It's 12:44 on Friday September 3, 2010

The wrinkles only go where the smiles have been.

Home Bible Study Groups Banned in San Diego?

I’ll start with a link to the original Fox story that got my attention. That led me to a Google News search, and a pair of WorldNetDaily articles and with a little more information.

Pastor David Jones and his wife life on a cul-de-sac. Last month, they were met by a county official who asked them a series of questions about their Tuesday night bible study, such as “Do you say ‘Amen?’ or ‘Do you sing?’” They were then told that their weekly bible study with about 15 people violated land use guidelines, and they had to “stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit.”

MUPs seem to be designed for churches and other large concerns, as they require traffic and environmental studies, etc. to make sure the land is used properly. They’re expensive, too, and the Jones’ face escalating fines for each violation if they don’t stop their “religious assembly.”

So where’s the line between home bible study and church? My church has about 23 people there on a given Sunday morning; 9 are named Mueller. 5 are named Johnson. It’s just about 4-5 families and couples. Are we a congregation at the church building? What if we meet at a home for bible study?

I think obviously the county stepped in it by singling out “religious assembly” in the complaint. Had they said the couple was violating some ordinance about parking, or occupancy, they might be on better ground, but this seems to be a clear First Amendment violation. I’d be really interested to see the county’s guidelines about major use permits, and who needs them and when. I’d also be curious about their regs concerning churches, and how those regs mesh with the . I’d also be interested to know if the county is going to start cracking down on other weekly events held at homes, like cookouts, or football parties.

May 29, 2009 | Filed Under Faith, Law & Order | Leave a Comment 

Who Thought This Was A Good Idea?

“Voluntary surrenders,” AKA the Greyhound Escape Plan.

Since 1996, the US Bureau of Prisons has let some prisoners transfer between prisons unescorted. How? By buying them a one-way ticket to the bus terminal nearest their new home.

How effective has it been? Historically, fewer than 1 in 500 inmates being transferred without escorts have absconded, according to bureau spokeswoman Traci Billingsley. The reason behind such moves? Purely economic, says Billingsley. USBP and US Marshals Service say it’s cheaper this way, and that they don’t have the staffing to escort every prisoner transfer.

But how much is it going to cost them to go after Dwayne Fitzen? He’s been gone since 2004, when he got off a bus in Las Vegas, on his way from Minnesota to California. He had two years left in his prison term, but he he got to Vegas, withdrew $12,000 from the bank, and disappeared. USBP notes that they’ve only lost about 180 inmates since 2006, and that of the 77 inmates who escaped during unescorted transfers from October 2003 to September 2005, all but 19 were recaptured or returned to custody. Dwayne Fitzen is one of those 19, by the way. His crimes? Cocaine distribution, along with a prior gun conviction. Additionally, he was only 12 years into a 24-year sentence, which is way outside published guidelines for such a transfer. The USBP website says inmates only have two years left on their sentence; wardens say it’s usually like 10. Fitzen had 12. Hmm.

Certainly makes you reconsider ever letting your kids travel alone by bus, doesn’t it?

May 23, 2009 | Filed Under Law & Order | 2 Comments 

Parental Rights vs Children’s Health

There are several related stories in the news in the last few days.

13-year-old Daniel Hauser has Hodgkin’s, and his mom is refusing chemo in favor of natural/alternative treatments. She and Daniel are on the run. Supposedly Daniel has refused treatment, but other reports say he’s learning-disabled and may not understand what’s involved.

11-year-old Madeline Neumann of Wisconsin died last year of complications of untreated diabetes, while her mother prayed over her. Mom’s on trial for second-degree homicide; dad’s trial is coming.

14-year-old Alexander Draper of South Carolina was just found; his mother took him and fled a court appearance over neglect and endangerment charges stemming from Alexander weighing 555 pounds.

Finally, here’s a Newsweek link that states things a little better than I can.

Where do you draw the line? When should The System step in to protect a child? Certainly Alex Draper has issues, and Madeline Neumann could have been saved. But what of Daniel Hauser? His mother is supposedly seeking the counsel of a man who claims to have cured his own case of Hodgkin’s through natural remedies. Should she have the right to seek alternative treatment over proven medical therapies? The treatment she’s fighting has a 91% success rate.

There’s a group wants faith-based exceptions to medical treatment overturned, or at least more limited than they currently are. The founder is a former Christian Scientist who lost her child to spinal meningitis in 1977 after turning to CS practitioners. (The website comes down pretty hard on CS in general.)

I’m torn on this one, quite honestly. For something like cancer, where we really don’t know all that much about some types, and the side-effects of the cure are almost as bad as the disease, should The System step in? When? How long should you give an alternative or faith-based treatment before expecting results? The concern though is that sometimes, the alternative treatments can be just as dangerous as the accepted medical treatments, or the parents aren’t getting good information, relying on just one or two websites that probably talk about the conspiracy between Big Pharma and Doctors.

For the record, I have seen some medical conditions seemingly cured through prayer: multiple uterine cysts that disappeared; a cancer sent into remission before medical treatment was begun. I believe in the power of prayer.

As a parent, I’d move heaven and earth to save my kids. But. This will be a step to the outside for some of you, but what if I’m convinced that God has told me to stop the conventional treatments, and let Him work? Who am I responsible to at that point? And yeah, there’s been one time in my life that I know God spoke to me – I literally felt His touch.

Here’s one more angle to consider. There are some who say a 13-year-old child should be allowed to consent to a particular medical procedure without the parents having any say in the matter. So should 13-year-old children be allowed to give/withdraw consent for any medical procedure, or just some? Which ones?

May 22, 2009 | Filed Under Law & Order, Parenting | Leave a Comment 

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