At least 21 people, including a 4-month-old infant, have been struck by measles in an outbreak traced to a Texas megachurch that belongs to a sect that advocates faith-healing, and where a pastor had previously questioned the safety of vaccines.

Health officials think a visitor to the Eagle Mountain International Church carried the virus that causes measles back from a trip to Indonesia. Measles then spread throughout the church’s congregation, staff and a day care center. Pastor Terri Pearsons, who previously voiced concerns about alleged ties between childhood vaccines and autism, is now urging her congregation to get vaccinated, according to NBC News.

Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, the disease claimed about 500 lives a year in the U.S. alone. The disease is extremely contagious, and spreads easily through coughs and sneezes. Most patients will recover, but some will become susceptible to other diseases, like pneumonia, and occasionally there are fatal cases.

Vaccines are primarily effective at eradicated illnesses by bestowing “herd immunity,” where so much of a community is protected against a disease that there is a firewall against the spread of a contagion. The more people that are vaccinated against an illness, the less likely it is that an infected person could come into contact with someone vulnerable and thereby touch off a chain of infections. And while medical studies have found no credible proof of a link between vaccines and autism, many parents still fear a cluster of vaccinations early in life can harm their children.

http://www.ibtimes.com/texas-measles-outbreak-tied-anti-vaccination-megachurch-1400981
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/measles-outbreak-tied-texas-megachurch-sickens-21-8C11009315

Once Again, Science and common sense are giving several painful lashes to god, or at least, the ridiculous notion of god.

What is very ironic is that the church, which is linked to the Kenneth Copeland empire of Mega-churches, has in the past been anti- vaccination, preferring , of course, that the members seek and the counsel and protection from God first before ever considering such.

But then again, these savvy carpetbaggers have ingenious ways of marketing every event, good or bad, in god's favour and for their benefit.

For all you know, it might just be the crazy old devil trying to torment God's people, or, it might even be God himself just testing the faith of his people.

Which ever way it turns, praise the lord,..and,
Sow your seeds now.

What's d point of this post?

lol....seems their prayers against illnesses failed

infobiz9ja: What's d point of this post?

Well, you see, these fxxxers have been bilking millions from ordinary folks with the normal, you know, crap that god saves and protects believers from everything, especially cheerful givers.

In fact, he went on record to advise his followers against any form of vaccination, prefering that they put their trust in God to protect them from all disease and calamities.

Well, it appears that
1. Kenneth Copeland, jut like his Nigerian counterparts , is a fraudsters and a liar,
or
2. God did not hear their many prayers maybe because he had failed to remit the loot to god. lol
or,
3. God is punishing the victims for unknown sins,
or,
4. God is powerless against the immutable lawsy of cause and effect,
or
5. They are worshiping the wrong god,
or
6. God does not exist.

Gladly take your pick.

plaetton:

Since your are too slow upstairs, let me help you out. You can thank me later.

Well, you see, these fxxxers have been bilking millions from ordinary folks with the normal, you know, crap that god saves and protects believers from everything, especially cheerful givers.

In fact, he went on record to advise his followers against any form of vaccination, prefering that they put their trust in god to protect them from all disease and calamities.

Well, it appears that
1. Kenneth Copeland, jut like his Nigerian counterparts , is a fraudsters and a liar,
or
2. God did not hear their many prayers maybe because he had failed to remit the loot to god. lol
or,
3. God is punishing the victims for unknown sins,
or,
4. God is powerless against the immutable lawsy of cause and effect,
or
5. They are worshiping the wrong god,
or
6. God does not exist.

Gladly take your pick.

This is a very statement. More like using the behaviour of a misguided atheist to attack what atheists hold. This is appaling.

That is what i always say a pastor is a pastor and when he has not study medicin than he should not speak about something he didnot understand.

I know there are pastors they tell there followers a tru christian can never be ill and you need not to have a health insurance because i can heal you that is what some pastors tell there people in america and it would be realy the same in nigeria and i can tell you this is tru.

No one have to get measles because since 1963 there is Vaccines on the market.

