the prayer
room, carrying Randy's lifeless body claiming he was alright and would wake up shortly, cured.
The window in which, according to Eutiquia, Randy was supposed to wake up, was two hours.

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After the two hour mark, and Randy had not woken up, he was pronounced dead. Unfortunately
for the cult members involved, a young girl had witnessed the whole event. Honey Fe, who was
playing near Eutiquias house at the time, heard Randys cries for help, and when she went to
investigate, saw Randy being subjected to, what seemed to her, a very cruel and painful session
of torture, not a form of healing. The following case report filed for the court explains the events.
(Mendoza, J.)
Honey Fe describes what she saw "being immersed head first in a drum of water.
Alexander Sibonga was holding the waist of the body while Reynario Nuez held the
hands of the boy at the back. Eutiquia Carmen, Delia Sibonga, and Celedonia Fabie were
pushing down the boys head into the water. She heard the boy shouting Ma, help
[twice]. Later, she saw Reynario or Rey Nuez tie the boy on the bench with a green rope
as big as her little finger. . . . After that Eutiquia Carmen poured [water from] a plastic
container (gallon) . . . into the mouth of the boy. Each time the boy struggled to raise his
head, Alexander Sibonga banged the boys head against the bench [to] which the boy was
tied down. She even heard the banging sound every time the boys head hit the bench.
For about five times she heard it. According to this witness after forcing the boy to drink
water, Eutiquia Carmen and accused Celedonia Fabie alias Isabel Fabie took turns in
pounding the boys chest with their clenched fists. All the time Rey Nuez held down the
boys feet to the bench. She also witnessed . . . Celedonia Fabie dropped her weight,
buttocks first, on the body of the boy. Later on, Eutiquia Carmen ordered Delia or Deding
Sibonga to get a knife from the kitchen. Eutiquia Carmen then slowly plunged the
stainless knife on the left side of the boys body and with the use of a plastic gallon
container, the top portion of which was cut out, Eutiquia Carmen [caught] the blood
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dripping from the left side of the boys body. Honey Fe heard the moaning coming from
the tortured boy. Much later she saw Nonoy or Alexander Sibonga, Reynario Nuez,
Delia Sibonga, Celedonia Fabie, and Eutiquia Carmen carry the boy into the house."
(Mendoza, J.)

Case Study: Abadinia, Brazil

Faith healing has become too dominant in the selection people have when choosing
treatment for any and all illnesses. People around the world fly to Brazil to partake in the
magical healing of John of God, even following him to different places in the world when his
practice travels.

John of God, Joo de Deus, also known as Medium Joo, is a world renowned faith healer
or psychic surgeon from Brazil. Joo was only schooled up to year two. He does not know how
to read or write, but is known worldwide for his ability to channel god and other healing entities.
Joos healing powers have even been endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. Joo performs what he calls
invisible surgeries, where he lets the entities he channels perform invisible surgeries on the
patients. When a visible surgery is performed it is simply performed with knives or forceps
without any anesthetic, Some surgeries are invisible . The entities are said to have supernatural
powers, such they can heal without breaking the skin. Others are visible -- and only certain
patients are considered eligible. They must volunteer, be 18 to 52 years old, and cannot be in
wheelchairs, or have recently had radiation therapy or chemotherapy. -- The visible surgeries can
be graphic. Primetime witnessed one in which Joo took four-inch gauze-tipped steel forceps,

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dipped them in a solution he calls holy water, and shoved the forceps all the way up a patient's
nostril and twisted them violently. (ABC). Many people are skeptical about the faith healing Joo
performs, but it is possible he hides behind this statement. John of God cautions that cures are not
always instantaneous, but can take months or years and the entities cannot heal everyone. Some
may be just too sick; others may not be ready spiritually. (ABC) Joo charges nothing for his
sessions, but it is made up for with gift shops his followers have created to go along side with his
performances. Billed as the greatest healer since Jesus Christ (Elliott, T.) Many skeptics claim
that none of Joos miracles can be explained without some sort of medical reasoning behind
them, as patients are encouraged to continue their already prescribed forms of treatment from a
professional doctor.
Some of Joos surgeries are rather graphic and horrifying, Joos is known to perform eye
scraping in order to remove a patients cataracts. A woman suffering from ALS only given three
years to live visited Joos and he performed a cringe-worthy visible surgery jamming a 20centimetre long pair of forceps up her nose, and "jiggling it around until the back of my throat
filled with blood". This gave her "a hell of headache" for 24 hours. "But then it was like a veil had
lifted, like I had a new brain. I wanted to roar like a lion!" Since then, Tsu-Jones has experienced
what she regards as nothing short of a miracle. (Elliott, T.) She has since moved to Abadinia and
continues to bask in the healing energy from Joos clinic. This visible surgery could have gone
horribly wrong and possibly killed the woman. A trained doctor would never perform such blunt
surgery on someone like that or even risk jamming 20-centimetre forceps up someones nose in
risk of injuring the brain of the patient. In Brazil it is illegal to perform medical procedures without
a license and Joo has been charged and even jailed many times, although he does not claim any
responsibility for his healings and says it is all God and the entities doing the work. (ABC)
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As to why any sane human being lets this man bring a knife to their eyes or forceps up their
nose is unknown; but people seem to strongly believe in his healing and his faith. They believe
they can be healed without the use of scientifically proved methods. Faith and spirituality are good
things to have, however as the adage teaches everything in moderation. Allowing faith to be the
dominating factor when it comes time to decide whether someone lives or dies is when people
begin to ask themselves Is allowing countless humans to die, just for the sake of maintaining this
idea of the pure soul an acceptable loss of life? It cannot be argued that religion and spirituality
play a pivotal role in the lives of most people, but this does not justify the loss of life incurred
through the actions of these Faith Healers. Religion need not compete with medical treatments,
but rather with each other such as to promote a heathy body and a healthy mindset, respectively.

