Prayer Healing and Girl’s Death

I was compelled to write after reading “Children Are Suffering as Faith Healers Hide Behind Religious-Exemption Shield” by Anthony Shaw (Op-Ed Page, March 23). I was one of those children and I can remember too vividly the nights spent crying and screaming because of severe earaches, passing out from too high fevers, suffering for weeks from such awful sore throats that I could barely breathe, let alone swallow food. And then as a teen, suffering for months with a bladder infection until a friend’s mother took me into a doctor.

I do believe prayer has a healing nature, and that has a place in our lives. But God also gave us the gift of knowledge (medical knowledge included), which should be used, especially with children. Allowing little children to suffer when an antibiotic or simple shot could have been given is beyond me, but to allow a child to die without having sought medical help should be considered a crime!

Do I love my parents? Of course I do! Do I resent my parents? You bet. But I made a vow to myself that if I ever had children, I would never, ever let them suffer needlessly. And they haven’t.

JESSICA MARTIN

Long Beach