Above Rubies Part 5: Medical Disinformation
- mercynotsacrifice
- Feb 18, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 23, 2020
Problem #5: Medical Disinformation
As common in Christian fundamentalism, Above Rubies does not come without an unhealthy dose of anecdotal anti-science advice. In any of their materials, you will find published scare stories from readers against birth control, vaccinations, and doctors themselves. That’s bad enough for one's physical wellbeing without adding the spiritually harmful idea that “real” Christians trust God with their health instead of using human physicians. (Never mind that doctors are fine to use if you are getting a sterilization reversal.)
Here is an example pulled from testimonies on aboverubies.org. No Above Rubies magazine is complete without stories like these.
“During the seven years of our marriage before children we thought nothing of using birth control. Now, something inside told me I had to do something different, something that put my trust in God and not in man’s device.”
The following quotes are from Nancy herself. The first one I’ve already used elsewhere, but it was too relevant to leave out.
“However, there are times when serious medical complications can arise. What should we do in these times? Give in to the diagnoses and advice of the medical profession — or trust God?”
“A mother is empowered physically, emotionally and spiritually when she gives birth naturally. … Because of physical problems, the medical profession often puts fears in mothers about having future babies. Each situation must be faced with responsibility, but we also have to be careful that we do not listen to 'fears' that do not come from God.”
"After taking these powerful, but natural flu fighters, you won’t feel the need to take the flu vaccinations. Search for information. Check the Internet and discuss with your husband before allowing yourself and your family to become a victim to these shots."
“Instead of listening to the ‘fears’ and the negative and fearful words that family, doctors and well-meaning friends speak into your life, trust God.”
“Deborah was 32 years old and she believes the scripture which says that ‘women shall be saved in child-bearing.’ She has another favourite quote from 2 Chronicles 16:12 about a King called Asa who ‘in his disease sought not the Lord, but the physicians.’”
(Considering what the Bible as a whole says about the topic, 2 Chronicles 16:12 should not be used to persuade people to eschew medicine; and we already covered the misinterpretation of 1 Timothy 2:15 in post #2, Misrepresentations of Biblical Reality.)
A blog post called “THE BEST DOCTORS” shows Nancy saying that positive words are “medicine and healing”. Many fundamentalists believe that mental illnesses do not exist or are a result of “spiritual unhealthiness” (or worse — that physical affliction is evidence of God’s displeasure), and Nancy seems to be veering that direction:
“When we have peace in our mind and heart, we have health in our body. If we allow anger, distress, worry, jealousy, hurt, and bitterness, etc. to harbor in our minds, our bodies become sick. You can’t afford to harbor negative thoughts … If I suffer an ailment in my body, I don’t like to speak about it out loud. I don’t want my body to have the upper hand. I don’t want my body to give in to my negative words about sickness. Therefore I keep silent…. The more you speak God’s life-giving words into your children lives [sic], the more healthy lifestyle you will all enjoy.”
If that last sentence is true, it would mean conversely that if a child is sick, then its mother failed to quote the Bible often enough. I don’t think so! Colin writes:
“Our hospitals that are full of the sick and diseased are a testimony of our present day lack of faith.… There seems to be something wrong when we are so hasty to rush to the doctor or hospital after we have received prayer…. I am not against doctors and drugs. At least, If [sic] we don't have faith in God to heal us, there is the alternative. Yet, would it not be more refreshing to tell all your friends how God healed you?”
Above Rubies should know that responsibility comes with influence. The things they say can easily sway their readers’ day to day decisions. When a new mother has an infant with a fever and is weighing factors in her mind about what to do, what do you want her to think of? The fact that a doctor’s “intervention” may be crucial for the wellbeing of her baby, or the implication that if she does anything other than pray she won’t be considered faithful?
A 2018 study covering data from 1990 to 2010 revealed that infant mortality rates in the US are higher in counties with large populations of conservative Protestants and fundamentalists, who, according to researchers, "tend to be more insular and are more likely to reject science and health-related resources". The fault in part absolutely lies with leaders like Above Rubies who use their platform to indoctrinate and instill fear rather than to educate.
This is troubling trend in conservative Christianity — the avoidance of modern medicine and the use of alternative medicine in its place. There is a balance to be found, but unfortunately, not only do we see Christian parents frequently and sometimes fatally harming their children through “faith healing” and medical neglect, the church is in danger of harming its testimony. Juice “cleanses”, multi level marketing products, natural cancer treatments, self prescribed supplements, cure-all essential oils, and other things that have been proven to be harmful or have not been proven to achieve the things they claim are deceptive and Christians would do well to be careful promoting them. Christians should not be afraid of science, and Christians should be known for sharing what is true.
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