You were fortunate that you didn't become ill with some potentially harmful yet treatable disease when you were young. I lived in the Bible Belt from 11-17, and I remember a friend from school who was a Christian Scientist who died because her parents refused to seek medical treatment. If her parents had simply gone to a doctor, the condition was treatable, and she would be alive today, like you are, to tell the story. Instead, she is dead.

Since this was the Bible Belt, no charges were levied against her parents. Apparently, religion provides an exemption against parental negligence. I often wondered if her parents ever questioned their faith or felt remorse for indirectly causing their child's death. Were they chastised by Church elders for their lack of faith which killed their daughter? Or were they praised because they clung to their faith at the cost of their daughter's life? How could they find any comfort in their daughter's death?

I just remember feeling thankful that my parents would have sought proper medical care for me rather than choosing to let me die for some whacky belief system.