There's No Place Like Home

So today there's one of those stories on the newswires that makes you absolutely sick to your stomach.

Apparently, twin seven-year-olds (a boy and a girl) were kept in their house by their parents, malnourished, never sent to school, never allowed outside the house.

This happened in Putnam County, New York.

My curiosity about this case isn't the same as watching a train wreck. I truly would like to understand what would possess adults to abuse their children in this manner.

I haven't gotten a whole lot of details. Perhaps they're keeping a lot of information under wraps for the criminal prosecution of the parents that I hope will not take too long to come to fruition.

I would bet the parents didn't have subscriptions to the ballet or opera. They may or may not have gone to church. For some reason in our society, oftentimes pastors and congregations cannot identify abused children in their midst.

Do these people have pets? Do they treat the pets better, the same or worse than their children?

When did they decide to keep the children prisoners and not feed them adequately? Was this something they decided the minute the kids were born or was it something that developed over time?

Did they have any family? If so, didn't any of them think that the way the children were treated was odd at best, abusive at worst?

This is one of those times when you ask why people need licenses to fish, but not to have children.

Apparently the children had never been to the doctor and the extent of their medical problems is not known.

The story will unfold, no doubt, over the next few days or weeks. Bearing in mind we like to think of ourselves as a civilized nation, the parents of these children will not be taken out to the public square and their genitalia ripped from their bodies and thrown into a stew pot.

However, given the opportunity I would relish the opportunity to mete out such justice.