Evelyn Boyd, 55, wife of Rev. John Boyd of Higher Praise Full Gospel Ministries in Bartow, Florida, died alone in her room after fasting for 3 weeks. She was dead at least 1-3 days before her body was discovered by her husband. Those are the bare facts of this tragedy but there's more to the story than that. There are lessons to be learned. Here are some of the details:
Both Evelyn and John were well-regarded in their community. John, a retired firefighter, had been involved in ministering more than 30 years, the last two of which were spent as pastor of Higher Praise Full Gospel Ministries. He and Evelyn met at church 33 years ago and have six grown children. Evelyn was a devout and giving woman. "Anything she could do for you, she would," one neighbor said. "If you were sick, she'd come over with soup or something. And she was a great cook."
In late 2008, Evelyn retired from work in order, John Boyd said, to have more time to help people and become closer to God. Both she and her husband were accustomed to fasting as an act of devotion. In John's case, fasts might last 2 or 3 days but Evelyn's devotionals took far longer. She would shut herself into her bedroom sometimes for weeks on end with only such meager supplies as she thought she needed. Since there was no adjoining bathroom, these included plastic bags for waste that, when filled, were lowered into a garbage can outside her window. She allowed no one to see her while fasting and she never checked with a doctor beforehand. Her husband said she didn't believe in them.
In 2009, Evelyn Boyd began fasting in earnest. On two occasions fasts lasted 21 days; another lasted 23 days. The longest one was for 40 days though she allowed herself some bread and crackers that time. On Feb. 7, Evelyn Boyd entered her bedroom with her plastic bags and water containers for the last time. John Boyd says he wanted to check on her but respected her need for alone time with God. On March 5, John was returning home from an overnight fishing trip in the early hours of the morning when he saw that her bedroom window was open despite the bitter chill in the air. That's when he entered and discovered Evelyn's lifeless body.
Though the official autopsy reports won't be ready for nearly 30 days, Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Vera Volnikh believes Evelyn died from severe dehydration. A small amount of liquid was found in her stomach but there was no evidence of any food. The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating the the death but doesn't anticipate that any charges will be filed.
Evelyn Boyd was obeying what God told her to do, John Boyd said. "God called her home."
The funeral was held today,March 13, at Vineyard Church of God in Bartow.
***
When you have faith that God has all the answers, thinking things through for yourself becomes a secondary consideration. Faith is encouraged by religion. Reason is looked on, for the most part, with suspicion or worse (for instance read what Martin Luther has to say about that "d**n*d whore" Reason). You do not have to be stupid or insane to be religious but religion can provide an outlet for the expression of these conditions. Worse, it can exacerbate the problem by providing cover for them. Because of the respect accorded religious faith, people can get away with (and sometimes even be praised for) actions that otherwise might get them committed... or incarcerated. When it's in the name of God, you pretty much get a free pass on snake-handling, talking in tongues, mortification of the flesh, writhing on the floor in an ecstatic fit, denying medical care to yourself or your children... right up to the point where someone gets injured or killed. Even then, the law treats the religiously-motivated with exaggerated deference -as witness the light sentences given in several recent cases in Oregon where children died because their faith-healing parents didn't believe in doctors... or the fact that many states exempt religious daycare centers from the stringent standards the rest have to follow.The problem this case presents does not just illustrate how religion facilitates stupid or demented behavior, but how it offers cover for it as well. Evelyn Boyd did not do what she did in a vacuum. She did it in full view of her husband, family, friends and neighbors… and none of them said or did anything about it. She didn’t die during her first long-term fast, but her fifth in a period of a little over a year. Because it was done as an act of faith, people praised her for her piety instead of intervening in what otherwise should have been seen as a medically reckless and risky activity.
This is the lesson that should be drawn from the tragic death of Evelyn Boyd: It is not a given that faith is a virtue. Actions must be judged on their merits and judgment shouldn't be encumbered by assuming that faith deserves respect or mitigated by according it special privileges (like the daycare centers receive). Evelyn Boyd might be alive today if she or anyone in a position to intervene had based their actions on critical thinking instead of faith in divine providence.
