...and my point still applies. What subjective values would you seek to impose upon people? You seem to think that people cannot make a reasoned decision about what life is about. Besides, this guy wasn't a danger to himself, he wasn't going to act in order to harm himself. It was merely an omission.

Reply 23

strawberrywine_

Law Talking Guy

Have you seen him?

Can you prove He doesn't exist?

Reply 24

Myth717

dreiviergrenadier

omission, ok ye right !

Reply 25

TIGIbedhead

Law Talking Guy

The death of the above boy was due to his belief in his imaginary friend!

If you think religion is mental illness you clearly need to be educated as to the definition of mental illness.

You can't impose your morals and reasoning on anyone else, we're free to make our own choices so as long as he wasn't goaded into stopping treatment against his will. You could always argue he was conditioned into this belief system by his upbringing and this shouldn't be allowed i guess but meh in the end how does his decision affect us, it doesn't really. If he was happy with it it's fine by me.

Reply 26

neverknowingwhy

i lol'd at your thread title. it's too ridiculous. tbh if you disagree with someone's beliefs you should MYOFB. seriously, who made you judge?

Reply 27

Myth717

Hey strawberrywine :biggrin:

Reply 28

neverknowingwhy

TIGIbedhead

yea, what i meant

Reply 29

Law Talking Guy

terpineol

as generally speaking they aren't a danger to themselves

er..what???

Reply 30

Moronic Acid

Law Talking Guy

In the case of ...

"P (Medical Treatment: Best Interests), Re Family Division, 15 August [2003] EWHC 2327 (Fam)"

...a 17 year old boy had refused medical treatment because it conflicted with his beliefs as a jehovahs witness. The court (reluctantly) allowed the doctors to treat him against his will. When the boy turned 18 the court could no longer force treatment. He stopped treatment and died.

In other words he believed he couldn't have life saving medical treatment, because an invisible man, who was watching him all the time, had told him not to.

That is literally suicidally insane and he should have been put in a straight jacket until he saw it for the utter bulls**t it is.

These thoughts lead down a slippery slope of disregard for patient autonomy and control of a population forcibly (even against their wishes)

Sure, we may sit here and condemn the parents of this child who 'brainwashed' their son, but at the same time we must also respect the wishes of the boy (he is 18 after all - if he hasn't seen sense by now then i doubt he ever will) - after all a patients right to decide what happens to their body is one of the most profound stipulations of the Hippocratic oath (the right to autonomy)

At the end of the day - all we can do is hope that the number of people who suffer at the hands of strict religious practise declines

Reply 31

Kreuzuerk

Law Talking Guy

Nope. The mental health act allows people to be detained if they are a danger to themselves due to mental illness.

Are you classifying religious beliefs under mental illnesses?

Reply 32

terpineol

TIGIbedhead

Having read that I wish I hadn't given out rep today.

The OP needs to have a damned good read of that.

Reply 33

Antonia87

Law Talking Guy

Nope. The mental health act allows people to be detained if they are a danger to themselves due to mental illness.

Faith isnt a mental illness.

Reply 34

Law Talking Guy

dreiviergrenadier

because of his imaginary friend

Reply 35

MrPhil

strawberrywine_

Believing in God isn't a mental illness.

I'm glad you pointed that out - it's an absolutely ridiculous title. Jehovah's witnesses don't represent "religious people" as a whole or even a majority - they're a tiny minority.

But anyway, I like how several billion people are mentally ill and in need of sectioning. Truly strange mental illness of believing the universe has a purpose and didn't just spring into existence by chance.

Reply 36

Guinevere

Law Talking Guy

Yes but the martyrdom animal right activists or prison hunger strikers is based on principled conviction and furthering an argument in based demonstrable political reality, that exists.

The death of the above boy was due to his belief in his imaginary friend!

You say 'imaginary friend' in such a matter of fact way. No one has conclusive evidence to state that God doesn't exist. It was this patient's belief that having the treatment was wrong just as it was the anti-animal cruelty patients. Whether they are martyring themselves for a cause or not they still would have been unhappy if forced to live. What's the point in wasting medical money and stores if these people strongly do not want them, and how can we dictate what they should do with their own lives. This man would have been examined for mental illness as patients are only allowed to refuse treatment if sound of mind.

Reply 37

Law Talking Guy

Antonia87

Faith isnt a mental illness.

belief in invisible people telling you what to do????

any other context and you'd be straight in the padded cell

Reply 38

MrPhil

Antonia87

Faith isnt a mental illness.

Add to that I think most people who have some form of faith aren't endangered by said "illness".

Though I guess that's all wrong because of a 17 year-old Jehovah's witness...

Reply 39

Myth717

Law Talking Guy

belief in invisible people telling you what to do????

any other context and you'd be straight in the padded cell

Alot of things are unexplainable in life. Why is your mind so narrow minded so closed that you cannot grasp this fact ? science cannot and does not explain everything ! open your eyes a little more then you current life.