All nine innocent children pictured below are victims of religious superstition. All nine children died because their parents believed the Bible is the Word of God, and did not realize that God gave us reason and not religion. To truly believe the Bible is the Word of God, you must believe its teachings promoting the deadly superstition of faith-healing are from God and should be followed as the Bible instructs. As you read this page, keep in mind that all of these beautiful and wonderful children would still be alive today if God-given reason-based Deism had replaced the "revealed" religions.
The first little child, who is pictured at left, is Harrison Johnson. In September of 1998 he was stung by over 430 yellow-jackets. His parents are Christians who believe in Bible-based "faith-healing" so they prayed for him for seven hours before calling for medical help. Harrison died. The actions of his parents are perfectly legal in the state of Florida, where this tragedy took place. This murderous behavior is also legal in 45 other states in the 50 United States. The only states that are rational, caring and progressive enough to not permit the killing of innocent children for religious "reasons" are Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and South Dakota.
The second child, pictured at left, is Amy Hermanson from Sarasota, Florida. She had diabetes. She also had Christian Science parents. The two don't mix and Amy lost. Amy was visibly sick for a period of four weeks. As many people do, who believe in the hocus pocus of faith-healing, Amy's mother was pretending everything was alright. She took Amy to visit a neighbor who encouraged her to take Amy to a doctor. She refused. A few minutes latter Amy crawled into the room begging her mother to take her home. Amy died a few days latter.
The third innocent child victim of "revealed" religion is of Ian Lundman, pictured at left, from Minnesota. He also suffered from both diabetes and Christian Science parents. Minnesota is one of the 46 backward states stepped in superstition where it's perfectly legal to kill kids if your religious beliefs embrace faith-healing. Ian exhibited all the signs and warnings of diabetes: frequent urination, vomiting and labored breathing. His custodial mother did nothing but hire a Christian Science practitioner and Christian Science nurse. Since they believe in the deadly superstition of faith-healing they offered no medical help. Ian became yet another victim of "revealed" religion.
The fourth child pictured at left is in his casket. He is Caleb Tribble who was a casualty of "revealed" religion/nonsense. Caleb lived his very short life in New Zealand. He was only four months old when faith healing took his priceless life. Caleb's sad case demonstrates that the mental illness of "revealed" religion knows no boundaries. Deists and other people of reason need to work together across all boundaries in order to protect the innocent children from these irreversible and unnecessary catastrophes brought on by the superstitious and their "revealed" religions.
The fifth child pictured at left is David Hickman. David was born two months premature. Pediatricians have testified that he would have survived if his parents had taken him to the hospital instead of merely praying for him. David was killed by the religious and Bible-based faith healing superstition just nine hours after he was born.
The sixth child is 12-year-old Syble Rossiter, pictured at left. She suffered from highly treatable Type 1 diabetes. Syble's Bible believing Christian parents valued the ancient writings of men found in the Bible much more than their gift from God of innate reason. This rejection of God-given reason in order to believe in man-made religious superstition caused them to withhold medical care from Syble and to rely on the Bible. They did as the Bible instructs and prayed for her and anointed her with oil. Syble died on February 5, 2013.
The seventh child pictured at left is two-year-old Ella Grace Foster from Pennsylvania. Her parents also believed in the Bible-based lie that faith healing works. She had a lot going against her, as not only were her parents Bible believers, her paternal grandfather was a Bible believing Christian clergyman and pastor of the church her parents belonged to. Little Ella died from treatable pneumonia on November 8, 2016.
The eighth child pictured at left is Seth Johnson. Seth was from Plymouth, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. He suffered from pancreatitis. His Bible-believing Christian parents withheld medical care from him based on their Christian superstitious-based beliefs. When first responders arrived to help seven-year-old Seth, they found him on his mattress unresponsive, covered in vomit with bruises and pressure lesions all over him.
The last child victim on this page (unfortunately we’ll probably be adding more child victims to this page) is Elizabeth Rose Struhs, from Queensland, Australia. Elizabeth had type 1 diabetes and needed insulin to stay alive. Her Bible-believing Christian parents, because they were mislead to believe the Christian Bible is the Word of God, relied on the lies of the Bible regarding healing through faith and prayers. Based on this religious/superstitious belief, they stopped giving insulin to their eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Rose Struhs. After six days of having her insulin withheld from her, Elizabeth died on January 7, 2022.
The actual number of children who die due to the belief of their parents in Bible-based faith healing is difficult to determine. On page 11 of When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law by Shawn Francis Peters we read, "A number of factors make it difficult to determine precisely how many children have lost their lives in such tragic circumstances. Members of some faith-healing churches isolate themselves, living in insular communities and minimizing their contacts with law enforcement authorities and other representatives of the modern society that they consider to be spiritually bankrupt. (As a Faith Tabernacle minister put it 'We don't mix with the world.') The deaths of many children in these churches simply have not been divulged to law enforcement officials because their parents fear that such reporting would result in increased scrutiny - and perhaps suppression - of their religious practices. As a result numerous young victims of religion-based medical neglect have been buried without anyone outside their close-knit church communities knowing the precise circumstances of their deaths."
A 1998 study conducted by pediatrician Seth Asser and by the founder of Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty (CHILD), Rita Swan (to listen to a thought provoking and powerful interview of Rita Swan click here), shows that over a 20 year period there were 172 child fatalities with the vast majority of them being caused by parents who accept and believe in the Bible-based religious superstition of faith-healing. Dr. Seth Asser made it clear that the number of dead children who are victims of "revealed"/hearsay religions and the false Bible promise of faith healing listed in the study was only "the tip of the iceberg." It seems a fair estimate that every month between 1 and 5 children die in the US alone due to the religious superstition of their parents or guardians.
The best way to really strike the root of this horrific unnecessary deadly problem and eliminate it permanently is to educate the sincere but misguided parents who believe these foolish and dangerous Bible promises. The main reason most religious people follow a particular religion is because they think it is pleasing to God and that they're doing God's will. If we educate them to the fact that God gave us reason and not religion and that we must decide if we're going to appreciate and use our gift from God of innate reason or if we're going to turn our backs on God and God's priceless gift to us in order to believe ancient teachings in ancient books written by ancient men who were so ignorant that they believed the Earth is flat, then we will bring about the end of these ungodly senseless deaths of innocent children. In order to accomplish this we need a a revolution in religion based on our God-given reason and Deism as Thomas Paine called for in his landmark book on God, Deism and religion, The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition.