Timothy and Rebecca Wyland's daughter Alayna, born in December 2009, developed an abnormal growth of blood vessels that covered her left eye and threatened her vision. Now 1 1/2 years old, she has improved under state-ordered medical care. She remains in state custody but lives with her parents.
The Wylands belong to the Followers of Christ, an Oregon City congregation that relies on faith healing. Rather than taking their daughter to a doctor, they relied on prayer, anointing with oil and laying on of hands.
The couple testified during a juvenile court custody hearing last July that they wouldn't have willingly taken Alayna to a doctor because it would violate their religious beliefs. Jurors heard a recording of that hearing.
This kind of either/or irrationality has to end. If you believe in spiritual healing, that's cool. Use it. But if there's ever a time to apply the strategic sorcery method - that is, making sure you take every possible mundane step "in addition" to doing the spiritual work - healing your children is it. Taking mundane steps doesn't render spiritual methods useless. Rather, doing so means that you're committed to achieving success by improving the odds as much as you can.