Hello Melanie and Danielle and of course Alex and Mig. I have been away for a couple of days, in part thanks to Comcast who decided that Western Washington State cannot have internet, cable, or phone service while they sort our their problems. BTW, due to regulations or in their case non regulations it is ok for subscribers be without 911 service when their system takes a dump.

I do appreciate your latest posts as it is does re-energize me at a time when I feel I am asking too much from people that certainly have other things in their lives. Recently I had some correspondence with Janet (odd dolls) and I told her that I felt awkward constantly asking people to give more of them selves, when they certainly had done so much already. Added to this is that when this story first came up, I came to this board and asked for help, at the same time I had mailed everyone that I knew and had email address for including family members. The only ones that responded were people here from these boards. People that I have never met, never knew what they looked like or heard the sound of their voices. The response was and still is awesome. In saying this I must also add that this is in no way a condemnation of those that did not respond, it really goes back to saturation and overload. There are many causes out there, more that anyone could keep up with. I have never made many friends aware of the causes that I am writing about, so there is no reason to blame them.

Janet said some things that really made me stop and think about. She told me not to stop doing what I am doing as it is important, and told me to keep being "an activist". I hadn't thought of it in that way. I hadn't considered myself as an activist. I had at different times wondered what my true reasons were for feeling so passionate about this. I even had wondered if I wasn't venting the death of my oldest sister in all of this. And obviously I have been. When we have causes that we feel passionate about it matters little as to what the spark is when the cause itself is just. And senseless loss of life is a just cause regardless if it comes as a result to misguided religious doctrine, or an unjust war.

In response to McGee I also agree that you made what you believe to be a heartfelt unbiased response to this situation. I am sure that your intentions are pure. As I wrote to Senator Murray I am not challenging the freedom of religion but the decision to allow a child to choose death as a result of religious preference..

I think that Mig and Danielle made some very good points in their heartfelt response to you. Would you really wish this on your own child? Melanie aptly pointed out what it is like to be a member of this religion and how little choice you realistically have when you are so totally controlled by their religious preferences.

Please take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Would it be so egregious to have a law on the books to protect young and dependent people from harm and even death until an age of acceptable maturity? After all such a law would certainly give some "breathing" room for families that are caught in a compromising situation brought on by their religious beliefs. We are supposed to be a compassionate and just society, we do not condone human sacrifice especially when it comes to children. Doesn't the bible have a passage saying pay Caesar's things to Caesar? Wouldn't this allow this religious group that is so passionate about their beliefs a buffer so to speak? I really don't see the downside of this compared to the senseless death such as that of this child.

About half way through the writing of this I have decided to post this on the Blog, so my refereeing to the poster will seem a little out of place here. I will edit it a bit though. And I will continue to try and make a difference, as I have stated before "we can make a difference".

ET