But this story let me remember when in nigeria in the north part some Imans tell the people please don't take this vaccines for i think it was bos, because it is dangerous.

But I know very soon the people will wake up, that a pastor is a real man and not a god.

Logicboy03: lol....seems their prayers against illnesses failed

Worse, their senseless teachings have endangered their kids and those of the wider community by exposing them to a deadly disease. Every single child that isn't vaccinated is a danger to others around him. For a church to be advocating a return to the days when children were dying of preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough is unforgivable.

Measles is no Joke. It kills people's children.

Our Nigerian pastors still dey learn work...

Joagbaje:





. . . .For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith Philippians 1:23-25

This is inspiring! The Apostle Paul here was trying to decide whether to live or to die. This tells us that death is subject to us; we reign over death. Until Jesus came, Satan had the keys of death. Men and women were all their lifetime subject to bondage because of the fear of death.

However, Jesus put an end to that through His victory over Satan, death, and the grave. He thus liberated all men from the fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15 says

. . ."Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

When Jesus died, He went to hell, the devil’s territory, defeated him and the cohorts of darkness, and took back the keys of death and hell: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelations 1:18). He dealt with the problem of death when He arose triumphantly from the dead, ushering man into a new life. Today, no one who’s born again need fear death, for Jesus has defeated death: it’s the last enemy that will be destroyed, but already, it’s been defeated.

Today, Satan has no authority to take anybody’s life at will because he doesn’t have the power of death anymore. He can only make empty threats, and try to deceive men or make them destroy themselves. Refuse to let death have the dominion. Recall the Master’s charge in Matthew 10:8; He said,


. . . . "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."

He gave us dominion, not only over Satan, sickness and disease, but over death as well. Blessed be God!

Confession
Christ lives in me; His life and immortality have been unveiled in my spirit! I’m a partaker of the God-life— a life that’s superior to sickness, disease, Satan, and death! I walk in dominion today over death and everything associated with darkness, for I dwell in the realm of life. Glory to God!

Science Flogs god again. This the title of this post and part of my opening statement that some nitwit decided to cut out, presumably for what reason?

Did I upset the faith meter?


The truth, whether you like it or not, is the incident shows once again, and I repeat, science and common sense just gave god several severe lashes.
When will people learn?
This is so important in light of what goes on in our own semi-civilized society where people suffer and die out of ignorance.

plaetton: Science Flogs god again. This the title of this post and part of my opening statement that some nitwit decided to cut out, presumably for what reason?

Did I upset the faith meter?


The truth, whether you like it or not, is the incident shows once again, and I repeat, science and common sense just gave god several severe lashes.
When will people learn?
This is so important in light of what goes on in our own semi-civilized society where people suffer and die out of ignorance.

Sorry bro..

Ajibam:

Sorry bro..

No problems.

Welcome and good luck.

plaetton:

No problems.

Welcome and good luck.

Thanks...tell the Other guys that I Tender My apologies..

Ajibam:

Thanks...tell the Other guys that I Tender My apologies..

Aji now I am foncused. What exactly are you apologising for?

I guess this is the wrong thread to ask this. I will do that in the complaints thread instead.


#Sorry for derailing Plaetton.

.

The level of ignorance around these quarters is shockingly nauseating. Copeland is not opposed to medicine, and with his wife even have a personal physician, Dr. Colbert. The opposition to vaccines because of concern with autism is not a general opposition to vaccination nor is it a "christian" opposition. Google it and find more about it. Science seems to debunk it, but that's not a reason to link it to Christianity. People are entitled to a healthy skepticism, until convinced otherwise. Even science encourages that.

nlMediator: The level of ignorance around these quarters is shockingly nauseating. Copeland is not opposed to medicine, and with his wife even have a personal physician, Dr. Colbert. The opposition to vaccines because of concern with autism is not a general opposition to vaccination nor is it a "christian" opposition. Google it and find more about it. Science seems to debunk it, but that's not a reason to link it to Christianity. People are entitled to a healthy skepticism, until convinced otherwise. Even science encourages that.