Photo credit:
1) Mortification of the flesh: self-flagellation (Medieval woodcut)
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Comments
I have faith in a higher power, but I also have faith in my ability to reason. This is not something I would do. However, I can't pass judgment on this woman. She did what she thought was right based on her journey.
She had her reasons for fasting. She had her reasons to be a devoted mother, friend, and servant to her community. For the writer of this article makes a long logical leap in saying religious activities are insane or criminal. Last I checked speaking in tongues wasn't illegal neither writhing on the floor. Religion isn't without reason. Granted some religions are without factual evidence religions such as atheism, for instance, can't be proven by reason. It takes faith no matter which way you turn.
Atheism isn't a religion. I am sure you have been told that before, so stop spreading the lie. An atheist is someone that lacks belief in theistic thinking - specifically in those that involve some form of deity. It is an abject lack of faith. Anything the atheist does believe in has nothing to do with religion or gods, and everything to do with reasoned arguments on other disciplines which may, or may not be related to religion.
Whatever case you can put forward for the reasonableness of religion, you omitted them here, and your misrepresentation of atheism as a religion as an example of what cannot be proven by reason, is nothing but a smokescreen for genuine religions not being able to display any reason for their faith themselves.
Lacking belief in a god or gods does not take faith in any sense of the word. People lack belief in many different things. The Christian, for example lacks belief in Mohammed being the true prophet of all Abrahamic religions, but the Christian does not have to rely on faith in order to disbelieve it. It is as demonstrably absurd as believing that Jesus is the saviour. The atheist merely lacks the belief in one more than you do.
Whoever told you otherwise is lying to you. Do not get caught out spreading this lie again.
Atheism is not a religion.
Atheism a religion? That is funny.. How can simply having no belief in gods be called a religion. I don't believe in Unicorns, is there a religion for that? Faith is being comfortable without knowing.
Ding ding ding ding ding... JACKPOT!!!
Evelyn wins Darwin Award.
Excuse me, but I'm prettt sure atheism is the absence of religion. Unless you count all the religion forced upon our senses everyday. It should be like anal sex; you may like it, but don't tell everyone about it.
You missed the point cs, which was that religion facilitates and provides cover for what would otherwise be regarded as stupid or crazy behavior.
"She had her reasons for fasting." Really, cs? Disregarding, for the moment, the sanity of those reasons... what were the reasons for doing it the way she did? For not consulting a doctor? For insisting on not being supervised while undertaking what any sensible person would know to be a very risky course of action? And why did her husband and family not ask these questions either? Why do you need to defend her actions too?
Should I be like her family and you and so value religious faith that I disown what reason would tell me about such actions? Should anyone?
Fasting is a legitimate activity--when done properly. I see no warrant for repeating Daniel's total abstinence from eating and drinking--and even then, that requires preparation in advance.
I don't think it is fair to blame religion for this, I suspect this woman had psychiatric problems, which could not be determined becasue she didn't believe in doctors. This woman needed to be taken out by ambulance and taking to a psychiatric unit for observation, fasting is not all that common in christianity and certainly not for 40 days, muslems fast, Jews fast but not for 40 days. Even ramadan means fasting at night but eating during the day.
I believe this woman likely had psychiatric problems, which is exactly what this article points out as a problem. Had she been to a doctor or not used religion as a cover, then her family would have questioned her actions.
I think it entirely reasonable to blame religion. The story is quite clear about her motives. Whether or not she had mental health issues is another matter, and if one is prepared to effectively commit suicide for those beliefs, then there are clearly mental health issues whether she believed in doctors or not. They do exist!
Also, Muslims do not eat or drink from dawn to sunset, at which time they may do so. What you described is pretty much what everyone does 24/7/52.
