Last edited Wed May 29, 2013, 01:37 PM - Edit history (1)
and I'll guess that you refer to this thread
Since you seem to have some real difficulty understanding my PoV (as evidenced by your inability to describe it accurately), let me first point you to this post which explains my general stance on such news stories; it is in a different thread, but responds to another poster whose misrepresentations of my views are often rather similar to your misrepresentations
Now, if we can obtain insights into cases like that of the Schaibles, this may provide ideas for reducing the (currently small) number of such cases. The Schaibles' alleged conduct already violates the law, in the eyes of many people, myself included; and the Schaibles' previous unhappy encounter with the justice system suggests the Schaibles know that their alleged conduct violates the law. The prospect of prosecution, however, may not have dissuaded them from unlawful conduct -- and the question arises: what is their actual frame-of-mind?
The facts, that the Schaibles belong to the fundamentalist First Century Gospel Church where the pastor Nelson Clark preaches against use of medical science, and that the Schaibles themselves had at times said they prefer to pray than to seek modern medical care, suggests the answer: the Schaibles' attitudes arise from their religious views. That explanation has the apparent advantage of being simple and easy to understand. As far as I can tell, you prefer that explanation and are unwilling to inquire further
But I think that explanation falls a bit short of what is actually needed, because it does not offer any insight into why the Schaibles might have adopted such views. Perhaps, of course, no further insight is possible: perhaps some small fraction of the population will always adopt some crazy views, and there is just nothing we can do about it. But if further insight IS possible, we will obtain it only by looking for it, and such a search requires us to become inquire further into the facts of the case
Who exactly are these people?
First Century Gospel Church sits at the corner of E Annsbury and G Streets, surrounded by brick rowhouses in the Juniata Park neighborhood of Philadelphia PA. Juniata Park is not a very prosperous neighborhood: Juniata Park's $31K median household income is somewhat below Philadelphia's $36K median household income and substantially below Pennsylvania's $52K median household income. About half of the Juniata Park residents have less than a high school education, compared to about a fifth of Philadelphia residents. Over a third of Juniata Park residents live below the poverty line, compared to about a quarter of Philadelphia's residents
Neither of the Schaible progressed beyond ninth grade. They have had at least nine children, at least two of whom have died with legal action following. They are life-long members of First Century Gospel Church (founded by the grandfather of the current pastor) and both have taught in the church's school, though Herbert Schaible stepped down as a teacher after his most recent arrest. The emerging picture is not very prosperous: a pair of high school drop-outs, who have lived their lives in Juniata Park, now with a large family, the Schaibles must live near the margins
Nelson Clark preaches that modern medicine is costly and dangerous, and he promises his listeners that avoiding doctors is just one of the ways we become good religious people! His message is guaranteed to at least some of the alienated and marginalized poor in Juniata Park: they already know that medical care is expensive, but Clark is also telling them it is of the devil -- so instead of feeling miserable and inadequate about not taking their sick children to the doctor, they can feel holy and righteous! It is not surprising that such a psychological wins a following: unless we make critical effort, our ideas are governed by forces beyond our control, such as our superficial rationalizations of our own behavior
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42/42101.html
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Juniata-Park-Philadelphia-PA.html
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