Since the earliest days of Pennsylvania history, there have been congregations of fundamentalist Christians which refuse to permit the sick and dying among them to seek the services of a physician. They instead prefer to leave the healing in the hands of Jesus, and, if for some reason, the sick or injured fail to recover, they view it as a consequence of their own lack of faith, or their own shortcomings as believers. Although it's no one's business to say what religious beliefs one should hold, it is understandable how a community can become outraged when the unfortunate victim of a failed faith healing happens to be an innocent child. Such was the case of Mary Elizabeth Sheeler, who died in Lebanon County in 1920.