Abeg, please! There is no link between vaccines and autism. The Copelands continue to lie to their congregation that such a link exists despite mountains of irrefutable proof that the two have no connection (and that the doctor who started the rumour was a giant fraud).

Perhaps if they knew how to think with their brains and evaluate evidence objectively like atheists have been trying to teach them for so long, they wouldn't have believed and perpetuated such an easily disprovable lie.

The fact is that the dumb sheep that attend their churches didn't vaccinate their children simply because their pastors told them not to. Therefore if any of those kids dies or is permanently disabled the blood will be on their heads.

MØrØns!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/31/kenneth-copeland-measles_n_3850299.html

As a follow up.

NEWARK, Texas -- The teachings of televangelist Kenneth Copeland and his family focusing on the virtues of trusting God to keep healthy are under scrutiny after a cluster of measles cases linked to his family's North Texas megachurch revealed many congregants hadn't been vaccinated against the highly contagious disease.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries has won supporters worldwide through television programs, crusades, conferences and prayer request networks. He was a pioneer of the prosperity gospel, which holds that believers are destined to flourish spiritually, physically and financially.

Although church officials were quick to act after the outbreak – including hosting clinics in August where 220 people received immunization shots – and have denied they are against medical care or vaccinations, people familiar with the ministry say there is a pervasive culture that believers should rely on God, not modern medicine, to keep them well.

^^^^
[b]"To get a vaccine would have been viewed by me and my friends and my peers as an act of fear – that you doubted God would keep you safe, you doubted God would keep you healthy. We simply didn't do it," [/b]former church member Amy Arden told The Associated Press.

During an August 2010 broadcast, Copeland expressed shock at the number of vaccinations recommended for his great-grandchild.

"I got to looking into that and some of it is criminal. ... You're not putting – what is it Hepatitis B – in an infant! That's crazy. That is a shot for a sexually transmitted disease. What? In a baby?" he said. "You don't take the word of the guy that's trying to give the shot about what's good and what isn't. You better go read the can or read the thing – find out what's going on there and get the information on there because I'm telling you, it's very dangerous the things that are happening around us all the time."

^^^
His wife Gloria bragged during a conference that she and her husband don't need prescription drugs, adding that the Lord heals all diseases.

Robert Hayes, risk manager for the ministries, denied that the church's teachings ever have advised against immunizations and noted the facility includes a medical clinic staffed with a physician.

Ole Anthony, president of the Dallas-based religious watchdog group Trinity Foundation, said that while there might not be specific guidance on topics such as vaccinations, the views of the leadership are clear.

"The whole atmosphere is to encourage them to have faith, and it's no faith if they go to the doctor, that's the bottom line," Anthony said.

^^^^

And even more shocking...

In a sermon posted online following the outbreak, Copeland's daughter, Terri Pearsons, who is a senior pastor at Eagle Mountain along with her husband, encouraged those who hadn't been vaccinated to have it done, but added that if[b] "you've got this covered in your household by faith and it crosses your heart of faith, then don't go do it."
[/b]
Arden, who attended church at Eagle Mountain from 1997 to 2003 and worked at the ministries for three years, said the distrust of vaccines was so pervasive that her daughter, who as an 11-month-old was up to date on her immunizations when they joined the church, didn't get any others until they left.

"We were terrified to have any sort of fear. And anything that wasn't faith in God was fear," said Arden, 35, who now lives in New York City.

Kristy Beach, 41, said that because of the ministry's teachings, her mother, Bonnie Parker, refused to see a doctor, even as her cancer advanced rapidly. After Parker died in 2004 at age 59, Beach found her mother's diaries, which detailed the words of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland she'd heard on television in her home in Winnsboro, La.

"If she went to a doctor, it was a sin," Beach said. "You didn't believe enough if you did. She just wrote: `God heal me. God heal me. God heal me.' "

So much needs to be said and done to checkmate the clear and ever present dangers of blind faith religion, hawked by fraudsters who have, without any iota of shame, built and run a family empire on the sweath of others by the use of fear and blackmail..