Skip to content
Csbibliography

Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science

Academic and Other Literature

  • Home
  • About
    • About the ABCS Project
    • Support Opportunities (Donate)
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Annotations
    • Search Information
    • Category Search
    • Keyword Search
    • Advanced Search
    • Standard Search
    • Authors/Editor List
    • Title List
    • Recently Added
    • Search Support
  • Resources
    • The Book
    • Online Resources
    • ABCS Blog
    • Suggest Resources
  • Contact
Annotation Resource

“Government Endorsement of Living on a Prayer”

“Government Endorsement of Living on a Prayer”

Dose, Ashley. “Government Endorsement of Living on a Prayer.” Journal of Legal Medicine 30, no. 1 (2009): 515–28.  

Dose’s article is a legal argument opposing the religious exemption from medical care for very sick children. Based on her study of the Swan case, she argues that the government should not endorse spiritual treatment through religious exemptions. Dose focuses her study on the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment. First, “the exemptions are not mandated by the Free Exercise Clause…, and second, the exemptions are not a permissible accommodation of religion under the Establishment Clause” (518). Furthermore, the “exemptions may still be found unconstitutional under Justice O’Connor’s ‘endorsement’ test” (519), because they convey a message of government endorsement of religion—which is part of the root problem. Exemptions encourage parents to delay seeking medical treatment. This is the type of endorsement forbidden by the Establishment Clause. However, compliance with the Establishment Clause is more difficult to prove than the Free Exercise question, because it is confusing and inconsistent, failing to establish a single standard. Dose concludes that “because the perceived endorsement of spiritual treatment actually causes the harm that child abuse statutes seek to remedy, religious exemptions from the duty to provide medical treatment to children should be stricken from state statutes on the grounds that they violate the Establishment Clause” (528).

ISSN: 1521-057X
Print ISSN: 0194-7648

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01947640903356266

 

See also annotations:

“Faith Healing, Christian Science and the Medical Care of Children” by Rita Swan

“Healing and Conscience in Christian Science” by Thomas C Johnsen

“Christian Science: A Comment” by Thomas C. Johnsen

“The Law and Christian Science Healing for Children: A Pathfinder” by Elena M. Kondos

 

Dose, Ashley

Related Annotations:

Annotations related by category:
  • Availability: Online - Academic Credentials or Fee
  • Controversy: Child Cases
  • Official Christian Science Publication: No
  • Publication Date: 2001-2010
  • Resource Types: Article
  • Subjects: Church Practices
  • Subjects: Healing and Health
  • Subjects: Legal and Constitutional Issues
Annotations related by keyword:
  • Christian Science Treatment
More by authors or editor(s):
  • Dose, Ashley

Comment on this resource: Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Home

Search application instructions and overview.

Search Support

Questions? We've got answers.

Category Search

Select subject, person, organization and/or controversy to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Keyword Search

Select one or more specific keywords to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Advanced Search

Select from all search options to obtain very specific results.

Standard Search

Might yield a mix of relevant and irrelevant results, but could be very helpful if you are looking for a specific term not included in any of the other types of searches.

Annotations by Author
Annotations by Title
Most Recent

View the 30 most recently added annotations.

New Since the Book

View new annotations available here that were not included in the book.

Suggest a Resource
Donate via PayPal

Scholarly Works on Christian Science is the nonprofit corporation that produces the ABCS website. We rely on donations to keep the bibliography updated and available to the public. If you find this site useful we hope you'll consider donating to support the work. Donate via PayPal by clicking the button above or send a check to:

Scholarly Works on Christian Science
420 Conway Meadows Drive
St. Louis, MO 63017

© 2022 and later by Scholarly Works on Christian Science, all rights reserved.

Privacy Policy is here. Cookie Policy is here. Comment Policy is here.

This material was printed from the Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science website produced and maintained by Scholarly Works on Christian Science (https://csbibliography.org). All rights reserved.