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Thursday, March 9, 2006
Father battles Witnesses over child’s death
WE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CALGARY, Alberta-A
grieving father said he would
continue his crusade eigainst
Jehovah’s Witnesses and
their prohibition against
blood transfusions, after a
court decision partially
cleared the way for an
$800,000 (euro669,200)
wrongful death lawsuit.
Lawrence Hu^es filed the
claim on behalf of his 17-year-
old dau^ter, Bethany, who
died fix)m acute myeloid
leukemia in 2002. She
repeatedly refused conven
tional treatment for her
leukemia because of her reli
gious beliefs.
Hu^ies, as executor of her
estate, blames the Watch
Tbwer Bible and TVact Soci
ety, the religious order that
governs the faith, for influ
encing his daughter to believe
that the Bible forbids blood
transfusions.
“This is a great day for jus
tice. This is a great day for
children,” Hughes told a news
conference Tliesday, after a
judge ruled he could proceed
with part of his case.
“The court is saying that a
religious sect or cult can be
held responsible for the iiyury
they inflict on others,
whether it relates to deliber
ately giving out misleading
medical information or using
institutional coercion which
results in the death of a
child,’^u^es said.
The tightly disciplined reli
gious sect believes the BiWe
forbids transfusions, though
specifics have gradually been
eased over the years.
Hughes’ dvil suit filed in
2004 had stalled in the courts
as defendants tried to have it
thrown out. However, Court
of Queen’s Bench Justice
Patricia Rowbotham ruled
last Friday that a scaled-
down version of the claim
could move forward.
Thou^ Hu^ies cannot pro
ceed with his claim eigainst
the Watch Tbwer Society, he
can move head with a suit
against two lawyers, Shane
Heath Brady and David
Miles Gnam, who acted for
both Bethany and her moth
er, Ariiss, when they fou^t
the transfusions in court Eind
also represent the society.
Both lawyers are Jehovah’s
Witnesses.
Rowbotham dismissed the
claim against the Society
because, she said, the lawsuit
did not question the sincerity
’ of Bethanys belief, rather it
attacked religious doctrine of
the faith. She ruled the court
could not be arbiters of reli
gious dogma
Hughes said he had not
ruled out an appeal to allow
him to proceed against the
Watch Tbwer Society, but con
siders his case against the
lawyers a coup.
Rowbotham wrote in her
ruling that because of their
own beliefs, the lawyers were
not in a position to advise
Bethany in an objective man
ner that would enable her to
make a fiee, informed deci
sion on whether to have blood
transfusions.
Brady dismisses that
notion.
‘Tt’s just silly and irrelevant
to the action,” he told The
Associated Press fi*om his
Ontario office. “That’s akin to
saying that the NAACP can’t
represent jjeople with certain
religious or ethnic beliefs,” he
said, referring to the U.S. dvil
rights organization National
Assodation for the Advance
ment of Colored People.
Bethany’s illness garnered
nationwide attention and
renewed public debate over
how to determine when a
child should be able to choose
medical care.
Canada’s Charter of Ri^ts
allows those 18 and oldei’ to
dedde, but medical ethics dic
tate that matiire children
should be allowed to dedde
unless their competence has
been compromised. Several
doctors found Bethany to be
matiue enou^ to choose hei*
treatment.
However, her fatlier left the
church and {petitioned the
court to enforce the transfii-
sions. The court ruled she
was pressuied by hei’ religion
and didn’t have a free,
informed will. The Alberta
government won temporan’
custody of feethany and she
was given almost 40 transfu
sions against her will —
though she succumbed to
leukemia in the end.
m
BLUMENTHAL PRESENTS
Rights group questions outreach to gay teens
WE .ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI—A national gay
and lesbian group is accusing
several religious organiza
tions of harming homosexual
teens by offering parents
what they say are bc^us ther
apies to keep children fiom
becoming gay
In a report released Thurs
day in Miami Beach, the
National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force Pc^cy Institute
questioned whether the ther
apies are ethical or effective
and said state and federal
authorities shoffid provide
greater oversight when these
pn^ams are aimed at youth.
The report said some Chris
tian-based gay prevention
and treatment groups have
used the First Amendment
protection of religion to avoid
sanctions by state health offi
cials seeking to enforce regu
lations on counselors who
offer therapy without a
license.
