"ifignow" > wrote in message
...
> Are there any theories put forth by vegans, hindu extremists, or whoever
> else, that babies should not drink milk (breast or cow)?

There have been some people who have let their babies die or become ill
because they believed the lie that sweet fruits were equivalent in nutrition
to breast milk.

Every now and then you'll hear a news story about a "vegan" family that
caused major deficiencies in their children and/or death. The last one I
heard of wasn't technically vegan (or even vegetarian), because they were
also feeding their child and themselves fish oil capsules, but when the
emergency teams were trying to revive the child, the mother got upset that
they were giving the child chemicals.

Here's one version of the story:
VEGANS GET MERCY

By DAN MANGAN

May 20, 2003 -- A Queens judge scolded a vegan couple for shirking
their responsibilities as parents yesterday - but then sentenced them
to relatively light prison terms for feeding their baby girl a
threadbare diet that left her emaciated and near death.

Silva Swinton was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting her
daughter, Ice, while Joseph Swinton got the minimum of five years in
prison on the same charge. They had faced up to 25 years in prison.

Joseph Swinton was given a slightly lesser sentence than that of his
wife because of his "compromised intelligence," Judge Richard Buchter
said, referring to his low IQ.

"This is not a depraved, indifferent man," said Joseph Swinton's
lawyer, Ronna Gordon-Galchus. "There is not an evil or mean bone in
that man's body.



Buchter said, "They consciously disregarded their child's condition
and their God-given responsibilities as parents."

But while their conduct was "most certainly bizarre, reprehensible and
extremely narcissistic, I believe they were not consciously
malevolent," Buchter said. "Oddly enough, they may have deluded
themselves into believing that they were doing something positive.

"These parents, in their defense, claim to have loved their child, and
to have acted out of that love," Buchter said, adding "love is no
substitute for proper food and nutrition, nor for decent child care."

The judge's remarks ended a circus-like hearing in which Silva
Swinton's mother collapsed in dismay, and Silva Swinton repeatedly
interrupted Buchter and a prosecutor.

"Your honor, I'm her mother, and I beg you to have mercy on her,"
wailed Swinton's mother, Etta Rohmbadt, before being dragged from the
court by officers.

Several relatives of the Swintons asked the judge for leniency, as did
Silva Swinton's spiritual adviser, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, who told
the judge how a vegan diet he has maintained for two decades has kept
him healthy and vigorous at age 73.

Silva Swinton said before she was sentenced: "I want the court to know
that I never did anything to intentionally harm my baby . . . We need
to be with our children, and they need to be with us.

"This separation is punishment enough."

After her arrest last year, Swinton gave birth to a boy, Ini, who like
Ice has been placed in foster care.

The Swintons, both 32, were convicted after a trial that featured
evidence they had withheld milk or formula from Ice, instead feeding
her a concoction of fruits, nuts and fish oil.

Ice weighed just 10 pounds at age 16 months in December 2001, suffered
from rickets, and was in danger of a heart attack.

Prosecutor Eric Rosenbaum said the Swintons "brought her [Ice] to the
brink of death through their conduct."

"Her bones were so fragile that they were literally crumbling,"
Rosenbaum said.

When Rosenbaum yesterday recounted Ice's maladies, Silva Swinton
called out, "That is not true! That is not true!" even after the judge
warned her.

She claimed that, contrary to the prosecution's evidence, Ice had
thrived and was a healthy, active baby, an assertion that led
prosecutor Rosenbaum to look in disbelief at his colleagues in the
gallery.

Defense lawyers argued their clients had not intentionally harmed Ice,
but had fed her in a way they believed was healthy.
This doesn't make all vegans bad, and it doesn't mean that all of them have
such dangerous beliefs.

-Rubystars