Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-first Century

CHAPTER 6. WHEN PARENTS LET CHILDREN SUFFER FOR REASONS OF FAITH

CHAPTER 6 WHEN PARENTS LET CHILDREN SUFFER FOR REASONS OF FAITH The American legal system is constantly being placed at odds with the Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom. Quite frequently stories capture headlines, with scenarios such as this. Twelve-year-old “Jody” sits slumped in a chair, her face ashen with pain. She asks a state judge to grant a seemingly suicidal wish: not to have medical treatment for her rare form of bone cancer. Doctors had testified that without chemotherapy and radiation treatment she would die within months. But Jody’s father is a minister in a fundamentalist denomination, “The Church Of The Great Physician” (fictitious), that does not permit its members to seek medical treatment and counsels them to rely instead on the power of prayer. Despite her dramatic plea six months ago, the judge ordered hospital care to begin. Her doctor now announces that there is no longer any evidence of the disease. But Jody’s father stands firm by his belief in the inefficacy of science and the power of faith. “The medicine didn’t do it,” he insists. “Jesus healed her. Praise the Lord!” It is now routine to hear of state courts intervening against the antimedicine doctrines of some religious groups by ordering treatment for the children of church members when death is imminent. Church history makes it abundantly clear that from its earliest beginnings there have been pious Christians who have regarded recourse to medicine, even in the face of death, as a betrayal of faith. Today, the following four groups stand out officially as defenders of the ancient faith, though many other Christians do so unofficially. • The Worldwide Church of God, led by Herbert W. Armstrong. He calls vaccines “monkey pus” and likens the use of physicians to worship of pagan gods. Crawford: Hindu Bioethics page 131 Crawford 113-198-226 8/21/03 11:36 AM Page 131 • Christian Science, founded by Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910). The core of her teachings is the belief that there inheres “no Life, Substance , or Intelligence in matter. That all is mind and there is no matter .”1 With this affirmation Eddy believed she had learned the secret to heal the sick and raise the dead. • Jehovah’s Witnesses, founded by Abel, according to their church history , but led in modern times by Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916). Two publications, Blood, Medicine and the Law of God (1961) and Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Question of Blood 1977), provide the rationales for the Witnesses’ refusal to sanction blood transfusion for members of the faith. • Faith Assembly, headquartered in Indiana. Members are strictly enjoined from using doctors. In a particularly shocking incident in 1981, one-year-old Evie Swanson of Attica, Ind., received second- and thirddegree burns when scalding tea spilled over her. Infection set in, was left untreated, and Evie died two days later. The present situation witnesses a popular revulsion against parents who let their children suffer for reasons of their own faith, and this reaction is moving states to bring charges of neglect or abuse against parents who endanger their children’s lives by adhering to religious teachings. Hindu bioethics approaches these matters of faith and death, guided by three major principles: 1. The Principle of Beneficence 2. The Principle of Parental Authority 3. The Principle of Family Wellbeing THE PRINCIPLE OF BENEFICENCE The value of beneficence is deeply embedded in the Hindu culture. Back in Vedic times, we hear the poet ask his companions to ‘decorate the Yajña (rite) as they decorate a child to make it look beautiful.’ Children are treated with tenderness because they symbolize racial immortality. In the ÓRg Veda a sage prays to Agni: “May I attain immortality with my offspring .”2 Beneficence is later exemplified by the system of saÂsk¯aras, or purificatory rites and sacraments. Crawford: Hindu Bioethics page 132 132 The Beginning and End of Life one line short Crawford 113-198-226 8/21/03 11:36 AM Page 132 Among the prenatal saÂsk¯aras, garbh¯adh¯ana (conception) signifies that concern for the well-being of the child begins with a calculated approach to produce the finest progeny, accompanied by ceremonies that consecrate the child to be. There was the notion that the conduct of the mother influenced the unborn child, therefore the s...