apostolic pastor leaves child in car that died.

[Praxeas]

Someone should invent a system where seat belts beep if they are locked in a few seconds after turning the engine off. My car stereo does this so I am reminded to take the face plate off before exiting the car

[Mr. Smith]

Originally Posted by ManOfWord

Sorry, my "ganglia" isn't working too well at the moment. What were we talking about?

Maybe I should take my own advice and not post any more, since I'm obviously not very good at being clear in what I mean.

Maybe they'll eventually find the "sin" particle which will finally, once and for all, explain why we sin..........then we'll all have something to blame and we'll finally be able to live in bliss w/o fear of judgment!

I'd mainly like to make it plain that I don't jump on this forum, seek for what you've posted, and disagree with it because I have a personal problem with it. For example, I said very sympathetic things about the father in question here, eight posts before you posted anything. I'm aware it may seem as though I have a personal problem with you and I've had another Admin tell me as much. I can't change perceptions but I'm not going to avoid responding to something I strongly disagree with just because it's you. Then I truly would have an issue with you.

I think we actually do know the particle that makes us sin. But sin isn't what this father committed when he tragically forgot his child in the car.

Honestly? I'm very absent-minded and I literally am scared to death that something like this could happen to me. I said in post #29 that we're beyond our baby years but I do have an older child that needs assistance with everything. There have been a couple of occasions when my wife has been sick and had to stay home from church, and I would take him by myself. With the whirlwind of things I'm responsible for at the church things that day, the very thought that I get so caught up in what I'm doing and not having my wife with me, that I leave my child in a broiling car......

I can't even continue the thought. It's way, way too painful.

[Mr. Smith]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

MOW - I'm with you on the irresponsibility and zero excuses. I just don't think those sentiments help the situation after the fact. This father is going to blame himself forever, no doubt. I can't imagine how the mother feels...and what this will do to their relationship.

It's tragic because a life was lost through carelessness. Other children have lost their lives because their parents didn't buckle them up or watch them closely enough next to the pool. Even when it's negligence, unless it was intentional rather than thoughtlessness, I can't really call it anything but a tragedy. Does the father deserve punishment/prosecution of some sort? Maybe. Will it serve any real purpose? Other than to make a public example of him? No.

One of the inconsistencies of this issue is the propensity of some states to prosecute, and the total non-prosecution in other states. There are parents who have spent years in prison for this and some who haven't even been more than casually interviewed by police.

There are certain places I just can't let my mind go and one of them is the thought of leaving my child in a car. I have the potential to do it. I've gotten in my car to go to Wal-mart and instead, driven to the church office and literally have no idea anything's wrong until I get out of the car.

The same dysfunction that makes me do things like that could bring tragedy to my life and when I think about it, or hear that it has happened in the news? It completely freaks me out.

[Mr. Smith]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

Someone should invent a system where seat belts beep if they are locked in a few seconds after turning the engine off. My car stereo does this so I am reminded to take the face plate off before exiting the car

Interesting. The technology is out there. Someone earlier in this thread mentioned something like this they knew of.

[ManOfWord]

My biggest point in all of this is that we could allow something to be more important than our children. I'm not talking about fleeting moments of distraction. I'm talking about allowing our lives to become so full of everything else that the most valuable resource, LIFE, becomes secondary. THAT is the problem with our society. THAT is a choice. THAT is learned behavior. I feel for this father, I really do! However we are a product of replacing God's most precious resource (life) and devaluing it to the degree we have. EVERYTHING else in this world should be secondary to that.

The real tragedy is that we have allowed other things to get a hold of us to the degree that they have that we could be so distracted.