A man accused of killing his 11-year-old diabetic daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care has been found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide.
Dale Neumann, 47, was convicted over the March 23, 2008, death of his daughter, Madeline, from undiagnosed diabetes.
Prosecutors argued he should have rushed the girl to a hospital because she could not walk, talk, eat or drink. Instead, Madeline died on the floor of the family's rural home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called an ambulance when she stopped breathing.
Neumann stared at the jury as the verdict was read out in the courtroom in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Defence lawyer Jay Kronenwetter said they will appeal against the verdict.
Neumann, who once studied to be a Pentecostal minister, testified that he believed God would heal his daughter and he never expected her to die. God promises in the Bible to heal, he said.
"If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God," Neumann testified. "I am not believing what he said he would do." (As reported here)
I've got a question
Why is it lack of faith to call a doctor but not lack of faith to use a lawyer??
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Pray for these parents. And renounce this theology.
so what do you think about medical insurance.. for those of us who no longer have NHS?
I guess he could have lost faith when the promise he thought was made to heal his daughter had been broken - hence he felt a lawyer necessary. But I see your point.
Incidentally, although I would never practice this theology on anyone else, I've been doing this to myself for a long time.
There is a story about a faithful Christian
Who found himself in the midst of a devastating flood
He crawled up onto the roof of his house,
With the water lapping at the eves,
And prayed for God to help.
Soon after that a neighbor floated by in a canoe
And invited him to climb into the canoe.
He refused, saying that he knew
That God would rescue him.
A little later, a police officer in a rowboat came by
He urged the man to get into the rowboat,
Which would take him to shelter.
The man refused again, saying that he was waiting for God
Finally, as the water became deeper,
A helicopter flew overhead
And dropped a line to him.
He again refused help,
Telling the pilot that he had prayed to God
And that he knew that God would rescue him.
The man drowned.
When he arrived in heaven,
He asked God,
Where were you, I was waiting for you?
God answered,
I sent a canoe, a rowboat and a helicopter,
But you didn’t recognize me.
I don't think it's an ungodly thing, do you?
I sympathise. Sometimes we shrink from dependency in the name of faith.
Gav,
I was relating that story to a friend just yesterday. Jehovah Jireh - the LORD provides. And in a thousand ways.
Jesus is the Chief Physician, but He also provides doctors.
Jesus is the Chief Advocate, but He also provides lawyers!
On this point of doctors, I remember a lecture as part of a JI Packer course that I took in the dim and distant past. Anyway he was speaking about miracles and he stated something to the effect that the greatest annoyance he had was Christians praying for miracles. They ignore the miracle of medical education, of drugs or therapy. We don't see a miracle in chemotherapy which is successful, we only see a miracle if the cancer suddenly disappears overnight. We miss miracles every day. Something to that effect.
This is a sad story that you link.
And I do think we should celebrate the miracle of lawyers a bit more!!
Funny how 'Lawyer of lawyers' (1 John 2:1) has never caught on as a title for Christ.
Or mabye not...