Short Synopsis
In Bad Faith, acclaimed physician and author Dr. Paul Offit gives listeners a never-before-seen look into the minds of those who choose to medically martyr themselves, or their children, in the name of religion.

Full Synopsis
In recent years, there have been major outbreaks of whooping cough among children in California, mumps in New York, and measles in Ohio’s Amish country—despite the fact that these are all vaccine-preventable diseases. Although America is the most medically advanced place in the world, many people disregard modern medicine in favor of using their faith to fight life threatening illnesses. In twenty-first century America, how could this be happening?

Acclaimed physician and author Dr. Paul Offit chronicles the stories of these faithful and their children, whose devastating experiences highlight the tangled relationship between religion and medicine in America. Religious or not, this issue reaches everyone—whether you are seeking treatment at a Catholic hospital or trying to keep your kids safe from diseases spread by their unvaccinated peers.

Replete with vivid storytelling and complex, compelling characters, Bad Faith makes a strenuous case that denying medicine to children in the name of religion isn’t just unwise and immoral, but a rejection of the very best aspects of what belief itself has to offer.

"Offit masterfully points out that the denial of medicine in the name of religion actually rejects the basic teaching of religious faith." ---Library Journal Starred Review

"A thought-provoking discussion of the conflict between society's right to protect all children and the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom." ---Kirkus

"Offit is unflinching in his examination of the lethal costs of belief taken to irrational extremes." ---Publishers Weekly

Bestseller

Library Journal Review