Uncle Sam, once again is trying to be parent to our children. But, honestly, I’m not completely sure how to feel about this issue. A couple in Wisconsin, Dale and Leilani Neumann, opted to use the power of prayer to treat their dying, diabetic child, rather than seek medical treatment. She died. The parents were sentenced to jail time. This isn’t too dissimilar from the Daniel Hauser case in which the mother rejected chemo for her son’s cancer.

More and more, the government is stepping in and saying, “If you can’t take care of your kids, we’ll force you to.” Now, agreeably, there are some sensitive issues at stake here, so in my mind at least, this is not a clear, black and white issue. Frankly, while I feel terrible for the children, my visceral reaction to this is that Big Brother needs to step back and allow the parents to be “parents”, a term which may be questionably applied in this case. But where do we draw the line?

For millennia, people have been using religious methods to heal. Those that use it swear by it. Those that don’t use it swear at those that do. Then there are those in between that use religious practices, but recognize that many healing substances (medical or natural) are also gifts from God and use them accordingly. The very foundation of this country is based on religious freedom. Do we really have religious freedom if there comes a point where Big Brother determines whether or not your religious practices are too kooky and decides to step in, and in some cases prosecuting you for following your beliefs?

Yes, there is a point in which religious practices may reach outside of your own inner circle of family and fellow believers and actually infringe upon the basic rights of others. But in this country, we are supposedly “guaranteed” the right to worship our desk stapler if we want to. Who’s to say that a man shouldn’t have the right to staple his forehead in the name of punishment from the Great Stapler God? A little whacked? Sure, but every religion is crazy to someone.

What about the Daniel Hauser case? Alternative medicine has been around MUCH longer than what we now deem as traditional medicine. There are over-trusting, ignorant, socialist quacks at both ends of the natural vs. medical debate, but there is a large part of the population that is recognizing that WE are responsible for our health and well-being. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves, sift through all the cruft, and make the tough decisions that we are “allowed” to make as citizens of a free country. How can we do that when a bunch of progressive “rebels looking for a cause” are always ready to enlist the government to override our choices?

When people have back trouble, some see their M.D., some see their chiropractor. But what about something more severe like cancer? There are huge, fundamental differences in how both sides of the spectrum see cancer. I’ve read material on both side and understand it. Regardless of the method, there is still a chance of death, or at least a limited lifestyle after treatment. Why then did Daniel’s mother become a criminal for refusing medical treatment? Was it because Big Brother thought the mother wasn’t a good enough parent? Was it because Big Brother supports the medical industry and actively suppresses alternative medicine? Was it because Big Brother thinks it has a more accurate belief system? Probably all of the above.

Americans should have the right to alternative healthcare. I don’t mean that we should create more poorly written laws to guarantee this right, but we should be able to use whatever form of healthcare our conscience, religion or understanding drive us to use. There are those that don’t have a conscience, religion, or understanding that will suffer the consequences of poor choices. However, that is the price we pay to ensure that all other Americans that have done their duty and their homework are allowed to care for themselves as they please. Our government is not intended to wipe our noses. It’s intended to guarantee us the continued right to wipe our OWN noses, if we so choose.

There are many of you that are probably thinking, “Yeah, but some of these parents are committing child abuse by how they deal with their kids health issues.” This is a tough concept to consider, even for me, but it’s not the government’s role to protect someone’s kids from treatment that you consider “abusive” unless that treatment infringes on their basic American rights. We’ve come to think this is their role because of all the frivolous laws being passed in the name of “American rights!” and because of the heavy hand the government body continues to place upon every facet of our lives. Read the constitution people!

I think most of us want to preserve our freedoms. I would guess that most of us understand that freedom is not free and is not easy to preserve. It’s likely that we recognize that freedom is worth whatever the cost needs to be to attain it. Likewise, sometimes we need to allow others to exercise that freedom however they see fit… even if their actions severely go against our ideals, morals, or sense of decency. THAT is being American.