Just to clarify a few points:

1. As Bee-dubya-ell has already twice noted, religion would not be a viable defense in this case. The lawyers may turn to that defense in desperation, but it really won't fly. In the U.S., there is no absolute freedom of religion. There is freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly, and there are prohibitions against Congress establishing a national religion or imposing a religious test for public office. There is no religious right to starve one's child to death. Children who have been born can't be legally killed.

2. The cases Alice mentions are cases of denial of consent for medical treatment. They are sad cases, certainly, but they have nothing to do with this case. This case is not about denying consent for care.   

3. Being delusional, in the medical sense of the term, is not the same as being "crazy". In medicine, a person who is delusional has beliefs that are tenaciously held, without legitimate evidence, and in spite of evidence to the contrary. The opinions of people held to be authorities "count" as evidence for purposes of the definition. A person who believes, for example, that reincarnation occurs, or who believes that humans evolved from fish, or who believes Joseph Smith was an honest man, or whatever, is not diagnosed as being delusional, even if the physician happens to disagree with those beliefs. I hope the rationale for this is obvious.

4. Being insane, in the legal sense, is not the same as being "crazy", nor is it the same as being delusional. A person who is insane lacks criminal intent because he does not realize what he is doing. Suppose my wife smiles at the mailman and, based on that, I conclude they must be having an affair. Suppose I then sneak over to his house and kill him. Would I be considered insane? No, because I knew what I was doing. Suppose, however, that I thought the meter-reader was a Nazi soldier come to take my family to the gas chamber. Suppose I killed him, as I thought, to protect my family from imminent danger. Would I be considered insane? Yes, because I did not know what I was doing; I did not realize I was killing an innocent meter-reader; I thought I was saving my family from the gas chamber.

5. The religion angle still looks like a red herring to me, a lawyer's way of confusing the issue.

Kent