Couple Chooses Prayer Over Medicine - Baby Dies

It is a standard feature of most forms of Christianity that believers should rely upon and trust in God - because God will provide and God has a plan for each one of us. Only a few Christians really take that idea seriously and really trust fully in God - for example by relying upon prayer instead of medicine when becoming ill. Why? Well, the result is usually greater illness or death.

That's what a family in Rancho Cucamonga, California, sadly earned when they chose to pray over their sick baby instead of seeking medical attention - and now they have pleaded no contest to charges of involuntary manslaughter. NBC 4 reports:

They are to be sentenced to a year in jail and five years of probation, but allowed to serve their jail time on weekends instead of continuously. They will be formally sentenced next month. The Wiebes are members of Upland's Church of God, which shuns doctor intervention. Their daughter, Julia, died of bacterial meningitis in July 2001. Evidence suggested she suffered high fever, convulsions and pain in the five days before her death.

For some reason, the prosecutor seems to think that the punishment is too harsh - he believes that if a couple beat a child "for his own good," then that would merit more punishment but those who "only" pray for the child's improvement, that sort of irresponsibility deserves lighter treatment.

Of course, anyone who at least tries to take Christianity seriously must also take seriously the idea that the Wiebes were correct in what they did. Perhaps whatever God exists does prefer that we act in the above manner. Who is to say?

Read More:

• What is Christianity?
• Christian Theology