As you may be aware, there's a loophole in Wisconsin's law about child neglect and abuse that says, basically, it's OK to abuse and neglect your child if you're doing it out of sincere religious conviction. How far does that exemption go? Does it extend to neglect up to the point that the child dies?
Well, just such a case arose back in 2008, when ardent (tho non-denominational) Christians Dale and Leilani Neumann let their 13-year-old dotter Kara puke her guts out and wither away before their eyes from diabetes, dehydration, and malnutrition without seeking medical care. The condition was easily treatable, and Kara could have led essentially a normal life except for needing regular shots like almost all other diabetics. But noooooo — seeing a doctor would have detracted from the glory due to God, according to her clueless parents, so they let her die — a horrible, lingering, painful death.
The parents stood trial separately, and 2 separate juries said that the legal loophole didn't extend so far as to absolve them from negligent homicide. The judge agreed. And now the Wisconsin Supreme Court has also agreed.
Back to the slammer for the kid killers, who apparently still think they did the right thing.
Christopher Hitchens had it right with the subtitle of his book God Is Not Great: "Religion poisons everything".
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