Strollerderby

I do not believe the parents did, "seek help in the best way they knew how". They chose to test their faith and they lost. If I remember correctly they did believe in medical care they just chose not to take the child in and "test their faith". Things like this always remind me of those jokes that have people turning down help to save their lives by saying "god will provide" and then when they die, end up at the pearly gates and ask god "why did you not help" and he says "i sent you all those options".

This is no different than the parents who were charged with neglect for feeding their baby an extreme vegan/raw food diet, and the baby starved.

I definitely think they deserve 25 years in prison. I would feel bad for their other children if that happened, but reckless homicide sounds about right. That lovely girl could easily be alive today if it weren't for the very bad decision her parents made. It sounds like they are more than just religious, they are crazy.

Treespeed, I didn't know about the story you mentioned in your comment, but it does sound like the same principle is involved.

"why do some religious people find common sense so antithetical to faith?"  Because they want to believe in magic.  Thier faith is almost child like.  They are also lazy and superstitious.  I hope they rot in jail.  The parents who fed their kids the "vegan" diet did not give him soy formula.  They were cheap and lazy (potheads) and fed him soy milk and apple juice which gave him severe diarrhea and he died from extreme dehydration and malnutrition.  They could have been strict vegans and fed him formula or breastmilk.  Their being vegans did not make them kill him.  They were bad caregivers.  There are vegans all over the world with healthy kids that never touch any sort of animal product.  

Cassie, I did not say that Vegans were bad parents. Just like most religious people are not bad parents either. You will notice that I used the qualifier "extreme" that I think would apply in referring to these parents religious beliefs.

Cassie, I agree with your assessment of both pairs of parents. They are BAD caregivers, and there is just no excuse for their behavior.

I used to work for a mother-baby home visiting program in Northern Manhattan (i.e. Harlem) whose goal was, ultimately, to prevent child abuse and whose philosophy was (on paper at least) that 'every parent truly wants what is best for their children'.

Now, while I can't say that I saw any extremes like the ones being  discussed here - it was still pretty clear that some parents just don't know how to do best for their children, whether it is because of religious conviction, willful ignorance, or a culture of poverty and violence. Some children clearly need some outside force to step in and protect them from their own parents.