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

“Withholding Medical Care for Religious Reasons”

“Withholding Medical Care for Religious Reasons”

Flowers, Ronald B. “Withholding Medical Care for Religious Reasons.” Journal of Religion and Health 23, no. 4 (1984): 268–82.

Flowers surveys the beliefs of a few religious groups that refuse medical care and how they interface with the law and the U.S. Constitution. He examines the groups’ underlying assumptions, the Bible passages they cite to validate their practices, and the complex legal, religious and moral issues they evoke. For example, Flowers asks whether a religious group’s exemption from mandatory medical care violates the Establishment Clause in giving preferential treatment to a particular religion over others; or whether their exemption honors the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment in supplying the group the opportunity to practice spiritual healing which the law normally would otherwise take away. Included are specific examples of how the Christian Science Church has argued its own cases for exemption, and the Court’s need to seek a balance between the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses. In some cases, the Christian Science Church would cite examples of courts and legislatures providing religious exemptions (such as granting conscientious objector status for those objecting to military service) claiming that these exemptions, as well as their own exemption from child-neglect laws, “show government sensitivity to minority religions without showing any favoritism to them” (278).

ISSN: 1573-6571
Print ISSN: 0022-4197

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00991387

 

Flowers, Ronald B.

Related Annotations:

Annotations related by category:
  • Availability: Online - Academic Credentials or Fee
  • Official Christian Science Publication: No
  • Publication Date: 1981-2000
  • Resource Types: Article
  • Subjects: Church Practices
  • Subjects: Healing and Health
  • Subjects: Legal and Constitutional Issues
  • Subjects: Medicine
Annotations related by keyword:
  • Christian Science Treatment
More by authors or editor(s):
  • Flowers, Ronald B.

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.