FAITH HEALING.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 18220, 7 October 1919, Page 10

FAITH HEALING.

PREVALENT in the citt. DOCTORS’ EXPERIENCES. Faitli healing hag many disciples in Christchurch, according to the statements of medical men- The case reported on Saturday, in which a young woman suffering from goitro refused all offers of professional help until a cure was almost hopeless, has stimulated interest in tho matter, and there is any amount of evidence to tho effect that doctrines of the faith-healing typo are flourishing in various parts of the country. - A medical man, with close on thirty years’ experience, said that he was continually coining into contact with cases where young girls had fallen under the influence of strange religious sects. One woman suffering from chronic gastritis, which threatened to lead to ulceration of the stomach, ha cl recently absolutely refused to avail horse!f of medical attention. She sniu that she did not believe m doctors, and her mother, voicing the same opinion, resolutely backed her up- In. anot.iei case a girl suffering tram anaemia T airl looking particularly thin, bad come under tho influence of some friends who were faith-healing fanatics, oho' obeyed the wishes of these people aim refused to see a doctor, until evenUm.lv increasing depression forced her own people to step in. In a case in Sydenham, a mother had great difficulty m persuading her eldest girl to break with a faith-healing sect, and the invalid only gave in when her parents, m dcs-. poration, threatened to give the matter publicity. Another girl, who had late come under his observation, act .mil, fasted for a period or four weeks, .n addition to praying at regular and frequent intervals- Her constitution came undermined and medical attention had just been secured m time to prevent her becoming a complete wreck. This girl was now.quite well and ha.ppv. She had made a mistake, and she admitted it. A young woman with a painful tumour suddenly reused, to he treated by her former doctor explaining that she had come to hehovo in cure hv faith. All argument was o! nq avail. ' Several years ago nmaxemem. was caused .in Christchurch bx disclosures in a ease where an infant had died of virulent diphtheria. L *>l>peared that the parents, after trusting entirely to faith healing, and without trying to ascertain what was wrong, turned to a “quack” specialist, who failed, of course, to effect a. cure. Jt wag not generally known that people who •trusted simnlv-to faith-healing ami allowed their children to suffer from lack of proper treatment, were liable to prosecution on charges of neglect- “ A DANGEROUS FAD.” “An increasing number qf people have, allowed their ideas to wander in, the direction of faith-healing, said another medical practitioner. • \ anous branches and off-shoots of Chris tian Science are springing up, and the situation is one that will have to bo resolutely faced sooner or later. Just two days ago I met a woman who said that she believed -in curing by faith and would never call in a doctor to any of her family. The general teaching seems to bo that ono must have faith and pray, but in odd cases there has been an exhortation to fast. Medical men and medical bodies look upon faith-healing with ridicule—that, is tho only word to express our attitude. W« feel sorry for people who trust entirely in faith, and if they are playing with fire by neglecting their health, endeavour to persuade them to ho sensible. We do as much ns we possiblv can to counteract what is a dangerous fad.” “ Christchurch is a homo _ for quacks,” was one doctor’s opinion. People in this c®ty, ho said, seemed to bo easily led and quick to seize on the doctrine of any stranger who came along. If the “ healer ” declared that ho could cure this, that or the other, ho would soon have a large following. The quack usually had a successful run for a time, and then when he was bowled out he moved on without hindrance to the next town, llis victims were usually afraid to expose his methods, and so kept quiet. That meant that, the next quack to comp along did business without difficulty, and so tho game went, on. As far ns Fnitih-ihenling was concealed, Christchurch was not remarkable for the prevalence of such doctrines. In other parts of New Zealand, and widely in Australia, eases of the description reported on Saturday were repeatedly coming to "light. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE VIEW. Dr Walton Hubbard, a member of the Board of Lectureship of the Christian Science Church, who is ou a visit to Christchurch, said that in the case reported on Saturday, the faith cure treatment had been discontinued, and an operation had taken place, after which the patient died. There was absolutely no indication from the evi-. denco that tho woman would not have died under an operation in any circumstances. Tho Christian Science Church did believe in and did teach healing oy faith. This doctrine was based ou the command of Jesus Christ to go forth to the world, teach the Gospel and heal the sick. It required no blind belief but faitli based on a demonstrable understanding of the nature of God. j.t only asked to bo judged by successes and not by its failures. If the medical profession were to be judged by its failures, it would indeed be able to mako a very poor showing. In his own experience, after practising mcdicino for nine years, he found that the percentage of healings, with Christian Science treatment was much greater than was possible with medicine.