The news about the Spartanburg, SC woman hanging and burning a female pit bull puppy is old news by now. The woman killed her nephew’s dog because, according to news reports, “God told her to do it.”
The puppy had committed the unpardonable, unforgivable sin of chewing on the woman’s Bible that the woman left on the front porch. That puppies chew on things somehow escaped her.
The dog was a "devil dog" according to her and again based on news reports. She had to kill it since it might be Satanic and harm the neighborhood children.
This story is just one that tends to prove a developing theory of mine. I have long wondered whether extreme religious belief is quite possibly a mental illness. I have also wondered if any or all religious belief is not some form of mental aberration, be it temporary or permanent.
There can be lots of questions about this and other similar aberrations of individual religious types, but the big question is what people like this would do to the rest of us who do not subscribe to her particular brand of delusion?
We do not know the religious basis or denomination of this woman, Miriam Fowler Smith. But if she and others like her had a free hand – legally and religiously - to "correct" those of us who are of different denominations and thinking, what would she want done?
Would those who are Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, the “wrong” Protestant denominations, perhaps Catholics, agnostics, atheists and I-don’t-carers, suffer in some way? I bet that we would.
And before you say that such thinking by me is patently ridiculous, remember that it has not been that long since the days of the Inquisition, burning at the stake of any named “witches”, the Salem witch trials and such.
It was not religious, but we also have the recent McCarthy error in which innocents were accused of wrong political thinking. And their lives were ruined. You could count on Senator McCarthy of 1950 for these reckless, unsubstantiated, demagogic accusations against others.
And remember the words of that great honorable Protestant reformer, Martin Luther."Witches are the whores of the Devil. That is why they must all be killed"” Yeah, try to explain that one to me.
Remember John Calvin, that great honorable founder of Calvinism and Presbyterianism, accusing his theological friend Michael Servetus who was then burned at the stake for Calvin’s accusations. And Calvin insisted that he be burned “slowly” to extract the maximum amount of pain for his sin of differing theological views.
I love dogs. I feel sorry for the puppy that had to suffer the hanging and burning for the “crime” of chewing on a Bible. I also feel sorry for the rest of us who are not that far away from similar punishments of the past and perhaps the future should religious fundies ever get their way in laws and courts.
Comments
The difference between schizophrenics and some of the devout is that the "voices" the latter hear are more socially acceptable.
Every atrocity you mention in your article would have happened with, or without, religion. The people who carried them out didn't need a reason other than their own desires. They merely used religion to help them garner support or some sort of acceptance as they carried out their awful deeds.
However, if we consider the cruelty done by those who have no belief in a god, we will surely notice the very same cruelty and hate of which you speak. So cruelty and hate are not limited to the religious, as I'm sure you know.
Religious people should not be given a pass to act in any manner they so choose and then claim a deity told them to do it. On the other hand, you can't lump all religious people under this same banner. Well, you can, but it would be dishonest.
Thanks for the article Boyd,
Robert
“Every atrocity you mention in your article would have happened with, or without, religion.”
But is wanting to kill witches, as Luther did, even possible without belief in the supernatural?
Michael Servetus’s crime was heresy. Catholic dogma said X; Servetus said Y. He was cruelly murdered for thoughtcrime against claims about the supernatural.
Here is Calvin’s own view of killing heretics:
“Whoever shall maintain that wrong is done to heretics and blasphemers in punishing them makes himself an accomplice in their crime and guilty as they are. There is no question here of man's authority; it is God who speaks, and clear it is what law he will have kept in the church, even to the end of the world. Wherefore does he demand of us a so extreme severity, if not to show us that due honor is not paid him, so long as we set not his service above every human consideration, so that we spare not kin, nor blood of any, and forget all humanity when the matter is to combat for His glory.”
Note Calvin’s certainty that “it is God who speaks” and not fallible people. Willingness to act on such certainty is what makes us dangerous. Contrast Calvin’s outlook with that of the atheist Bertrand Russell: “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.” Russell’s outlook makes a person equally unlikely to kill for beliefs.
Great article, Boyd Pfeiffer. Martin Luther, John Calvin and Joseph McCarthy were all possessed by demons or mental illness yet many Americans put these 3 men on a pedestal. The Tea Party needs to re-read the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
I think everyone agrees that the dog-killer is crazy. She’s in her mid-60s, so maybe some degree of dementia aggravates her other mental problems. The woman’s religious delusions (neighbors describe her as a fanatic) provided the content of her insanity. If she were not religious, perhaps her madness would have fastened on something else—the dog was controlled by space aliens, it was a terrorist secret weapon, or who knows what.
Or not. When people believe in demons, angels, possession, and miracles, the step to a “devil dog” is a small one. Magical thinking trains the mind to accept all sorts of craziness and stupidity.
Boyd, I agree that extreme (and maybe not-so-extreme) religious belief is often indistinguishable from mental illness. They’re effectively the same, with one encouraging difference. Some people recover from religious delusions, whereas very few schizophrenics get better on their own.
As to what a society that runs on magical thinking would look like, well, we have the examples of the witch mania in Europe and the current witch mania in parts of Africa. And we have this example from today’s news: “Ugandan gay rights activist murdered” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110127/wl_africa_afp/ugandagayrightscrimem...).
Sigmund,
You are right in your first comment when you said that Luther's statements and Calvin's statements would only have occurred in a religious setting...my bad, I was writing hastily on my break and overlooked that aspect.
I would also agree with you that anyone who claims to follow God must be very careful to not end up following what they "wish" God were telling them to do instead of what He "is" telling them to do. The Bible (in my humble opinion) is clear on God's character, so if I think God is telling me to do something that is out of line with the character of God, I should rethink my plans.
I believe that God is able to carry out His plan perfectly even if we humans are less than perfect. One must be constantly on the alert to not let their own desires, etc. cause them to act selfishly instead of selflessly.
Thanks again,
Robert
Robert, I could really care less what you think a god wants you to do, as long as you don't infringe on other people (and infringing on other people is well authorized in the bible)
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