Murder by Faith? A Tale of Two Worldviews

Thank you for your wisdom. Yes, taking faith too literally, I believe, causes many of the world’s trouble. An evolution of consciousness would mean we understand that God/Spirit/Absolute is everything including illness and doctors, good and bad. Healing comes in many forms. Doing our very best in our human actions as well as knowing and exploring the deeper mysteries of life are both important. Faith-only healing is splitting creation into God and not God. If we are truly one - everything is God. The two world views happen because we split consciousness and aren’t holding a large enough context; in other words, we are often making God too small and in our own image.

Dr. Jennifer Howard
http://www.DrJenniferHoward.com

An additional factor that comes into the mix when dealing with issues such as illness, injury and accident is that it is our tendency, if *we* are the ones to escape, are often quick to say, it was God's miracle. But if God spared *me* at VA tech or Columbine, [implied: because of my faith, or my prayers]...what does that say about those who were NOT spared? What are such statements saying about the agency and nature of God? This is an attempt to deal with the randomness of outcome, and give meaning...

I am fortunate that my faith doesn't require me to believe that God deals with every auto accident, or "miraculous" escape. There IS randomness in the world (which is why Daniel's prognosis, while very high--about 90%, is not certainty. There is no certainty about the future in that sense), and the difficulty in any sort of faith lies in accounting for that randomness in such a manner as to not give up hope, nor reduce life to a series of coin flips.

Dealing with setbacks while reaining faith is one of the most difficult aspects of a life of faith, and yet, if it can be done, it is one of the most exhilarating and rewarding experiences one can have. Working with members of a religious community who have gotten there is a tremendous experience.

Pr Chris

hi forgive me for commenting on the incorrect article but maybe it somehow fits also ..i wanted to comment on the story of mike tysons daughter passing but the comment box was not available.. silly me i usually always leave my words, it is sometimes my only possesion and is no doubt at times of little worth but i go with what i actually have... my heart goes out to the family of this little girl... who have gone through so much in life already. i don't presume to know the whys or whats but sometimes in life thier is simply the curiosity of a child that has tragic real life consequences i like many others have put my share of paper clips in wall sockets and we won't even go into some of the stunts i have done in a car. . i my self have survived many things which i just a easily could not have. i think maybe mike tyson has survived a lot and also been given a lot in his life.. the thing that strikes me is that he was able to be there for his daughter, twenty something years a go when i was a slave to alcohol ( its been 23 year since i had a drink) my daughter kristy who was an infant and very sick she was 6 months old and a pound under her birth weight and could seem to digest food, it was touch and go for many years but she is healthy now. they called one night from the pediatrics intensive care unit and said you need to come right away we think your daughter is going to die.. i was to drunk to actually go. luckily she survived but this is still one of the lowest moments of my life that feeling. i know its not much comfort now but mike tysun the man was able to do just that and if i understand his story of his life, this is what was lacking in his childhood so i salute the progress the man mike tyson has made in life and give my inadequate prayers which i know do little for the loss. i have found in life when real life tragedies happen to me and i have had quite a few.Sometimes the only thing that help the pain is time.. i also try to make something positive in the name or for what ever has been taken away. people who have been thorough life changing experiences know life is never the same but we have the opportunity to try and make something decent and good out of something which we see no sense in if we wish. I can't help but remeber what a fine human being and man he seemed to be and enjoyed his light hearted joking on the jimmy kimel show recently this is what i would wish for mike tyson and his family..

And, btw, I'd be the last to say really-extraordinary things don't sometimes happen, but you just don't hold kids hostage to demanding the extraordinary when the ordinary will do. I do think that it you watch the news, people describe, even are prodded to describe, a world where nothing cool or lucky *happens* except that when it does it must be Jesus.

Even if it's 'just' adrenaline and some pretty cool brains and nerves we get to walk around with, a while. Which is also part of the wonder and beauty of a pretty big and deep world, and not to be scorned as 'unspiritual.'

Or an illness that isn't a 'divine punishment' thus requiring 'divine forgiveness' to heal.

People *teach* each other this stuff, and also teach that it's deathly-important to the world.

I think for some it eventually becomes less important to comfort or heal a child than it is to be able to say 'God' did it, ...or maybe they've gotten turned around so badly that they don't even believe it can happen otherwise...

Or, from how they talk, believe they and child will be punished even more horribly if they don't go through the 'test of faith.'

I say that honors no Gods at all.

I think, Dr. Chopra, that in American culture, we're really caught between the ethical horns of the notion that 'more and longer life is always better, whatever the quality of the experience' ...to Western society's credit, we're *big* believers in 'saving lives,' in all our many ways, though it often gets taken to ridiculous and even counterproductive lengths.

The other horn is that Spirit and faith are so separated from decisions like this, that our practices of medicine are as mechanistic and profiteering as possible, on the presumption the Invisible Hand Of The Market' means that the most profitable way must be the best...

Western medicine and society is very good, miraculous, even, at fixing things that are broken, where that model works. Not so good at maintaining health and restoring balances.

What ends up happening is that a lot of Westerners believe in a mechanistic world of strict sorts of rules that an 'Architect' can and does override at will, usually dependent on shows of piety.

Kids being denied straightforward treatment is part of the same dynamic that makes people insist they believe in 'Intelligent Design,' but when they have a close shave, thank their God for *intervening* to save their lives, rather than for building em quick and intuitive and resilient in the first place. :)