Andrea Yates all over again

Another Texas woman has committed infanticide after being fed a steady diet of misogyny under the guise of "Christianity". This time it's particularly gruesome.

Mick Macaulay said he believes his stepdaughter, who severed the arms of 10-month-old daughter Margaret and left her to die, was mentally ill. He added, however, that he also thinks the teachings of Doyle Davidson played a role.

This time around, the church isn't going to be able to dodge responsibility so easily. This woman's stepfather is a mental health professional and can speak with some authority on how hateful religiosity can make the mentally ill much worse.

"I'm not saying that anybody suggested 'Go cut your baby's arms off,'" said Macaulay, a mental health counselor who lives with Schlosser's mother, Connie, in Canada. "This diminishing of women, this diminishing of women's powers, women's importance, referring to women as jezebels, I think, further undermines an already fragile ego state that Dena's experiencing."

The pastor in this case has a history of abusing women and using the Bible as an excuse.

In September, Davidson was arrested on a public intoxication charge after a couple, longtime members of his church, called 911, alleging the minister attacked them at their home. Davidson said he was only trying to cast the devil out of the wife, who had become rebellious and rejected his teachings. He said he entered the home with the permission of her husband.

The fact that the woman severed the child's arms jumps out at me. I remember reading about a case in a forensics book about a woman who died from having her arm severed. The detectives concluded that it was suicide--the woman had a history of mental illnesses, was deeply religious, and had apparently fixated on Mark 9:43.

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Not to say that's definitely what happened here. Just my guess.