God Told Her to Kill

The dangers of religious belief were brought into the light again recently when a woman accused of killing two of her sons stated that she was acting under the direction of God. Her attorney is pleading insanity for her - insanity that is specifically tied to her religious beliefs, arguing that those beliefs prevented her from properly understanding reality.

CNN reports:

Laney's court-appointed attorney, F.R. "Buck" Files, presented his case for an insanity defense during his opening statement. "You will hear that she was a sick person on a quest to be closer to her Lord," Files said. "The only explanation which any of the witnesses can offer for her conduct ... is that Deanna Laney was legally insane."

Files said Laney believed that God had told her the world was going to end and "she had to get her house in order," which included killing her children. "The dilemma she faced is a terrible one for a mother," Files said. "Does she follow what she believes to be God's will, or does she turn her back on God?"

Files said he would present witnesses who would corroborate Laney's love of her children as well as her belief "that the word of God was infallible." "It destroyed her ability to discern the wrongness of her act," he said.

Bean writes in the forum:

By all accounts, Deanna Laney was a good Christian woman: homeschooling, churching and the like. She says she had what she considered to be bona fide signs from God to kill her children: "The baby came to her with a rock, and later in the day squeezed a frog, and she believed God was suggesting that she should either stab, stone or strangle her children."

Given the biblical precedence of Abraham and all, why are Christians not rallying to aid this woman against the onslaught of secular justice so obviously flying in the face of God's will? Where is the outrage when prosecutors dare to doubt her when she says that God told her to kill them? How can devout Christians stand by and allow one of their own to be judged by humans as either guilty or insane, when there is a real possibility that it was God's will for her to smash her kids to bloody pulp?

Indeed, isn't it an offense to religious faith to suggest that she was insane for believing that God spoke to her and for obeying what she thought God told her to do? Shouldn't Christians conclude that God alone will be able to judge her actions? It seems to me that Christians who wan to convict this woman are not acting in accordance with their beliefs - so do they really believe what they say they believe?

Read More:

• Religion 101
• Philosophy of Religion
• Books on Religion and Religious Beliefs