The unspeakable acts of Andrea Yates; a Texas mother who drowned her five children in her bathtub, and Dena Audre Schlosser; a mother who sawed off the arms of her ten month old daughter, often make the front page news and create a maelstrom of publicity. The media often portrays the individuals involved as "extremely evil" or "completely insane" and rarely informs the general public of the complex cultural forces and social institutions involved when such tragedies occur. Our author analyzes eight contemporary cases of maternal filicide and explains how the social institution of religion in ancient cultures promoted and justified filicide as necessary to acquire social order. He goes on to explain how the Judeo-Christian literature and narratives, where sacrifice is a central theme, create and legitimate a religious worldview which endows filicide with a redemptive, moral quality. A worldview for its adherents which ultimately values immorality over sacrilege; murder before unfaithfulness to God. Shocking in its conclusions, scholars of filicide, religion and social problems will find the book an excellent and illuminating read.
