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June 21, 2008 | Letter to The Wall Street Journal

Healing Children Who Are Ill

© 2008, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Your article “A Child's Death and a Crisis for Faith” (Personal Journal, June 12) is a timely examination of an important issue. Unfortunately, it confuses Christian Science, and its long record of success, with a kind of wishful recklessness.

The article notes that state legislators have passed laws permitting conscientious parents to choose proven prayer-based care for their children. But here’s what’s important to remember: Lawmakers have heard these parents say they want their children to receive the most effective care possible. They’ve also heard something else, namely, testimonies as to the undeniable effectiveness of prayer, at least as taught in Christian Science.

These conscientious parents are like all conscientious parents; they want the best for their children. These parents have also found, through their experience, that prayer works. They are responsible for their choices because they know, when it comes to their children, that results really do matter.

Phil Davis
Spokesman, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Massachusetts