MAHARAJ: “I Talk to You from the Perspective of the Universal Consciousness,” Part Sixty-Six

Today's Considerations

As always here, the pattern is to present pointers and then offer actual examples of, in the case of this discussion, ignorance or insanity at play to illustrate the point.

Currently, the point being offered is that dualistic and ignorant and insane programming, conditioning, etc. result in warped perspectives which, in turn, rob persons of the ability to behave in a sane and sound and wise and logical manner which, in turn, results in the most ignorant and insane thoughts and words and actions imaginable.

The discussion has looked at a woman who claimed that mental problems can best be handled by faith alone and by “turning over to God” the mind-based problems which generate fear and worry and anxiety and disharmony (and, by that faulty logic) the other mind-based problems which can lead to fighting in the home or even to murder in the home (59% of all women killed in the U.S. annually being killed in their homes during "breakups”). Presently, polls show that more than 83% of all persons in the U.S. fear being killed in a terrorist attack in a mall, in a theater, or at work. Because of their ignorance and their widespread (and pervasive) warped perspectives, they do not know that the actual fact is this: they are most at danger in their own homes which are presently being inhabited in many cases by "home-grown" terrorists.

Next, in 2007, 89% in the U.S. said God exists. The share of Americans who say they are “absolutely certain” God exists has dropped more sharply, from 71% in 2007 to 63% in 2014. As the percentage of people in the U.S. who self-identify as being "Christian" has fallen in my lifetime from 95%+ to 70% nowadays, that still leave a quarter of a billion people will report that “turning it over to God” really works.

So if they were told, or if you were told, that in the U.S., parents among the “turn it over to God” crowd can legally kill their children while all others who kill their children by neglect will be prosecuted under the full extent of the law for either manslaughter, capital murder and negligent homicide, you might well conclude that would surely have to be a lie; unfortunately (in relative terms), that is not the case. Consider:  

Here’s an excerpt from the book SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY which provides an actual example of the effects of what “turning it over” really looks like in practice:

CHARGES FOLLOW FAITH-HEALING DEATH
Denver Post, Mar. 10, 2001
GRAND JUNCTION: Charges have been filed against the
parents of a 13-year-old girl who died from a common infection
that turned into gangrene after her parents opted to treat her with
prayer but not medicine. The parents were issued summonses
Friday on charges of criminally negligent homicide, reckless
manslaughter, reckless child abuse resulting in death, and
criminally negligent child abuse resulting in death. [The parents
belong to a religious sect that] believes there is a biblical
injunction against medical treatment. They treat illnesses and
injuries with prayer. In the past, church elders have said that
“when prayer fails to heal an illness and a child dies, it is God's
will.”

That’s in the U.S. in the state of Colorado. Here’s what’s happening in Idaho, another U.S. state:

"Twelve children died in a period of months, and they died because their Christian families choose to try to use 'faith healing' instead of antibiotics to treat the infections their children had contracted. The response of the lawmakers and public officials in Idaho? They have refused to overturn a state law providing a religious exemption for manslaughter and murder charges."

That means that (1) if a child has an infection that could be healed in five days by the simple use of a round of Z-Pak antibiotics but (2) the parents do not administer those antibiotics because they are “turning their child’s illness over to God to heal” and then (3) the child dies as a result of the untreated infection, then (4) state law protects those parents - but not their children - and prevents the government from charging those parents with the crime of either manslaughter, negligent homicide or capital murder.

Any other deaths attributable to parental neglect (without the use of prayer) will result in the filing of charges against those parents. So the law is this: If parents kill a child by way of parental neglect, they go to jail; however, if parents kill their child by way of parental neglect but claim that they were practicing their religious beliefs and had prayed to God to heal their child, then no charges can be filed for the murder.

In the most common cases in Idaho where children are killed by family neglect, the parents belong to a Pentecostal group known as the Followers of Christ, which punishes members “who seek medical care instead of praying to God and then turning it over to Him and leaving it in His hands.” According to state law, parents can substitute prayer as a form of treatment for infections requiring antibiotics, for broken bones, for hemorrhaging, for pneumonia, for poisoning requiring that a child's stomach be pumped, for head injuries, etc.

Now, it gets even more curious / insane: the religious exemption covers manslaughter, capital murder and negligent homicide charges "unless a parent uses some other form of treatment in conjunction with praying for the child." (Quite the “purity test” for blind faith, yes?) 

