But it sure does in this case:
Ridgefield father Edwin B. Baxter asked God for mercy and a judge for understanding Wednesday as he faced sentencing for an attempted circumcision on his 8-year-old. Baxter said he was inspired to cut his son after reading Scripture and first consulted his wife.
“It never has been my desire or intent to violate any laws,” Baxter, 33, told Superior Court Judge James Rulli. “I pray God will have mercy on me,” Baxter said, choked up. He then put his head down on the table where he sat with his attorney.
[…] Baxter and his 30-year-old wife have nine children in their two-bedroom home. His wife, Tammy, is pregnant and due in February.
On Sept. 3, Baxter called his son into the bathroom and had him lay in what witnesses described as a dirty bathtub. Baxter used a hunting knife to slice into his son’s foreskin. He called 911 when his son began bleeding profusely.
The judge sentenced him to three years for second degree assault of a child.
I’m not sure how to articulate how one should test what one thinks is inspiration from God against the good sense that presumably came from the same source, but, damn, people, use your head.
No word in the article as to why (a) the wife who ostensibly agreed to this was not charged, and (b) whether the other eight kids in the house are in protective custody, but one can but hope for both.
(via SEB)