Most of the furor over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act focused on the prospect that it could legally sanction discrimination against the LGBT community. But there’s another, more fundamental problem with the law that was most associated with Indiana Governor Mike Pence before he joined Donald Trump’s ticket. Even after being “fixed,” it could still potentially give an out to parents who brutally abuse their kids.
That problem came into sharp focus this past weekend, when an Indianapolis woman tried to use the religious freedom law to weasel her way out of child abuse charges. A judge had the good sense to kibosh this attempt–at least for now. However, the mere fact this was even remotely possible can only be described as an absolute disgrace.
On February 5, a teacher at an Indianapolis elementary school noticed one of her students was covered with painful welts and bruises on his arm, back, and neck. Doctors eventually counted 36 wounds in all–35 on his left arm, back, and neck, and a coat hanger-shaped bruise on his right cheek.
An investigation eventually led to the boy’s mother, 30-year-old Kin Park Thaing, a Burmese (Myanma) immigrant. She admitted beating her son two days earlier, but claimed that it was justified because of her religious beliefs. Therefore, she claimed she shouldn’t be prosecuted. Watch more details from WTHR in Indianapolis here.
Thaing admitted that she beat her seven-year-old son with a plastic coat hanger out of fear that he would harm his three-year-old sister. She beat him so severely that the welts and bruises she left behind were still painful to the touch almost 48 hours later. She also admitted beating her daughter as well, for unknown reasons. She was arrested on charges of battery against a person younger than 14 years old and neglect of a dependent. Her kids were taken into the custody of child welfare officials; their current whereabouts are unknown.
When Thaing made her first appearance on July 29, her lawyer, Greg Bowes, sought to have the case thrown out. He argued that Thaing, a devout evangelical Christian, was acting in accordance with Proverbs 23:13, one of many verses used to justify corporal punishment.
“Do not withhold discipline from a child: if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.”
For that reason, Bowes argued, Indiana’s version of RFRA demanded that his client be freed. To his credit, the judge rejected Thaing’s argument almost out of hand. The case will go to trial in October.
By any reasonable definition, this is child abuse. So how could this possibly have happened? Well, WRTV in Indianapolis learned that the differences between Burmese and American culture may have played a role. Burmese-born pastor Hre Mang said that in Burma, the authorities have virtually no power to step in when parental discipline crosses the line into abuse. The only exception is when “the situation is life-threatening.”
Elaisa Vahnie, executive director of the Indianapolis Burmese American Community Institute, confirmed this in an interview with The Indianapolis Star. She said that such heavy-handed discipline is “very normal” in Burma. However, she always warns newcomers to the United States that they need to learn the laws and customs of their new home.
Thaing got a crash course in those customs. As part of a now-dismissed civil case related to the abuse, she was ordered to take parenting classes, and she now knows that there are “effective ways to teach my children good behavior without using physical punishment.” And yet, she still tried to get out of the charges, citing religious freedom. That might explain why she hasn’t gotten her kids back yet.
When this case hit the desk of Marion County prosecutor Terry Curry, he shook his head in disgust. Curry told WTHR that he saw a case like this coming the moment Pence signed this bill into law. He believed that it would only be a matter of time before someone “individuals would assert their religious freedom to justify what is clearly criminal conduct.” He went even further in an interview with WRTV, saying that he warned the General Assembly that if the law “didn’t exempt criminal code,” someone would use it as a “get out of jail free” card.
The Daily Beast suggests that there’s still a chance Thaing could walk, in part because Indiana’s laws on child welfare have no exemption for religious believers. I find this hard to believe. The strongest protection of religious freedom would not, and should not, give carte blanche for child abuse. It may take awhile, but unless Thaing has the decency to abandon this defense, she will eventually be held to account for this brutal beating.
At the end of the day, Pence owns this. In the name of protecting religious freedom, he may have put Indiana’s kids at risk for being abused, and taken away an important remedy to protect him. Pence needs to show some leadership, get his butt back to Indianapolis, and tell the legislature to right this wrong. We shouldn’t have to wait for a kid to be seriously injured, or worse, for it to happen. Let Pence what you think of this on Facebook and on Twitter.
(featured image: screengrab courtesy WTHR via Raw Story)
