"Christian" Parenting: US adoptive mother guilty of homicide in death of Ethiopian girl

[cali]

A U.S. adoptive mother accused of starving her 13-year-old Ethiopian-born daughter and locking her outside in the cold, where she died from exposure, was found guilty of homicide on Monday in Washington state.

Hana Williams, adopted from Ethiopia in 2008, died of hypothermia in May 2011 after she was found unconscious outside shortly after midnight in temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), authorities said.

The girl's mother, Carri Williams, was convicted of homicide by abuse and of manslaughter linked to the girl's death, while the father, Larry Williams, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter, a representative of the Skagit County Prosecutor's Office said.

<snip>

The parents kept the family isolated from non-relatives, home-schooled the children and followed strict religious principles described in the Christian parenting book "To Train Up a Child," investigators said.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/us-adoptive-mother-guilty-homicide-death-ethiopian-girl-064611435.html

[LiberalEsto]

1. I guess "Suffer the little children" is the only part of the Bible

that these idiots ever read.

Obviously they chose to ignore:

"I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink'...Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?...'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Matthew 25:35, 37, 40

[Tanuki]

2. That is not at all what "suffer the little children" means---"suffer" meant "tolerate" or "allow"!

When Jesus said that, he was saying that children should not be excluded from coming to hear him. He wasn't saying it was proper to make them "suffer"!
And I think that horrible adoptive mommie dearest should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[LiberalEsto]

9. I know that, thanks.

They way their treated their children, it seemed to me as though they selected just those 4 words out of the entire Bible and misinterpreted them as their twisted version of Christianity.

[arrows2flowers]

3. very sad but typical

People like this are fearful and jealous of a world they can't understand or control. Children belong to themselves, they are not trophies in some showcase. I hope we can work to save these captive children in the future.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. There's a book titled, "To Train Up a Child"?

[cali]

6. yes. here's the Amazon review page for it:

http://www.amazon.com/To-Train-Child-Michael-Pearl/dp/1892112000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378823569&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+train+up+a+child

[Baitball Blogger]

7. "How to serve man."

"How to train your dragon."

Troublesome. Three stars, too.

[Xyzse]

10. When I saw that book I got so mad

It is idiotic, and I can't believe people follow it.
There has been more than just this person who has gotten in to trouble with the law because of that book.

[BrotherIvan]

13. This book has been linked to many deaths

It is basically advocating severe child abuse

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/pastor-corporal-punishment-advice-scrutinized-child-deaths-160004793.html

A blog posting talking about three deaths related to the teachings--all adopted children. Evangelical Christians are now adopting children from countries in Africa and Asia so they can rear them up as good Christians: home schooling; "fasting" (i.e. starvation); and corporal punishment.

http://childmyths.blogspot.com/2011/11/pearls-or-swine-another-death-possibly.html

This form of extreme fundamentalism has infected churches all over this country and I think is very dangerous. It's capturing those who are moderates as well as their church gets a "new pastor" who spews racism, homophobia, misogyny and hate.

I know more than a few people who just went to church on Sundays and religion was a small part of their lives. When I met up with them a few years later, they were going to church 4-5 times a week and participating in proselytizing trips, and talking about a literal interpretation of the Bible that was nowhere written in the Bible. They were full-blown fundy and everything about them had changed. Freakin' scary. So I am not surprised there is plenty of scary stuff that we don't know about in such cults as the Quiverfull movement or the all this fundy home schooling or the cult where girls are pledging their virginity to their fathers WTF! But if we complain how Islam cannot get control over its radicals, we better get a handle on ours. I normally am a live and let live sort of person, but these people are torturing women and killing children and that's not freedom of religion any more.

[Xyzse]

14. Agreed...

I don't generally advocate book burning but... Ok, fine, I'm still not advocating it, even for this one, but this is one crazy book that really should not be considered for anything other than "bad parenting advice".

[BrotherIvan]

17. It is carried on Amazon

I will write them to ask them to remove it. Thankfully, people are on there giving negative reviews. I read one review from a mother who now regrets beating the crap out of her children and admitting to having rubber hosing in every room of their house and their glove compartment for whipping them at every opportunity! I guess she was led astray...or something...

And while I also would never advocate book burning or censorship of freedom of speech, that doesn't mean people should profit off of hate speech or provide easy world access to child abuse manuals. The fact that the other books from that evilly twisted couple all have five stars is disturbing enough.

[Xyzse]

19. I can agree with this

That thing can't be used as a reference.

[matt819]

5. Read this book: The Child Catchers

I think this story was in the book, but, if not, there were others like it.

The book should probably be called The Child Stealers. It addresses the fundamentalist Christian adoption movement, which seems to be a fairly well organized effort to adopt third world children for the sole purpose of creating new Christians. The movement cares nothing about the child but is solely focused on the parents' belief that they are doing God's work. Children, in many cases not in fact orphans, are merely a commodity. Adoption trips to Liberia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, etc., are portrayed as more like slave auctions than child adoptions.

[surrealAmerican]

8. Why is this not murder?

I was under the impression that, when somebody dies as a direct result of an intentional, premeditated illegal act (in this case child abuse), murder (not manslaughter) was the appropriate charge.

[tkmorris]

12. Because while the act was intentional

The intended result was not to kill the child. Of course anyone who WASN'T dumber than a stump would realize that's what would happen, but that doesn't make it murder.

[joeybee12]

11. I'm against the death penalty, but in cases like this...

I really start to waver.

[beerandjesus]

16. +1

[Nay]

15. These are vile nests of psychopathic abusers who've found a new way to legitimize

and hide their desire to abuse and kill others under the umbrella of religion. I hope the authorities infiltrate every one of these crazy churches looking for similar cases.

[BrotherIvan]

18. +++++

If they went after these cults in the same way they go after potheads, there might be some hope to what is basically slavery under the guise of religion. Often the women and girls are severely abused as well.