Should some Christians be committed?

Question

Some people claim to hear voices & will sometimes act on what the voices tell them to do. Psychological study has shown various reasons why someone might hear voices & think these voices are really some outside being speaking to them.

It is way too common for a person to committ a crime (usually violent) & claim they were following orders of the voices: The devil made me do it, Jesus told me to do it, God wanted me to do it, My dead aunt spoke to me & told me to do it.

It doesn't matter so much who they think the voices are. What is more important is that they are acting upon what they hear from these voices. Too many of these actions based on mysterious voices have been violent or illegal actions. We lock these people up after.

Should we ignore the fact that many Christians & other theists claim to hear the voice of their god telling them to do things? We know from experience that the voices sometimes ask for crimes. Why wait? Why not lock them up for the safety of all?

Scott B, I am not talking about imprisonment. I am talking about removing people from society who have psychological problems to the extent of being potentially dangerous to themselves and others. A good example of this is Cho, the V-Tech shooter. His delusions led him to violence. Had he been put under proper care for his condition, the tragic events may have been prevented.

Free to be me, that is a strawman attack because that is not what I am saying at all. I do not rule out the possibility of communication from the outside. However, history has shown us results of damage and danger due to people following instructions from voices they heard. Why not put them in a safe environment and study them to see why they hear voices?

Jeancommunicates, this is not about Columbine. I am not suggesting that acts of violence only occur as a result of voices. The columbine event is completely irrelevant to my question.

Eyelovejesus, you are right. People hear voices other than God, such as aliens or whatever. I ask if they should be committed as well.

Q&A Queen I am not implying or suggesting a violation of the bill of rights. I am only suggesting the removal from society of the clinically insane who are potentially dangerous to themselves and to others. No need to put words into my mouth.

Joe D, what on earth are you talking about? Some people ARE locked up for the sole purpose of them being a threat to themselves and/or to society.

demosthenes, your answer is a whole big mess.
1) I do not have a misinformed understanding of what some christians mean when they say that God speaks to them. I have had one on one in depth conversations with many and am quite clear on their meaning.

2) If you are trying to clarify something, try avoiding phrases like "you atheists" because I do not speak on behalf of whatever atheist majority you think you are speaking to. This is me and me alone. You generalize me, and I will generalize you.

3) You said "EVERYONE of them stated no religious beliefs or denomination when they in-processed." My point exactly. Why are the religious types being excluded from the institutionalization though they display the exact same behavior?

4) You ask "whose lead are you following in perpetuating the bias generalization that somehow ONLY christians are afflicted with mental illness such as this?"
I never said only and certainly do not imply. Try instead "christians in addition to others".

Answer 1

Any person who claims to hear voices should be put in an institution of some sort, especially if the voices are giving violent directions. That's not cruel or stomping on the Bill of Rights, that's just taking preventative measures to safeguard society, and rightfully so!

Answer 2

Yes, most people who hear voices, like this should be given the proper help. Now, does this mean I do not believe that God can speak to us with "voices", no I believe he does, but when he does he does not ask for violence. So people like Cho, and George Bush, and others who have used a divine figure's "voice" as an explanation for war, murder, and other crimes need to be given mental help.

People like Padre Pio, St. Francis of Assisi, and the kids of Fatima, and Lourdes, however, should not.

Answer 3

We don't lock them up for the same reason we don't lock up all muslims, any LEGAL political protestor.

The right of freedom. If we went down that path to a "safer" society, we would have no rights and most likely become a "big brother" society. In the name of safety, let's lock up all the muslims because we might think they will become terrorists. Yeah, that's just wrong and illegal.

The saying holds true here, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

Answer 4

First off, your misinformed understanding of what some christians mean when they say that God speaks to them is amusing at the very least. Obviously, they are implying that His word speaks to their hearts. As difficult as that is for you atheists to comprehend, it is what it is, and nothing more.
However, on the matter of institutionalizing people who claim they hear voices, my sister is what they call a psychnurse at a large hospital close to where she lives.
Alot of the patients on the psych. and evaluation floor where she works and deals with mental patients, hear voices all the time telling them to set fires and kill small animals. EVERYONE of them stated no religious beliefs or denomination when they in-processed.
So my question for you is, whose lead are you following in perpetuating the bias generalization that somehow ONLY christians are afflicted with mental illness such as this?

Answer 5

Hold on. Let me open a window so you can toss the Bill of Rights out of it. OK.

Now that you've done that let me ask. Isn't what you propose the very same reason why people are vehemently opposed to genetic profiling or potential employers having access to their medical records. Because they fear a prospective employer will see that a prospective EMPLOYEE might have a genetic PRE-disposition to a certain disease and they don't want to hire them because of what he or she MIGHT cost them down the line in medical insurance expenses, sick days etc.?
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Sorry but when you suggest "taking someone out of society" because their religious beliefs or thinking MIGHT pose a threat to society at large that is, indeed suggesting the ignoring of the Bill of Rights.

Answer 6

Interesting question.
I think if you litereally hear the voices then yes you need to be put somewhere to get evaluated. But if you have a feeling, you just know in your heart that a Divine was telling you something, well that is very much NOT the same thing.

Answer 7

So the taxpayers can shoulder the burden of paying for their stay? Nah, it's a good idea but not at taxpayer's expense. We should just help fund the space program so the atheists/non-religious can colonize a new planet & let the religious types destroy themselves here on earth.

Answer 8

Interesting question, my answer to follow

Your question is based on the assumption that there is no afterlife, that there is no one in the entire universe who is interested in our well-being or even academically curious about us here on this tiny, insignificant planet.

You also assume that every spot in the universe is confined to the natural laws that reign here on this earth. Following that assumption, no one is capable of contacting us or communicating in any way besides that which we use here on earth at this moment in time. People in the Dark Ages thought the same things, but they really didn't have a grip on reality, wouldn't you say? What makes us SO different? We don't know what life will be like 100, 1000, or more years from now!

I know that God lives and that He contacts every one of His children (that's everyone who lives on earth). We just don't often listen to His communication.

Answer 9

The 2 young men who killed the children at Columbine High School were they acting as Christians?

The voice of God never tells anyone to harm another person.
The voice of your god Satan tells people to kill, steal and destroy.

People need to read the Bible and be able to discern the voices, because the demons are numerous.

Answer 10

A lot of space and time wasted just to show your intolerance of people with differing views. Using your distorted rational, I could say that I would have all Atheists declared legally blind for not being able to see God in everything around them.