Skepchick Quickies, 10.12
- A US couple who prayed rather than seeking medical attention for their dying daughter have been sentenced to six months in jail. (From Bronwyn.)
- Intelligent design’s 8 biggest fails. (From Emory.)
- Mayans think the whole 2012 apocalypse panic is pretty bogus. (From Sydney.)
- Alternative medicine research papers: still perfectly usable as scrap paper! (From Lauren.)
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6 months for torture and murder of an infant. In most states you can get more than that for carrying marijuana.
Days go by and still I don’t get it.
And most of the time, they don’t buy the “Hey, I didn’t know any better” defense in the MJ-cases.
I’m looking at it and worry that the judges preaching from the bench will get this tossed.
“In their defence, the parents said they believed healing came from shooting someone in the head, and that they had not expected their daughter to die as they shot her“
I thought William Zamzinger died earlier this year.
I think Intelligent Design’s biggest fail is the human fetus head size that is too big to fit through a human birth canal. Then there are human backs which are prone to chronic pain, and oranges that are so delicious, yet so difficult and messy to eat. The entity that designed those things was either unintelligent or a complete jerk. Or, you know, those things weren’t designed.
From the 2012 article:
Preach on, Brother…
@ulixes, it works in different cases too:
“In their defence, the parents said they believed healing came from body thetans, and that they had not expected their son to die as they performed an audit.”
The couple that prayed their child to death are appealing their conviction! I wish we could appeal their too light sentence. They still believe the same crap as before so the chance is high they will do this again.
@catgirl, the list is specifically about arguments from the ID-camp that have been blown clear out of the water.
It’s not about design flaws, it’s about flaws in the “proof” presented by Intelligent Design proponents.
Sidetrack:
Hmm, if you post multiple posts within the span of 5 minutes, your edit-counter does not get reset.
Edit: And now it does. Weird …
@Mark Hall: One thing judges get to do pretty much with impunity is preach or offer up their opinion or take on the situation. This is usually a very separate thing from their ruling and is not a basis for appeal from what I’ve seen or heard. I see this type of case as even more serious than the parent who leaves their child in a hot car who dies. That’s one bad decision with a fairly swift outcome. This child was likely very sick for days, weeks or months and the parents had to make the clear decision to not get her help on a daily or hourly basis. And how could the judge call them “good people” knowing this? To me that is reason to serve the whole sentence in prison not just one month a year for six years. And often in cases like this if there are other children the state will take legal action and place them in foster care until they are sure they will be safe.
Their kids are dying as a consequence of choices these religious fanatics, antivaxers et al are making.
How many more kids do they need to kill before it occurs to them that there are better tactics to employ?
SIX MONTHS?
:(
@Skepotter:
That reminds me of an excellent comment I heard from a radio call-in show shortly after the Columbine murders:
The “how many more kids need to die before…” thing has become a bit of a running joke since then.
I am a Hedge
@marilove:
Even better than 6 months, it’s one month a year for six years… they get to go to work and hang out with their friends and family then spend February in jail. Six months straight is reserved for people who are a danger to society or their own children… like pot smokers and hookers. Not child murderers.
@Elyse: I’m sure they’ll fast, pray and call it a spiritual retreat.
Re: 2012 –
Is it just me or is The History Channel just complete rubbish these days?
@James Fox: “Call it a spiritual retreat.”
Maybe we could send them to this spiritual retreat:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/12/crimesider/entry5378668.shtml
@Lancothis: Yeah, it went from “The Hitler Channel” to “The Hysteria Channel” over the years…
@ekimbrough: I don’t think they’d have the $9000 to attend that “secret” retreat, but not a bad idea.
And please explained to me how educated 21st century people can waste their hard earned money to engage in ridiculous Stone Age religious practices that involve 36 hours of fasting and then repeatedly getting into a really hot tent with no ventilation. How about we start up a company that provides a good tent, some bread, wine and cheese and some first rate BC bud. No one dies, lots of happy folk, we make lots of money and no legal problems because we call the pot smoking a religious practice.
@James Fox: Toss in some peyote for the “initiated” and you can just call me Reverend.
Of course, now I’m having to stop myself from quoting the PAGAN manifesto in the Dragnet movie…
@ekimbrough: My state (Arizona) really astounds me sometimes. I briefly lived in Prescott. It’s very pretty. AND FULL OF WOO, so full of woo.
I am sooooo glad I was an Atheist and Skeptic before my spouse and I started having children.
But then again, my spiritual vent was not of the ‘God is my Doctor’ flavor.
6 months?! Murder carries years of jail time. Why so little?
The moral of the story:
You can get away with murder for only 6 non-consecutive months of jail if you can show your religious affiliation.
This sets a scary precedent …