when a prayer gets you a manslaughter charge

If you have a sick child and fail to take that child to the doctor, and that child subsequently dies, you may be seen as " not providing the necessaries of life". But if you believe in God at the same time, you may be charged with manslaughter, particularly if you happen to be the praying type.

Thats exactly what happened to Cathy and David Tribble. They were charged with murder not because their son died and they didn't take him to hospital when he was sick, but because they prayed to God instead.

The Tribbles may have assumed that praying to God would be on way to heal their son, just as another would assume that taking a child to the doctor would have the same result. The law enforcers assume that if you take your child to the doctor you have more change of a positive result than if you pray.

Whether or not you believe praying to God instead of taking your kid to the doctor is a bit silly is irrelevant. The police have no right to bring manslaughter charges based on religious belief, as that is a protected form of discrimination.

If the Tribbles had have taken the boy to the doctor, and he subsequently died, nobody would have blinked an eyelid or accused the family of not providing the necessaries of life for not taking him to the hospital, where he may have been more likely to make a full recovery.