Praying for a Cure When Medical and Religious Practices Conflict

by DesAutels, Peggy; Battin, Margaret P.; May, Larry

• ISBN13: 9780847692637
• ISBN10: 0847692639
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-03-25
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

When the children of Christian Scientists die from a treatable illness, are their parents guilty of murder for withholding that treatment? How should the rights of children, the authority of the medical community, and religious freedom be balanced? Is it possible for those adhering to a medical model of health and disease and for those adhering to the Christian Science model to enter into a meaningful dialogue, or are the two models incommensurable? DesAutels, Battin, and May engage in a lucid and candid debate of the issues of who is ultimately responsible for deciding these questions and how to accommodate (and, in some cases, constrain) Christian Science views and practices within a pluralistic society.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
High-Risk Religion: Christian Science and the Violation of Informed Consent	p. 7
Rational Choice and Alternative Worldviews: A Defense of Christian Science	p. 37
Put Up or Shut Up? Countering the Defense of Christian Science	p. 53
Putting Up	p. 63
Challenging Medical Authority	p. 71
Challenging Medical Metaphysics	p. 91
Respecting Medical Science and Christian Science	p. 109
Protecting Christian Science from Medical Science	p. 117
Conclusion: Agreeing to Disagree?	p. 123
Index	p. 131
About the Authors	p. 139
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