Prosecutor says religious parents punished their 8-year-old son to death

[deadparrot]

MARIETTA, Ga. (Court TV) - An 8-year-old boy is dead because of the "horrible abuse" inflicted on him by his parents, strict disciplinarians who followed severe religious doctrine, a prosecutor told a jury Tuesday.

Sonya and Joseph Smith were watching an online church service offered by the Remnant Fellowship Church on Oct. 8, 2003, but their 8-year-old son, Josef, was misbehaving, according to prosecutor Eleanor Dixon.

Josef wasn't being obedient and wasn't praying.

The Nashville, Tennessee-based church encourages parents to physically discipline their children and maintain strict dietary control.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ct/20070207/cr_ct/prosecutorsaysreligiousparentspunishedtheir8yearoldsontodeath

[crim son]

1. This makes me furious.

If the kid had lost his mind, it was probably because he'd been abused so badly that he could't hold on any more. So they punish him further because he's not praying?

I haven't had coffee and am not coherent yet but CHRIST this makes me mad.

[BeyondThePale]

2. There are many fundies who think that the loss of a few children is...

more than an acceptable price to pay for maintaining god's will.

Yeah, god!

[LiberalFighter]

9. Could that be why they are against abortion?

They want to make sure enough children are born so they can abuse and punish them?
:sarcasm:

[focusfan]

3. this is really sad

that people that didn't have no bussiness being parents
actually got away with abusing this child without social
workers being called.

[BeyondThePale]

4. I don't mind if people have religious beliefs, but let's call it what it really is:

belief in "made up stuff"

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. This makes a case for requiring a license to reproduce.

Unfortunately, any moron can have a child.

[bdamomma]

6. too much religion can make a person stupid, and in this case

two stupid people killed their son.

[formerrepuke]

7. ONLINE CHURCH SERVICE?! Some people don't deserve to be parents.

[elocs]

8. Children have more to fear from their parents than from any stranger.

This is not just true for children of religious fundamentalist, but all children. That's why when something happens to a child the police first look at the parents, at least to rule them out. There are certainly many nonreligious people who do horrible things to their children. Sad when a parent is the person a child looks toward to be kept safe.

[unpossibles]

10. I missed the actual story, but our local news was plugging a story last night that said

(in an incredulous voice), "why you may be responsible for your child's bad behavior" as if the very idea that parents could negatively affect their children was absurd.

<beating head on wall>