Rita Swan, co-founder of the advocacy group "Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty," explained: “If parents combine prayer with orange juice or a cool bath to bring down a fever, those parents lose the exemption.” See? That would show they were clear-thinking enough to know that prayer alone might not heal their children, so they will be charged; but if they prove - by having avoided the use of any and all other possible treatments that they really thought that prayer would do the trick - then they go free.

Now you might say, “Okay, Floyd, that’s crazy, but it was only twelve children during those months, so that kind of religious fanaticism is not a national crisis in the U.S. ” To that statement it might be asked, “What would have been the reaction if Islamic terrorists had entered Idaho and gunned down the same twelve children?” But this is not about only twelve children. This is about thousands of children (and some adults, too) who are being killed as a result of the perverted belief systems of supposed “caregivers.”

In one cemetery alone in Idaho, as of June, 2015, there were at least two-hundred-and-ten marked graves of children buried in Peaceful Valley Cemetery alongside many other child-sized graves that remain unmarked. Reports show that “most of the children died from preventable ailments like pneumonia and food poisoning” and “commonplace infections.”  

Yet the problem is far more widespread because Idaho is only one of many states in the U.S. which are controlled mostly by right-wing, Christian Republicans who support laws that give religious exemptions to misdemeanor or felony charges involving children. Those same politicians are fanatical supporters of anti-abortion laws and laws intended to make it more difficult for a woman to receive a legal abortion.

In fact, there are actually thirty-eight of fifty states in the U.S. which now allow for a religious exemption for parents who kill their children. In Pennsylvania, Herbert and Catherine Schaible were found to have caused the death of their sick child by refusing to take him to the doctor, but the only consequence for their action was a ten-year probation period, basically meaning, “Now for the next ten years, you can’t kill any of your children.”

When they killed a second child in the same way during their probation period, well, then the judge in that case was less “understanding,” saying, “You’ve killed two of your children - not God, not your church, not religious devotion – you.” After that second killing, they were sent to prison only because they pled no contest to the lesser charge of third-degree murder. Their sentences called for "3-1/2 years minimum," but that time can be reduced for “good behavior.” They should earn early release because it's near-impossible to kill your other kids when you're locked up in a cell.

And those three states do not have a monopoly on “legalized murder by faith healing.” Hundreds or more are estimated to die annually, but there are no exact numbers available because in many cases the link between (A) turning it over to God and (B) the killing of children is covered up by burying their bodies in unmarked graves.

Both Rita Swan and MarieAlena Castle (who studied the practice and wrote “Why Most States Sanction Religion-Based Child Sacrifice”) are under constant attack by right-wing politicians and religious organizations for their efforts to repeal laws that permit the manslaughter, negligent homicide or capital murder of children by their religious parents.

Meanwhile, in Peaceful Valley Cemetery in Caldwell, Idaho there stands a tombstone which serves as a testament to the levels of ignorance and insanity which prevail when ignorant and insane programming and conditioning and acculturation and domestication and indoctrination and brainwashing result in widespread ignorance and insanity and magical, fanatical, supernatural thinking:

So a three-year-old child is killed because a simple medicinal remedy was withheld by parents who wanted to demonstrate their high level of faith in God, and all that the withholders of medical care have to say is, “God called thee home. He thought it best.”And none have asked, "Why in hell is God killing so many children in our state and in thirty-seven other states in the U.S.?" The standard reply: "Do not even ask. Just know that God works in mysterious ways."

Not, "Our minds are working in mysterious ways and need to be examined and treated by a professional?" No. Why? Because that too is forbidden by their religion. They might have said, "Let's pray to God to heal our warped, twisted minds," but that can only happen if persons see that they have warped, twisted minds.

So a fanatical, religious, Muslim “nut” called Jihadi John was scorned by millions and maybe billions around the globe for killing adults.

But fanatical, religious, Christians “nuts” like the Randolphs, the Schaibles, et al. are defended for baby killing.

That’s the kind of bizarre way of "looking at things” which results when billions of persons all over this planet view everything through the lens of their all-pervasive, warped perspectives.

But when Maharaj invited seekers to stop being driven by the “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity” which have been imposed upon them, he was deemed to be “too harsh.” Really?

To be continued.

Please enter into the silence of contemplation.

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