Ronin

Sincere Understanding Allah, 14 months old

Naomi Gaines threw her twin sons from an observation deck before jumping into the river herself. She had to be rescued against her will as she raved incoherently. One twin was saved from the Mississippi river while the other drowned.

Gaines also has two other children, a seven-year-old and a four-year-old. She has no prior criminal history and could face charges as early as today.

She is one of several mothers recently who have murdered their own children and, for my own life, I cannot understand it...though there does seem to be a consistent thread running through each of these horrific incidents.

Perhaps Allahswill is as mysterious as Godswill...if perceived as two separate entities at all.

PS Yes, I realize that for many here this theme has worn thin, but I support that there is a causal relationship to these events and religious fervor...now we just need to examine and quantify just how much religious fervor stimulates this behavior.

Carol Massey

Ronin,

These are just a few of my thoughts regarding this (and other similiar incidents) tragic occurence.

A widely accepted doctrine of Christian belief is that to "think" a thing is to be as guilty as "doing" a thing. Having raised 5 children, personally I am well aware of the frustration that accompanies child-rearing, and could build a tower of the negative thoughts that have come to me during those stressful times. If I were of a religious nature (which I am not), I imagine that I would have experienced 'hell' on earth, and would have done any number of things to escape my guilt-ridden existence.

I will continue later, as I must leave for the office now...but mainly I wanted to affirm that this subject is vitally important to me, and thank you for starting yet another topic (as you say) of this nature.

More later....good day to you.

Ab_Normal

I'd put the equation as:

(no post-natal medical treatment for mom == no recognition of post-partum depression/psychosis) + religious fervor == dead babies

I've no data to back it up, though.

architect

And the fundies wonder why we dislike religion.

Roland98

On a liberal Xian board I post on, one woman has been detailing her struggles with both extreme stress and clinical depression. She has 3 kids, under the age of 5, and has been told repeatedly by her fellow church-goers that her depression is due to her lack of faith--that if she were a better Christian, she would be healed. They've told her that drugs are no way to "fix" it, and indeed, because they are "wordly," they should be avoided. Luckily, she is getting contrary advice on the board, and she realizes (I hope!) that the fundies at her church are completely out of their gourds. But I wonder how many other Xian women (or Muslim, Jewish, etc.) have gone through similar things--with tragic ends.

To add on to that, of course, is the fundie ideal of the woman (which is fairly pervasive regardless of religion)--working at home, raising the babies, never complaining to her "head," the hubby; cooking the meals; cleaning; being unselfish and subservient, etc.--and all the while needing to smile and praise Jeebus!

How could anyone possibly live like that without having a breakdown of some sort? Particularly in some of the more radical fundie churches, where it's a sin simply to have a rational thought in your head? As horrified as I am (particularly as a mom myself) about these types of incidents, I truly think they are inevitable, given the sheer number of fundies that exist and the often terrible support systems they have.