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Intl. Organizations
The United Nations claims it is a right for all humans to have access to basic medical
care; but nowhere is there written a right to refuse medical care for them or their children.
When patients refuse medical treatment due to their religion it frustrates physicians, as
they have trained their whole lives to help people only to be turned down. The American
Medical Association conducted a study and series of interviews on how religion, in the decision
of medical procedures, affect them. Physicians consistently said that they try to remain as openminded and flexible as possible and that they make every effort to embrace, or at least tolerate,
patients conceptions of religious faithfulness. (Curlin, F.)
From the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the right to
medical treatment. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family and medical care (UN) and on the right to freedom of
religious beliefs and practices.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes
freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.(UN)

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Canadian Connection
Canada is not perfect. Canada suffers from religious refusal of medicine as well. Though
it is not as severely seen as is the case in the United States or developing countries, it remains an
issue.
One of the most recent stories of faith healing deaths in Canada can be seen with
Makayla Sault, an 11 year old aboriginal girl suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Makayla died not only from leukemia, but from faiththe faith of her parents, who are
pastors. They not only inculcated her with Christianity, but, on religious grounds, removed her
from chemotherapy to put her in a dubious institute of alternative medicine in Florida (Coyne,
J.)
If she had stayed on chemotherapy, Makaylas untimely death would not have been
prevented, but it would have prolonged her life.
Another First Nation child, only known to the public as JJ, also suffered from leukemia
and turned down continuing chemotherapy. JJs family sent her to the same hospital in Florida
for alternative medicine. JJ will most likely soon succumb to the same fate as Makayla since
acute lymphoblastic leukemia does not settle down on its own. Canada refuses to override the
parental rights to pursue traditional medicine.
And that is the problema problem that makes the law and the Canadian government
complicit in Makaylas death. The so-called right to pursue traditional medicine is
simply an unwarranted respect for faith, a right to impose the religious or superstitious
beliefs of parents on their young, indoctrinated, or unreflective children. It is the right to

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harm children in the name of faith. And that right doesnt exist for parents who simply
impose quack cures on their children, for those parents can be jailed for child abuse,
negligence, or even manslaughter. (Coyne, J.)
Children are important to Canada, including First Nation children. The right of the child
to receive proper medical care and thus to live trumps pretty much everything else.(Gorski, D.)
Canada should disallow actions that could lead to premature deaths from treatable illnesses.
Now, another child who with proper medical treatment had a much better chance of surviving
than dying has died because she and her parents chose quackery over effective treatment, and
another is heading that way. (Gorski, D.) Canada does not have as many children deaths due to
faith healing like they do in the United States but Canada needs to take swift action against this
case and all others to come if the country wishes to refrain from sharing a youth mortality rate
reputation with the United States.

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Solutions

Finding a solution to stop religion from interfering with medicine is difficult, and it
seems unlikely that one perfect solution can be found. Religion is a very delicate subject and
telling almost everyone in the world that what they practice and deem to be pure is actually
wrong and harmful would start more wars than it would solve problems. Faith healing and
religious refusals of medicine should not be eradicated, but it should be legislated against and
have strict rules. Religious refusals should have guide lines to follow; faith healing should only
be considered as a side medicine, or put at the bottom of the options. Scientifically proven
methods of medicine should always be the first and readily available choice for everyone.
Everyone should be educated on the benefits of medicine worldwide and not convinced biblical
tales and magical ceremonies will provide a better health benefit than science.

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Religion in Medicine | Chloe Smith

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