Gives, And Takes Away

Leah Sottile: CALDWELL, Idaho — In the heart of the Northwest, there is Idaho. And in the heart of Idaho, there is God. And God, residents believe, blesses some and takes others away early.

Like Neil Jacob Randolph, a 3-year-old buried in Peaceful Valley Cemetery in Caldwell in 1982. "Sleep on sweet Neil — and take thy rest," his headstone reads. "God called thee home. He thought it best."

In another row are the graves of four infants marked with identical headstones on which "Infant Bailey" is hand-scrawled in capital letters — pressed into wet cement decades ago.

Many of the nearly 600 people buried here were Followers of Christ — a Christian sect that believes in faith healing and does not…