What's sad is that we don't challenge people's beliefs enough.
This woman believed in demons and spirits. If her beliefs were true and the children really were possessed, then she was in the right. She was trying to save her children. Maybe their spirits are now eternally saved and happy in heaven. If what she believes is true, then she's in the right and we're wrong.
The reason we condemn her is we assume her beliefs are false. But we live in a tolerant and complacent culture that has the attitude that if you believe something for no good reason, it's your right and you're not hurting anyone. That's obviously a short sighted position, as demonstrated here.
Your beliefs don't exist in a vacuum. Your beliefs inform your actions. They also affect your ability to form additional beliefs going forward. In that sense, false beliefs poison the well.
Our culture is way too tolerant of unsubstantiated claims made by alternative medicine, religion and the supernatural. If this news story makes you angry, check out
http://whatstheharm.net/ and click on exorcisms. there's dozens of examples of this happening. The victims are children most of the time.
We need to become a more intellectually honest and a more intellectually
INTOLERANT society when it comes to these harmful beliefs.