Yesterday’s Mpls Tribune carried a feature story, by Curt Brown, on Naomi Gaines, the 24 year old mother who threw her twin infant sons off the Wabasha Bridge, then jumped herself, in 2003. Gaines and one of the boys survived; the other drowned.
No doubt, if one thinks hard about the line that divides civilized societies from uncivilized ones, there might be several criteria. But here’s one:
In a civilized society, a mother who did such a horrible deed would be committed to a mental health facility and given appropriate treatment for her obvious mental illness. In an uncivilized, unenlightened, pre-scientific society, such as ours, she would be sent to prison – as Gaines was and remains.
No doubt, if one thinks hard about the line that divides civilized societies from uncivilized ones, there might be several criteria. But here’s one:
In a civilized society, a mother who did such a horrible deed would be committed to a mental health facility and given appropriate treatment for her obvious mental illness. In an uncivilized, unenlightened, pre-scientific society, such as ours, she would be sent to prison – as Gaines was and remains.
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