Members of an Australian religious group have gone on trial accused of killing an eight-year-old diabetic girl by denying her medical care and offering prayer instead.

Elizabeth Struhs was found dead at a home in Toowoomba - about 125km (78 mi) west of Brisbane - in January 2022, after she had allegedly gone without insulin for several days.

Prosecutors say the sect shunned the use of medicine and trusted God to “heal” the child - “extreme beliefs” which had already almost ended Elizabeth’s life in similar circumstances three years before.

The girl’s parents are among the 14 defendants, all of whom have refused lawyers.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    The Christian alarmists claiming satanic blood sacrifices exist without evidence, is whataboutism to make people forget common Christian extreme practices, like not allowing abortion even in case of lethal danger to the mother.

    Christianity needs to go, along with all other religions.

    You can’t pray diseases away, this has been attempted for hundreds of years, and never been shown to work in even the slightest degree.
    On the contrary there are indications that show people take longer to get well, or can even get MORE sick from it!

    For instance this study:
    https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/longawaited-medical-study-questions-the-power-of-prayer.html

    And later another study with similar results:
    https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-31-sci-prayer31-story.html

    • Sanguine_Sasquatch@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I’d be I treated to see studies of religious influence in delaying medical prosecuted from countries with more available/affordable medical care than the US.

      I say this because the US is known for unaffordable healthcare, and generally poorer people are in need of heal are more, and may be turning to religion to address it.

      That said, I believe every religion should encourage healthcare and support medical and scientific advances

    • Delusional@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yeah sure but you try talking logic and reasoning to a group of people who simply cannot understand basic logic and reasoning.

      Their lack of it is what made them believe in religion in the first place. They’re simply massive fucking idiots and should not be allowed to have children.

      Though stupid dumbasses will always exist and they will turn to religion most of the time because that’s what religion was created for, to control the idiotic masses.