While I hold these parents responsible, I also believe that these parents are doing what they believe to be the “right” thing — bounded by their crazy, abusive, whackjob beliefs.
But at what point do we bring charges against the “Christian” people who make money advocating this kind of horror?
The Fundamentalists (Evangelicals) are fundamentally wrong about what the Bible says. Most of them believe, for instance, that Jesus Christ and God are “one and the same.” John 8:28, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that of myself I do nothing: but that I preach only what the Father has taught me.” The Trinity is like a pyramid having a top (Father) and a polygonal base with the Christ on the right hand of the Father and the holy spirit on the left. Even Muhammad (625 AD) acknowledged an understanding of that concept when he said that he was a “messenger of God.” Unfortunately false prophets have been instructing the flock for thousands of years.
I think it is supposed to be that the Trinity is a three-in-one godhead.
This link gives one explanation, though I imagine you could find others that differ in interpretation.
http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t002.html
An excerpt from this article notes in part
“…The teaching of the Bible concerning the Trinity might be summarized thus. God is a Tri-unity, with each Person of the Godhead equally and fully and eternally God. Each is necessary, and each is distinct, and yet all are one. The three Persons appear in a logical, causal order. The Father is the unseen, omnipresent Source of all being, revealed in and by the Son, experienced in and by the Holy Spirit. The Son proceeds from the Father, and the Spirit from the Son. With reference to God’s creation, the Father is the Thought behind it, the Son is the Word calling it forth, and the Spirit is the Deed making it a reality…”
So, I think the Godhead is made up of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, supposedly all equal.
As for me, I’ve always felt rather sorry for the Holy Spirit. The other two guys get all the publicity. God is on the Sistine Chapel; Jesus is depicted in countless paintings. Pictures and statues of Jesus are hung on walls throughout Christendom. Prayers start off “Please God…” or “Blessed Savior…”.
Nobody prays to the Holy Spirit that I can think of.
Jesus gets Christmas; Jesus gets Easter.
The Holy Spirit get any of that?
The other two guys try to cheer him up. “Ah, come on”, they say, “we’re all equal, all parts of the Trinity”.
It works less and less as time goes by. The HS used to just try to shrug it off.
But lately he’s saying things like “yeah, but you guys get all the fan mail”, and I think the last time he muttered something about “Screw you guys”, and started drinking Scotch rather heavily.
Believe that they are doing the right thing? I don’t know about that.
They buy a lot for its isolation. They homeschool the kids so that no one looks in on discipline issues. They turn child protection authorities away. They coach the children on what to say to investigators and in court. What they believe is that they are above the law.