Portland not weird enough for you these days? Things are still plenty weird and wacky in our slightly rough and tumble, uncouth neighbor to the south, Oregon City. Or as I like to call it, the real O.C.
Today an Oregon City judge announced that a 7-month-old baby would not be returned to the custody of her parents. Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, the parents of the child are members of the Followers of Christ Church which embraces faith healing as an alternative to medical care.
The child was in danger of losing vision in one eye because she didn’t have proper medical care, doctors said at the trial. Doctors are devising a treatment plan for the child, although they say the risks are still great. She has now been placed in foster care.
The Wylands are now facing a criminal investigation and Colleen Gilmartin, the deputy district attorney handling the case says it will likely be presented to a grand jury. Dr. Thomas Valvano, a pediatrician at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University says this was a case of medical neglect.
The child was born with a discoloration in her left eye, which eventually started swelling and caused her eye to shut, affecting the eye socket.
The Wylands refused to take their daughter to a doctor and instead relied on their beliefs to heal her. Faith-healing rituals that the church uses include “laying on of hands, anointing with oil, prayer and fasting,” according to the Oregonian.
When Gilmartin asked what he would have done if his daughter’s condition didn’t improve, Timothy Wyland responded that he puts his faith in God and “that’s his will.”
The Followers of Christ Church came under fire back in 2008, when Carl and Raylene Worthington were indicted on charges of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment when their 15-month-old daughter died of bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection.
via the Oregonian
Maybe these idiots could try reproducing by “faith insemination” instead of the conventional ungodly way. Seems like that would take care of most of the problem.
Please don’t call Oregon City that.
I will always call Oregon City that. Blame Laguna Beach and their “real OC” gimmick.
I say let God heal them, that way Darwin’s work is already done.
“I say let God heal them, that way Darwin’s work is already done.”
You do know most of the victims are children, right? That the brainwashed parents will just make more?