A teenager who dressed in dark clothing and stabbed her mother five times as she slept has walked free from court after claiming she was possessed by the spirit of her dead grandma. (LINK)
In a baffling ruling, a British judge accepted a 19 year old girl’s defense in the multiple stabbing of her mother: She believes her religion so strongly that she is not responsible.
It’s hard to think of what to say about this. The girl had a dream in which her dead grandmother told her to kill her mom. And she believed the dream was a real visitation from the dead. So she tried to kill her mother. And she’s free.
Well, she’s not entirely free. She has to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and have twelve months of supervision. But that’s it.
Back in the real world, the girl is one of two things:
- Insane, and in need of an extended stay in a high security mental institution (Jail).
- Sane, and guilty of attempted murder, in which case she needs an extended stay in a jail.
Is the girl insane? I don’t know. Did she really, truly believe her dead grandmother wanted her to kill her mom, or was she using religion to get out of a serious charge? I don’t know, but either option is unacceptable. If belief is the culprit, then it is a strong indictment against religion. If religion is a get-out-of-jail-free card, then it is a strong indictment against religious privilege.
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