Baptist Church Should Apologize for Raising Hopes of Resurrecting Brain-Dead Girl

Jahi McMath declared brain dead 

 Most Americans would call “the miracle of Christmas” a metaphor for hope, joy and the radiance of light dispelling darkness.  But apparently the Paradise Baptist Church of Oakland, California has taken it a shocking step further.  Last Wednesday, it organized a prayer vigil to awaken thirteen year old Jahi McMath, whom doctors at Childrens' Hospital of Oakland had declared dead after going into cardiac arrest from  a tonsillectomy.

It is not surprising that the child's grief-stricken family might not be ready to face the finality of this tragedy.   Jahi's uncle, Omari Sealey, declared:  “We want a chance for a Christmas miracle.” At the prayer vigil last Wednesday, the child's mother Latasha "Naila" Winkfield, urged supporters to keep praying for a miracle.  “Please don't give up on my baby because she will wake up," Winkfield said. "I don't have any doubt she will wake up. Doctors don't know. God has the final say."



However, there is nothing controversial about "brain death."   It is not a coma, but rather the irreversible cessation of brain activity, which is an accepted designation of death both legally and in the theological community.   Unlike the controversial case of Terry Schiavo, whose brain stem still functioned, or that of  children suffering from terminal illnesses, for which parents have been known to fight hospital  “do not resuscitate” orders, Jahi McMath was clinically dead. Nevertheless the family instructed their attorney to serve Children's Hospital with a cease and desist order to prevent the hospital from turning of Jahi's ventilator once an EEG showed no brain activity.

It would seem to me that a loving church community would help this grieving family let go of false hope, rather than fan Christmas-miracle-hysteria for the sake of filling  pews or getting free publicity.  After all, where does this end? A corpse can be kept breathing on a ventilator for years.

My heart also grieves for this beautiful child, whose life was cut short so unexpectedly. But it would be an act of unselfish love to let her go.

RELATED POST:  Supporters of Brain-Dead Girl Practicing Neo-Zombie Christianity