Task Force Executive
Director Matt Foreman said
officials need to ensure that
those off*ering such therapies
are licensed—as opposed to
simply being clergy— and
that clients and their parents
should be informed about the
programs’ long-term success
rates.
“Many of these prc^ams
are crossing the line as to
what is approved under fi:*ee-
dom of expression,” Foreman
said in an interview with
reporters. “This deserves
attention. It deserves to be
regulated.”
TTie report was released in
Florida because it is home to
Exodus International, the
umbrella organization for
Christian ministries nation
wide that seek to convert gays
to heterosexuals.
Alan Chambers, President
of Exodxis International, said
he had not seen the report but
maintained that the min
istries are successful. He said
Exodus’ 130 aflBliated min
istries use clinically trained
professionals, though he
added that only 30 percent
have onsite professionals.
Religious leaders lead sup
port groups, as they mi^t in
the case of an Alcoholics
Anonymous groups, he said
"The truth is that there are
hundreds of thousands of men
and women like me who have
found that change is possible,”
said Chambers, who counts
himself among the ex-gay.
The report maintains that,
increasingly those attending
seminars on homosexuality
prevention and treatment are
parents who have gay or les
bian children.
Foreman called the pro
grams fiightening, saying
they play into stereotypes,
cautioning parents to worry if
their sons are "too feminine”
and often blame parents for
their children’s sexual orien
tation.
Foreman said he would like
to see more long-term studies
on the success of the treat
ment.
SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR
March 20 • Belk Theater
ALVIN AILEY
AMERICAN RANGE THEATER
JUDIfH JAMISON ARnsiK DIRfOdR
Uouiumi Otoyti imm mm dskm
Religious images means much to Miss, man
WE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, Miss —The tat
toos covering much of Curtis
Wiight’s body reveal what he
loves most; Batman, music
and Jesus.
“I tell people when they
come in, ‘Pick something
that’s never going to change,’”
said the 29-year-old Jackson
tattoo artist. “It has to come
fix)m the heart ”
Religious imagery within
the tattoo world has endured
through such trends as mer
maids on World War IT sailors
and tribal designs on rock
stars. And as body art contin
ues to gain popularity, an
increasing number of people
are inking their bodies with
such sacred images as cruci
fixes, angels and praying
hands.
‘Tve done a whole bunch of
Scripture on people,” said
Rusty Pyron, owner of Eter
nal Body Art in Jackson.
“They just find a passage that
makes them feel good and I
just put it on them.”
A tattoo artist for 15 years,
Pyron, 39, said religious tat
toos “go hand in hand” with
the surge in tattooing.
The introduction of two tat
too parlor reality TV shows
last year—Miami Ink on The
Learning Channel and Inked
on A&E—has fueled the tat
too trend.
Though Christian images
dominate the religious tattoo
trend, body art enthusiasts
also sport pictures of the Bud
dha, Hindu gods and goddess
es and the Chinese cosmologi
cal sign for yin and yang.
Monique Davis, a 28-year-
old Jackson nursing home
woiker, sat hunched over on a
stool recently as Pyron per
manently etched a 5-inch-
hig^i crucifix into the small of
her back
>^thin the borders of the
cross, Davis had Pyron ink
the initials of her four chil
dren.
‘T just like the cross and
thought it would be real nice,”
Davis said.
She said the crucifix will
remind her of the moral
lessons she learned fiom her
preacher father-in-law, now
deceased.
“It’s to help stick with the
things he tau^t me,” she
said.
Wright, who works at
Squench’s Tattoos in Jackson,
said Christian tattoos can
hdp spread the Gospel.
‘Tve seen tattoos and tattoos
Tve done that witness to peo
ple and lead them into a rela
tionship with Christ,” he said.
Wrist’s love for body art
started before he became a
Christian. So mixed among
the images of Jesus, crucifixes
and the sacred heart that
adorn his limbs are tattoos
that pay homage to Led Zep
pelin, Elvis Presley and his
American Indian ancestors.
He’s altered some of his
more “worldly” tattoos to
make them fit with a Christ
ian message.
Once such fix included
adding the text, ‘Was blind
now I see,” to an image of an
eyeball with stitches.
“Tattooing is a means of the
soul coming to the surface,” he
said.
Wright estimates 75 to 80
percent of his customers get
religious tattoos.
‘T have a clientele,” he said.
“They know what I do and
what I’m about ”
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