NSFW Another "What the hell, religion?" thread.

[BerenTebogo]

NSFL-ish pictures in link of a child in the link. It's not pretty, tbh.

http://mobile.oregonlive.com/advorg/...l=true#display

OREGON CITY -- A Beavercreek couple who left their infant daughter's fate to God rather than seek medical treatment for a mass that grew over her left eye will face charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment.

Prosecutors revealed Thursday during a custody hearing that a grand jury has indicted Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, members of Oregon City's Followers of Christ church.

The Wylands' 7-month-old daughter, Alayna, was placed in state custody earlier this month after child-welfare workers received a tip about the untreated and ballooning growth. Doctors said that the condition could cause permanent damage or loss of vision.

The Wylands were indicted within the past few days and probably will be arraigned next week, said Colleen Gilmartin, the deputy district attorney handling the custody case in juvenile court.

Under Oregon law, it is a crime for parents to intentionally and knowingly withhold necessary and adequate medical attention from their children. First-degree criminal mistreatment is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

The Wylands and their church reject medical care in favor of faith-healing -- anointing with oil, laying on of hands, prayer and fasting. The parents testified at a juvenile court hearing last week that they never considered getting medical attention for Alayna.

According to court documents, Rebecca Wyland anointed Alayna with oil each time she changed the girl's diaper and wiped away the yellow discharge that seeped daily from the baby's left eye.

Thursday's hearing was procedural and reached no resolution.

The Wylands' attorneys, John Neidig and Thurl Stalnaker Jr., offered a plan they said would guarantee the child would receive medical care recommended by doctors, with options such as regular visits from state workers, having a trusted individual occupy the Wyland home and monitoring the family with Skype, an Internet program used for video conferencing.

Attorney Michael Clancy, who represents Alayna, also urged that the girl be sent home.

Clancy, however, was skeptical that prosecutors or child-protection authorities would accept any plan to quickly reunite the family.

"There is no plan, even if we came up with 100 pages of stuff ... that is going to be satisfactory," he said.

Clackamas County Circuit Judge Douglas Van Dyk noted that doctors treating Alayna haven't reviewed the Wylands' plan and said he wouldn't approve the proposal without hearing from the physicians.

But Van Dyk also said Alayna should be returned home once a plan is in place "that makes the community feel secure about the care."

He told all the attorneys to submit their proposals to him next week and said he would work out a suitable agreement at a July 30 hearing.

"That's where this case is going as far as this judge is concerned," Van Dyk said.



View full sizeRandy L. Rasmussen/The OregonianTimothy Wyland, 44, and Rebecca Wyland, 23, arrive Thursday for a hearing in Oregon City over custody of their daughter, 7-month-old Alayna.


There could be a complication.

Prosecutors said that a child usually is not returned to parents accused of criminal mistreatment. It is not clear whether the district attorney's office will seek a no-contact order or if one would be granted.

Gilmartin, doctors and DHS workers want assurances that Alayna will get treatment that will minimize damage to her eye and address any complications that arise.

Alayna had a small mark over her left eye at birth.

The area started swelling, and the fast-growing mass of blood vessels, known as a hemangioma, eventually caused her eye to swell shut and pushed the eyeball down and outward and started eroding the eye socket bone around the eye.

It's rare to see a child with an advanced hemangioma because the condition typically is treated as soon as it's detected, said a doctor who testified at a hearing before Van Dyk last week.

"They never get this large," said Dr. Thomas Valvano, a pediatrician at Doernbecher Children's Hospital. "This was medical neglect."

Investigators who interviewed the Wylands noted the grotesque swelling that led DHS to act.

"Alayna's left eyeball was completely obstructed, and you could not see any of it. The growth was multiple shades of red and maroon and appeared to me to be between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball," said Clackamas County Detective Christie Fryett in a search warrant affidavit that included pictures of the growth on Alayna's face.

Alayna is the Wylands' only child.

Timothy Wyland was a widower when he married Rebecca Wyland two years ago.

Wyland's first wife, Monique, died of breast cancer in 2006. She had not sought or received medical treatment for the condition, said Dr. Christopher Young, a deputy state medical examiner who signed the death certificate.

tl;dr: Faith healing still won't make your kid better and refusing your child medical services based on religious grounds in Oregon will now net you criminal charges. Fuck yeah, Oregon!

Too bad nobody caught on after the father's first wife died of completely untreated breast cancer because, you know, God was going to make it better but got real caught up in watching Matlock.

[Max™]

http://www.tvsquad.com/media/2006/02/matlocko.jpg
To be fair, Matlock is pretty awesome.

