{"id":6850,"date":"2004-12-20T13:05:33","date_gmt":"2004-12-20T20:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/12\/20\/religious-devotion-doesnt-mean-being-stupid.html"},"modified":"2014-11-10T16:19:18","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T23:19:18","slug":"religious_devot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/12\/20\/religious_devot.html","title":{"rendered":"Religious devotion doesn’t mean being stupid"},"content":{"rendered":"

But it sure does in this case<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

[…] Baxter and his 30-year-old wife have nine children in their two-bedroom home. His wife, Tammy, is pregnant and due in February.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The judge sentenced him to three years for second degree assault of a child.<\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

(via SEB<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[715,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-punishment","category-religion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128183,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/28\/have-western-will-broadcast.html","url_meta":{"origin":6850,"position":0},"title":"Have Western, Will Broadcast","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 28-Sep-15 9:58pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a neat little summary of one of the biggest cycles ever in TV shows: the episodic Western, which was a solid center of TV creativity for about five years in the late 50s and early 60s.Whenever people talk about whether super-hero \/ fantasy TV shows are over-saturated and about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138622,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/04\/17\/rip-georgia-engel.html","url_meta":{"origin":6850,"position":1},"title":"RIP, Georgia Engel","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 17-Apr-19 6:10pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The actress played Georgette Franklin on \"The Mary Tyler Moore Show\".","rel":"","context":"In "Performers & Celebs"","block_context":{"text":"Performers & Celebs","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-performers"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/georgette-franklin-georgia-engel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/georgette-franklin-georgia-engel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/georgette-franklin-georgia-engel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/georgette-franklin-georgia-engel.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/georgette-franklin-georgia-engel.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15435,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/27\/speaking-of-mighty-works-in-anaheim.html","url_meta":{"origin":6850,"position":2},"title":"Speaking of Mighty Works in Anaheim …","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 27-Jul-09 6:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Some great time lapse photography\u00a0of the construction of Disneyland. 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Includes some amazing new footage of Walt Disney walking the site before construction even started and some never-before-seen timelapse footage of the park from groundbreaking until\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney\/Pixar"","block_context":{"text":"Disney\/Pixar","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/disney"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10138,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/08\/25\/its_almost_wort.html","url_meta":{"origin":6850,"position":3},"title":"It’s almost worth losing Pluto …","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 25-Aug-06 11:28am","format":false,"excerpt":"... in order to get these new \"How to Remember the Order of the Planets\" mnemonics, now that \"My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.\" The winner...","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Nature","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":351,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/30\/my_brain_hurts.html","url_meta":{"origin":6850,"position":4},"title":"My brain hurts","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 30-Apr-03 6:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"Never, ever, ever, whatever you do, get together with coworkers and \"brainstorm\" an idea. You might offend epileptics. 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