The BBC reports a situation.
Some young HIV patients are giving up their medicine after being told by Pentecostal Church pastors to rely on faith in God instead, doctors warn.
Medical staff told the BBC a minority of pastors in England were endangering young church members by putting them under pressure to stop medication.
It’s a test of faith, you see.
I wonder if those pastors ever test their faith by walking in front of trains.
The doctors and health professionals reported a variety of cases:
- Some said they had dealt with parents who felt under pressure to stop giving their young children their HIV medicine – and some had actually done so
- Others were breastfeeding mothers with HIV who refused the medicine that would stop the virus being passed onto their babies
- Some were young people, making the decision for themselves
The healthcare workers also reported that some patients had been told by their pastors they would be healed by prayer or by drinking blessed water.
That makes me feel indignant. Those pastors shouldn’t be doing that.
Dr Toni Tan, a consultant paediatrician, said some Pentecostal pastors were endangering the lives of sick followers.
“It’s my view that it’s very wrong for faith leaders to actively encourage their congregations to stop taking their medication… it will lead to their deaths.”
Pentecostals and other Christians see healing, like speaking in tongues, as a sign of the presence of God.
They should get over that.