How far should religious freedom go?

Now I'm not usually one to take an interest in the affairs of celebrities but the rather controversial death of Jett Travolta has caught my attention, due to the rather worrying ethical questions it poses.

John Travolta's brother Joey, who has researched the condition for a documentary he made, was convinced that Jett had autism. John Travolta said that Jett did not have autism- however, bearing in mind that Scientology REFUSES TO ACCEPT AUTISM OR ANY OTHER MENTAL ILLNESSES/DISORDERS, this is unsurprising. Instead, they claim that the symptoms result from "spiritual torment", and use "detoxification"- including dangerously high doses of vitamins- to "treat" sufferers. When left untreated, autism can lead to seizures. When you consider that Jett died of a seizure, it becomes a real possibility that Jett indeed was autistic, and died because he was not treated.

The issue of Jett himself becomes insignificant when you consider the ramifications of these beliefs of a wider scale. It's not easy to know how many Scientologists there actually are, however in 2001 55,000 people in America alone considered themselves to be Scientologists. That's 55,000 people, who, if they were to become mentally ill, would refuse, or be denied, psychiatric drugs. This becomes even more worrying when you factor in their children- who do not have the capacity to seek the medication they require themselves. Of course, this is dangerous for the sufferers of these illnesses, but in conditions such as paranoid schizophrenia, also for those around them- there has been more than one incident of a schizophrenic scientologist killing family members after ceasing medication.

Religious freedom has come to be considered a key tenet of most advanced societies. To accept or ignore modern science is considered a personal choice. However, is it really "tolerant" to allow thousands of people to go without medication for treatable illnesses, even if it leads to their own death- or worse the death of another? Is it "progressive" to allow them to withhold medication from their children?

It is my belief that leaving people to suffer and die, based on a belief with no scientific evidence, is a form of discrimination in itself. It is my hope that this incident will bring attention to this, frankly terrifying, state of affairs, and a full investigation into the matter will occur.