Dead‑preacher authority enables medical neglect

Religious communities can remain governed by the texts, recordings and sanctions of a charismatic leader long after that leader dies, and that persistent authority can be the operative rule that drives practices — including refusal of medical care — that create public‑health and legal harms. Because no formal successor or institutional accountability exists, outside interventions (child‑welfare, courts, public‑health) face doctrinal and evidentiary obstacles. — This matters because it reframes some religious‑freedom conflicts as problems of enduring, extra‑legal authority that require different legal, social‑service, and public‑health responses.