Spiritual prompting leads to infant's death

[Guest]

SIDS is random. This woman did NOT kill her baby. My daughter slept on her belly ALL THE TIME as an infant. She is 23 years old, and will be graduating from college next year.

It's well-known that babies sleeping on their bellies are at a greater risk of SIDS. Whether or not she "killed" her baby, she did put her in a riskier position, as she acknowledges. I've been around long enough to see the changes in recommendations (my kids have dutifully slept on bellies, backs, and sides), but there is conclusive data about babies sleeping face down and SIDS.

What a tragedy. I understand the point here, but I am not sure I'm comfortable using a tragic death to criticize religious belief.

It isn't the tragic death that is criticizing religion here, it is just sensationalizing the issue. This story merely illustrates the problem with religion, which is the inability of the spirit to act as an aid to decision making.

[_Runtu]

I still think, even with the research, that this mother should not feel guilty. Her baby was uncomfortable and she simply put the baby on her stomach while she was in the room with her. It wasn't like she left her and walked out. According to the blog, the baby died shortly after she was put on her stomach. It sounds to me like there was something else wrong.

That's not how I read her post. She said, "I didn’t kill my baby. What I did was make the last few weeks of her life happy, comfortable, and without pain."

In other words, the baby was sleeping on her belly for a few weeks because she wasn't able to sleep comfortably otherwise.

[_Yoda]

I still think, even with the research, that this mother should not feel guilty. Her baby was uncomfortable and she simply put the baby on her stomach while she was in the room with her. It wasn't like she left her and walked out. According to the blog, the baby died shortly after she was put on her stomach. It sounds to me like there was something else wrong.

That's not how I read her post. She said, "I didn’t kill my baby. What I did was make the last few weeks of her life happy, comfortable, and without pain."

In other words, the baby was sleeping on her belly for a few weeks because she wasn't able to sleep comfortably otherwise.

Ah...OK...I was going by this quote from the article:

How could I explain to my non-LDS doctor that Laila was not sleeping? She was unhappy and in pain (she had reflux). When considering how to help her I prayed for guidance and received an answer. The answer was to place my baby on her belly. I knew the risks and I hesitated, ignoring the answer for a few days until again, the answer came, “Put her on her belly.” I placed her on her belly and suddenly sleep came. Laila was happy and rested and I knew it was an answer to my prayer.

Then Laila died.

It sounded like she died shortly after she went to sleep.

[_Buffalo]

It sounded like she died shortly after she went to sleep.

I'm pretty sure that's what happened. The baby died while sleeping on her belly.

[_krose]

So very tragic.

People do take actions that end up hurting or even killing their children. I don't see any point in trying to pretend that the action didn't contribute to the baby's death. At the same time, we should be feeling nothing but sympathy for people when this sort of tragedy happens.

There was a woman a few years ago who was talking to her niece through the open car door at a bus stop near my sister's house. She had the radio on, so she didn't know the girl's coat had been caught in the door and she was dragging the girl to her death. It was a freak occurrence, but she did unintentionally kill her niece, and she will live with the nightmare of it for the rest of her life. I can't even imagine the horror.

This mother might have done the same thing If she were not religious, and called it mother's intuition. The problem, of course, is that if you think it's the holy ghost telling you to go against medical advice, it carries a lot more weight in your mind.

[_Sethbag]

It's certainly not very helpful to say this woman killed her daughter. The baby died, but the woman couldn't have known that, and was just doing the best she could.

The real issue that the OP was trying to make was that the woman claimed that the Spirit told her to put the baby on its stomach. Most people would assume that the baby's subsequent death pretty much contradicts the notion that "listening to the Spirit" is really a reliable method of ascertaining truth. I guess the true believer will rationalize with something like "I guess God really needed this valiant soul back in Heaven, and called her home!"

God would be a real dick though to call the baby home by telling the mother to put the baby in a position that God knew would kill the child. What a sick bastard.

[_Fifth Columnist]

The point of this story is very clear: the "spirit" is totally unreliable as an indicator of pretty much anything. In this case, the consequence of trusting the "spirit" was that it very likely killed the the baby. Period. End of story.

Science, the process doctors used to figure out that babies who sleep on their bellies are more at risk of dying from SIDS, told this woman one thing and the still small voice of the "spirit" told her another. She resisted, but a lifetime of indoctrination was just too much. She followed the "spirit" and the baby died.

This is the same kind of BS that leads young 14 year old girls to marry their religious leader, whether Joseph Smith, Warren Jeffs, Wayne Bent, or the like. Even though logic, reason, and everything else is screaming "NOOOOOOOO" don't have sex with this pervert, the indoctrination kicks in, a spiritual witness is received, and these men are taking some young teenagers virginity.

Oh, and the best part of this story ... the woman doesn't regret putting her daughter on her belly. It was all part of God's plan that she died. In other words, God was prompting her to do something that he knew would kill the baby. Really, how sick is that?

I feel bad for this woman, but holy hell she was stupid. You have to put a logic/reason filter on the "spirit" or inevitably this kind of stuff will happen. And, most disturbingly, the person involved is likely to interpret the horrible results as God's will.

[_just me]

God would be a real dick though to call the baby home by telling the mother to put the baby in a position that God knew would kill the child. What a sick bastard.

This.

[_Buffalo]

It's certainly not very helpful to say this woman killed her daughter. The baby died, but the woman couldn't have known that, and was just doing the best she could.

The real issue that the OP was trying to make was that the woman claimed that the Spirit told her to put the baby on its stomach. Most people would assume that the baby's subsequent death pretty much contradicts the notion that "listening to the Spirit" is really a reliable method of ascertaining truth. I guess the true believer will rationalize with something like "I guess God really needed this valiant soul back in Heaven, and called her home!"

God would be a real dick though to call the baby home by telling the mother to put the baby in a position that God knew would kill the child. What a sick bastard.

Yes, thank you. That was my point.

[_bcspace]

As a parent, I really feel for this woman. She was doing as she had been taught by the LDS church - praying for guidance in every aspect of her life, and following the "still small voice." This time it killed her daughter

50 million babies killed via abortion in the US since 1973. Perhaps 80% merely as a general method of birth control. Just doing what Planned Parenthood tells us to do eh?