Another thing blamed for autism

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A significant number of cases are being reported online that suggests a link between the baptism of infants and the onset of autism. One such case is that of little Mary Blackhouse who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She was baptisted shortly before her first birthday and over the following days she changed in her demeanour.

"She was such a happy baby," said Mary's mother, Julie, still finding the memory painful. "She was so full of life. In the days after the ceremony she got quieter and quieter and seemed cut off from the world. We took her to the doctor and he diagnosed autism."

baptism

Many similar cases have been reported, one father claimed that the symptoms of autism had appeared in his son only a few hours after the baptism. Scientists have been quick to respond to the growing concern, saying that there is no scientific evidence for a causal link between infant baptism and the development of autism. Dr Henry Palmer, from the Frankfort Institue of Childhood Disease, wanted to address parents' fears.

"There may be some anecdotes of autism being diagnosed shortly after baptism, but it does not equal causation. There are thousands of children baptised every year in the United States and they are just fine. There's also plenty of unbaptised infants who are autistic, so I doubt there is a real link."

Brian Blackhouse, Mary's father (who no longer lives with his family), thinks that the refusal of scientists to accept the link is clear evidence for a cover-up.

"It's obvious," he said during our telephone interview. "Mary got baptised and then she got sick. Seems pretty causal to me! The doctors keep saying it wasn't the baptism, but they're bound to deny it because they're in the pay of BigChurch."

Mr Blackhouse's accusations aren't without foundation, however. A large number of scientists do attend church and so there exists a major conflict of interest.

"It's easy for these doctors and scientists to say there's no evidence," said Julie Blackhouse, angrily. "But unless they've got children who have autism after being baptised they don't know squat. I have to live with it."

Many families have approached lawyers and started class actions against their respective churches. We approached many of the pastors for comment but they refused, citing the ongoing legal cases. We did manage to speak to Brenda Jackson, a leading activist in the Parents Against Baptism pressure group.

"We need to get the message out to parents that baptism is dangerous for their children. I know a lot of people talk about the benefits of being saved from eternal damnation, but priests aren't telling them about all of the dangers. We're worried about some of the common trace elements found in holy water: lead, mercury, flourine and sometimes high concentrations of dihydrogen monoxide. The government needs to step in and do something."

Over the next few weeks we'll be keeping an eye on this story and any other media-driven panic associated with it.

This is ridiculous. And it creates another reason to dislike Christianity.

:lol: I can't tell if that's a joke or if they actually think there's something to it... You never know with those hippies.