Hong Kong Liberal Religious Forum

Sacrificing a child for religion gets two months jail time
August 02, 2009
Church if the Churchless
http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_t ... -time.html

Here's some bad news for children being abused or killed in the name of religion: last Friday an Oregon judge sentenced Carl Worthington to two months in jail for sacrificing his child, Ava, in the name of Jesus.

It's disturbing that this legal slap on the wrist is all Worthington got for committing an atrocious crime. As Oregonian columnist Susan Nielsen said today, religious crazies benefit from a double standard under my state's laws.

This trial should inspire Oregon to look outside its borders and consider the following:

First, other states aren't so deferential to parents who withhold lifesaving medical care and offer prayer instead. A woman in Wisconsin who let her daughter slowly die of untreated diabetes was convicted of homicide this spring and faces up to 25 years in prison...

...No more Christian child sacrifice. Never. Ever. Religion doesn't belong in 21st century civilization. It's an archaic relic of ancient mythologies. Truly freaking bizarre: Ava Worthington died in March 2008 while church members gathered around her for prayer, "laying on of hands," anointing her in oil and administering small amounts of wine.


Chinese report of the other Wisconsin incidence mentioned above:
只代禱不送院．女兒不治
美父親二級謀殺入罪
（時代論壇每日快拍，2009.8.11）
http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Rea ... big5_hkscs

...有意當傳道人的紐曼在庭上供稱自己深信上帝會醫治女兒，從沒想過女兒會死去：「若我帶她去見醫生，就是把醫生擺在上帝之前。」...



My comment: Faith shall not be absolute. Faith can harm. Faith can kill. Faith can become a vice. Faith shall be checked by universal human rights standard. Universal human rights standard shall be higher than faith in God. Is universal human rights standard becoming the absolute? Shall it be higher than God? Shall it replace God? A deep question.