title: What more in the name of god? Theologies and theodicies of faith healing.
abstract: The recent deaths of two children from parental decisions to rely on faith healing rather than medical treatment raises fundamental questions about the extent and limits of religious liberty in a liberal democratic society. This essay seeks to identify and critically examine three central issues internal to the ethics of religious communities that engage in faith healing regarding children: (1) the various forms of religious and nonreligious justification for faith healing; (2) the moral, institutional, or metaphysical wrong of medical practice from the perspectives of faith-healing communities; (3) the explanation or "theodicy" articulated by the religious community when faith healing does not occur and a child dies. The essay finds that the holding in Prince v. Massachusetts that parents with religious convictions cannot enforce martyrdom on their children presents a guiding principle for medicine and public policy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA.
authors.forename: Courtney S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D002651:Child Advocacy; D002834:Christian Science / Q000523:psychology; D029221:Faith Healing / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000941:ethics