The bible doesnot tell christains to fast,rather it encourages TRUE christains to take care of themselves to love their neighbour as themselves and not to abuse their bodies.Locking oneself in a room and starving yourself is hardly doing what God requires of oneself.It is not belief in God that causes people to do such foolish things rather it is false teachings taught by false religion not true religion.
HAHA.. true religion? I suppose that means the particular one you practice. How very interesting..
This woman was an exemplar of the virtues of faith. She had faith in God, and that faith killed her. It's what faith does, when it takes precedence over critical thinking. Faith kills someone.
I speak in tongues, Hugh.. and I have fasted from food for as long as 3 days. I never told anyone I was fasting; that was between me and God. I do believe in Faith... but God gave us minds.. He gave us common sense. Jesus is the only one I know that ever fasted for 40 days, and I will never try to emulate that. I'm sorry the woman died.. I wonder if it was the odor of a dead body that brought the husband to check on her? Something just seems a little out of place for me.. it seems after 24 hours there would begin to be an odor.
Well, duh, the artlicle stated he was away on a fishing trip....thus, that would reasonably be the reason he didn't notice an odor that you suspect to begin after 24 hours, and the window was open...and in the cold...thus leading him to wonder why and go check on the lady. so, no I don't see anything out of place. Just some ignorance that led to tragedy. Thus, if people want to continue to believe in fasting, and other crazy idea, if that makes them feel better, well...godspeed I guess. See where it will get you. Good luck. Or reality is much better and just as fulfilling.
1. a god did not give us minds. Billions of years of evolution did.
2. Common sense is simply the hard wiring in our brains telling us we're about to make a potentialy bad decision.
3. You don't know if there was a guy named Jesus who was said to have fasted... Outside of the Christian bible there is no record of an actual Jesus. Instead we have tales told 30 and more years after his supposed death. And even those tales are contradictory and derivative.
Oh and stop speaking in tongues... it's just stupid. Have some self respect.
Hugh, Your analysis of this situation was excellent. I'm not a shrink but I would hazard a guess that the woman was depressed, and, as a victim of religion, she was unable to realize she had an illness that was treatable here on Earth. She committed suicide in the name of God. It's extremely sad.
A lot of the commenters here seem to think that the only one responsible for this woman's starvation was the woman herself... but she didn't live in a vacuum. Her actions over the course of more than a year were committed in full view of her husband, her family, her friends and her neighbors; yet they said and did nothing about it. My point about religion facilitating and/or providing cover for what otherwise would be seen as stupid or crazy behavior is NOT so much about why the woman did what she did, but why all those OTHER people allowed it to happen. <facepalm!>
Sua sponte.
It bothers me when people use selected statements and quotes to prove a point without revealing the whole truth. For example, you quote Martin Luther as "proof" that all religious people hate reason. If you took an honest look at religion it wouldn't take long to find that John Wesley taught that faith and reason go hand in hand.
Furthermore you make the claim that "in several recent cases in Organ" parents received light sentences when their children died. If there really are "several" cases like this then why don't we read at least one example with names, dates and locations?
There is a reference to religious day-care centers being exempt from the same standards as other centers and yet you fail to give an actual example of where this might be happening.
It is upsetting when unsupported statements are readily accepted by those who read them without a second thought to the amount of truth they contain. It would be appreciated if claims like these are backed up by facts.
"It is upsetting when unsupported statements are readily accepted by those who read them without a second thought to the amount of truth they contain. It would be appreciated if claims like these are backed up by facts." Yes, it is. I believe you read the bible, good sir.
This should make it easier for you to find out the numerous sources to which this article refers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Followers_of_Christ
How right you are Reverend for demanding proof for those claims... now apply the same level of scrutiny to your religion.
Do a news google on "Jeffrey and Marci Beagley," Kendall - 16 months for criminally negligent homicide of their 16-year-old son.
Then there was their 15-month-old granddaughter, who died from pneumonia and a blood infection went untreated.