[BerenTebogo]

And from secondary article:

Because of that, child deaths have plagued the church for decades. At least 21 of the 78 children who have died at the church since 1955 likely could have been saved with routine medical care, The Oregonian reported earlier this month following a two-month investigation.

http://www.rickross.com/reference/foc/foc1.html

[OWS_Tonx]

They need to be shot. I don't think I have to explain how I came to this conclusion.

[Khajit]

How dare the state of Oregon interfere with natural selection!

[OWS_Tonx]

How dare the state of Oregon interfere with natural selection!

Well, I don't know. Not much the kid could have done, the parents on the other hand...

[BerenTebogo]

I'm perfectly happy to let these backwards-ass fucktwats kill themselves off. It's a conscious choice of utter stupidity. The children, however, don't have the luxury of making the choices for themselves.

[QuePsiXI]

This isn't What the hell, religion, this is what the hell, idiots.

My "make-believe" God did not tell them to do that, them and their church convinced themselves for reasons I couldn't tell you.

[OWS_Tonx]

I'm perfectly happy to let these backwards-ass fucktwats kill themselves off. It's a conscious choice of utter stupidity. The children, however, don't have the luxury of making the choices for themselves.

Exactly what I'm saying.

[BerenTebogo]

This isn't What the hell, religion, this is what the hell, idiots.

My "make-believe" God did not tell them to do that, them and their church convinced themselves for reasons I couldn't tell you.

So...you're saying there's a difference?

[Yabby]

Religious idiots are protected by the law?

[Lucavi]

How dare the state of Oregon interfere with natural selection!

I honestly agree with this. God, how far my apathy has fallen...

Edit: I'm sure that in their own religious world, the kid dying faster (and his late wife) is a blessing, because its just that much sooner that they'll get to be with the lord.

[BerenTebogo]

Religious idiots are protected by the law?

Many courts (not taking the time to cite at the moment, been discussed before) have been reluctant in the past to press criminal charges for refusal of treatment on grounds of religious beliefs.

It's gotten way better in the past 10 years, but even up to the 80's and 90's it was pretty scary.

[*Shinzon*]

This reminds me of that Law and Order episode about that woman's baby and some secret cult. I'm sure Sath knows what I'm talking about. I wish I could be the person to look these fucking morons up.

[Mizango]

I wish more people put faith to the test. Instead of taking Granny to the Dr, let the angels cure those pesky tumors, right Vajra? :D

[Yabby]

Many courts (not taking the time to cite at the moment, been discussed before) have been reluctant in the past to press criminal charges for refusal of treatment on grounds of religious beliefs.

It's gotten way better in the past 10 years, but even up to the 80's and 90's it was pretty scary.

It still is scary but as society keeps pushing further from religious needs, the court should follow.

[BerenTebogo]

This reminds me of that Law and Order episode about that woman's baby and some secret cult. I'm sure Sath knows what I'm talking about. I wish I could be the person to look these fucking morons up.

Yeah, there was also one from the early 90's which was inspired by headlines around that time about a kid dying of strep or something because the parents and the priest didn't believe in doctors. That's obviously fiction inspired directly by truth, but still fiction nonetheless.

A bit later I'll try to look up the case of the kid (under 15 years old) who wanted to refuse life-saving treatments on religious grounds and his parents and church supported him. He said something to the effect of "rather dying and being pure with god..." etc. This was more recent and a judge slapped him upside the head with a ruling that took custody away from the parents (as he was a minor) and forced him to get a minimally-invasive (blood transfusion?) procedure that ended up saving his life.

Shit blows my mind.

[BerenTebogo]

It still is scary but as society keeps pushing further from religious needs, the court should follow.

Clearly you haven't heard about the Texas BoE or the Kansas BoE.

[Xno Kappa]

I hope the parents get into a freak car accident and lose all their arms and legs. Then they can pray to God all they want to see if their limbs will grow back.

I honestly agree with this. God, how far my apathy has fallen...

Edit: I'm sure that in their own religious world, the kid dying faster (and his late wife) is a blessing, because its just that much sooner that they'll get to be with the lord.

Question for die-hard Christian's. Do they hate their lives and this world so much that they go on and on about "Heaven?" Misery loves company, so is that why they threaten people who don't agree with them with "Hell?"

[Neosutra]

How dare the state of Oregon interfere with natural selection!

Hate to agree with this joke, but I'm torn between the disgust that this article generates and the general idea that this world would be a better place if all religious people stopped using medical treatment.