Wisconsin, the state known mostly for its mass production of cheese, might soon to be better recognized for two sociopaths labeled as parents.
Dale and Leilani Neumann were convicted of second-degree reckless homicide for neglecting to take their 11-year-old daughter, Madeline, to the hospital after she had fallen seriously ill.
Madeline, who was suffering from an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes, was not taken to the emergency room when she fell ill. She instead was left in the house with her parents and their holy Bibles, all in the hopes that somehow a miracle would happen.
Dale Neumann testified that, “If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God,” according to the Associated Press. Neumann, 47, who became born again and tried to be a Pentecostal minister when he was 20, convinced himself he knows the Bible so well that taking his daughter for proper treatment would be a sin. News flash Dale; pastors, priests, and even the Pope go to the hospital.
Faith can be a good thing to help you believe positive things can happen. But before those things can happen you must act positively. There have been cases when people were in the hospital with terminal diseases and testified that, with the help of prayer, they were able to make a speedy recovery.
The Neumanns treated their daughter as though she was an old family pet. Anybody’s higher power knows that treating even a dog in that sense is wrong. Madeline was not some Bible tale or spiritual experiment, but rather their daughter— someone with DNA and traits from both of her parents.
These sociopaths watched their daughter die. Madeline only got sicker and sicker. What that meant to her parents was more prayer and more people praying. And the spiritual fanatics that saw her the day before she died, according to CBS News, saw “no indication of any illness whatsoever.”
That’s odd, considering the fact that Madeline could not walk or even speak. This begs the question: which morons were surrounding this poor girl?
There is nothing wrong in having strong religious beliefs and living a righteous life. If it brings happiness, go for it. When a person jeopardizes the health of a child or anyone else in the name of religion, that person does not completely understand the Holy Book — any holy book.
Many religions promote generosity. What the Neumanns did was selfish. They tried to prove themselves and the strength of their faith through their dying daughter. Many religions — including teachings in the Bible — condemn killing. What the Neumanns did was murder.
They watched their daughter get sicker until she died. They knew their faith was not enough. Instead of taking Madeline to the emergency room, however, Leilani Neumann sent out an e-mail reading, “Help, our daughter needs emergency prayer.” They made their home an emergency room, prescribed prayer as medicine, allowing the people who joined them in prayer to became Madeline’s doctors. Their house to them was their hospital.
The one thing the Neumanns failed to understand was that even the Bible states, “God helps those who help themselves,” not those who sit around and wait for miracles to happen.
The fate of both Leilani and Dale Neumann will be known in October. One can only wonder if they are praying for themselves twice as hard as they did for Madeline.