Her parents were acquitted of manslaughter and her father spent all of two months in jail for criminal mistreatment.
If I did something like that without being able to claim some idiotic religion, I'd be in prison for years.
Hello Rev. Kendell. I'm still trying to figure out how you concluded that I made an all-inclusive statement about religion's view of reason from "Reason is looked on, for the most part, with suspicion or worse."
It is legitimate though, to criticize me for not providing examples from Oregon child murder trials or naming states that exempt day care centers from normal regulations. Here's something on the latter issue: According to the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center, thirteen states have exemptions from licensure for religious organizations: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.
I'm also adding a link (in my story) to an article about the trial of Carl & Raylene Worthington last July. They were both acquited of 2nd degree murder charges in the death of their 15-month old daughter whose illness was treated with prayer instead of a visit to a doctor.
(continued). Carl was convicted only of a misdemeanor. Raylene was not convicted at all. Just this month, Raylene's parents both received minimal 16 month sentences for the similarly preventable death of her 16-year old brother.
Thank you for the clarification. It's a sad world we live in when obvious criminal behavior is taken lightly whether religious belief is involved or not.
Note this CNN iReport
Why Are Child Molesters Given Light Sentences?
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/03/bill_ending_faith_h...
Most recent info on the Oregon children who died or were disfigured due to "faith healing".
I'm a Christian; I agree w/Charlene. Everyone seems to assume the reason given for the woman's death is true. Something's fishy. Many religions, God-based books(not just Christianity) teach how to fast healthily and safely. It's not just water. Juices & electrolytes are needed. People should prep for about a week by adjusting their diet to prepare their body. How do we know something's not suspicious here? Has anyone thought maybe she was NOT locked in there of her own free will? Or even if not suspicious, has anyone considered that her numerous fasts led her heart to weaken into a sudden heart attack? Why do non-believers assume this was the act of a fanatic? Maybe she didn't realize how unhealthy her body had become.
BTW, my denomination doesn't approve of snake handling, strange writhings or outcries. The Bible is often taken out of context. However, the Bible DOES mention fasting many times. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative. x-19341-Tampa-Faith--Politics-Examiner.
I have friends and family members going through a topical issue. Medical insurance denial.
The more ruined finances I hear about, the less I fear death, and wish to deny hospitals my money should I get sick, by just dying at home and giving my money to my family. Burn my animal carcass and save the cash on a funneral.
The System is a joke, and of the Archons anyway. Call me Buddha, and if you meet me on the road, you know what to do.
>"Even ramadan means fasting at night but eating during the day."
Well that's handy, since most of us are asleep at night.
:-)
The Ramadan fast is actually the other way around. Muslims are to fast during the day. They can have breakfast before dawn and dinner after sundown.
Win for Hugh, a great article- as a child I was often forced to "fast" for extended lengths of time, though with 8 children my parents were likely just attempting to save money. Several of the commentaries have mentioned books and the like for how to "fast" the right way...and yet they ignore the bible which is what my parents claimed to follow...remember 40 days of fasting baby!
Ah well, again logic prevails and religion loses...
Natural selection works in wonderful and mysterious ways
God gave us reason. And, Hugh, there is such a thing as reasonable (not blind) faith.
Luke 10:21, 1 Corinthians 1:20-21, 1 Corinthians 2:2-5, Luke 16:15, Luke 18:17, 1 Corinthians 13:7, 1 Corinthians 14:38, 1 Timothy 6:4-5, 1 Timothy 6:20, Colossians 2:8, Romans 1:29-32, Proverbs 3:5
How is this a tragic death in any way? Those around her feel she was called to be with her god, she was a devout believer, so she also would feel like she is going home. Her death in no way effects atheists as they do not believe in imaginary people in the sky (well some of the mentally handicapped ones might). She died for something she believed in at least. Where is the tragedy in this? in case you haven't figured it out the end goal in life is to eventually die.
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