Smart's accused kidnapper ruled incompetent

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Friar_David_O.Carm

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Here is the full article found on CNN.

cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/26/smart.suspect/index.html

Now I did a search of the news on Yahoo’s site to see what other articles said. The CNN article is the only one I could find after a quick search that used this wording. See the bolded part for what bothers me about this ruleing.
District Judge Judith Atherton ruled that Brian David Mitchell, 51, was suffering from a delusional disorder based on his religious beliefs, leaving him unable to make decisions in his best interest and assist his defense.
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Does that concern anyone else? That he is ruled delusional because of his religious beliefs.
 
Yes, it is bothersome and a bit frightening it’s not much of a slide to where one can then be incarcerated based on religous beliefs, where religion is considered a delusion. Isn’t this what people who deny their spiritual lives think anyway?

They’ll use paranoid delusions to persecute any alternative view of reality that does not suit their mechanistic view of the universe. But I’m probably seeing this a bit too grimly.

Hmmm, legalized partial birth abortion and calling it a human right, starving to death the disabled and calling it mercy. It might be wise not to rule out any monstrosity from those who follow the prince of the world.
 
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MichaelTDoyle:
Yes, it is bothersome and a bit frightening it’s not much of a slide to where one can then be incarcerated based on religous beliefs…
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Brian David Mitchell isn’t incarcerated based on his religious beliefs. He’s incarcerated because he’s a predatory kidnapper. That his criminal actions were motivated by religious belief is secondary, at best.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
If a man can be deprived of rights to deny council based on a determination that his religous beliefs are delusional, then how far is it to deny his freedom on that basis?
 
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mlchance:
Brian David Mitchell isn’t incarcerated based on his religious beliefs. He’s incarcerated because he’s a predatory kidnapper. That his criminal actions were motivated by religious belief is secondary, at best.

– Mark L. Chance.
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Actually he is incarcerated without due process because he has been judged insane, and if this news article is correct, this insanity is due to his religious beliefs.

If he wasn’t judged insane then he would have his day in court on those crimes he has been charged with.

As it is, he is locked up with no trial until he is deemed fit to stand trial.
 
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ByzCath:
Actually he is incarcerated without due process because he has been judged insane, and if this news article is correct, this insanity is due to his religious beliefs.
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He has been granted due process. That is how the determination of mental competency was arrived at. To try a mentally incompetant person would not be an example of due process. It would be an example of an injustice.

The fact remains: He wasn’t arrested and imprisoned because of his religious beliefs. He was arrested and imprisoned because he kidnapped and victimized a 14-year-old girl.

What’s more, you misread the news article:
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ByzCath:
Does that concern anyone else? That he is ruled delusional because of his religious beliefs.
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He has been ruled delusional “because of his religious beliefs.” His delusion is based on his religious beliefs. His religious beliefs haven’t been judged as the delusion itself. Insane people incorporate what they’ve been taught and what they believe into their insanity.

Brian David Mitchell is a man with a history of exploiting and abusing children. He needs to be off the streets, either in an asylum or in a prison, as determined by a court of law.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
Grr. Little words are annoying.

As reads:
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mlchance:
He has been ruled delusional “because of his religious beliefs.”
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Should read:

He has not been ruled delusional “because of his religious beliefs.”

😃

– Mark L. Chance.
 
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mlchance:
Grr. Little words are annoying.

As reads:

Should read:

He has not been ruled delusional “because of his religious beliefs.”

😃

– Mark L. Chance.
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That makes much more sense but again, the news article says, “* suffering from a delusional disorder based on his religious beliefs*”.

I have underlined the word I think is key in this report.

Dictonary gives this “have as the foundation for”.

So, his delusional disorder have as a foundation his religious beliefs. This is how it starts. Take the wackos and then slowly move it to more acceptable beliefs until all religion is seen as insane.

That is a concern I have if this article reporting it correctly.
 
Did you notice my new signature below? 😃 Who are my brothers? Who is my mother?
Originally Posted by ByzCath
Does that concern anyone else? That he is ruled delusional because of his religious beliefs.
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Yes but Jesus did warn of these times.
 
In general I support the law ruling people innocent by reason of insanity of mental defect because this recognizes the fact that the person did not understand the difference between right and wrong - the person was not in touch with the Natural Law. The very fact that the law recognizes this, underlines the fact that the law is based on moral absolutism and not moral relativism.

As stated above, I hope the article got it wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.
 
Well, 1st of all, CNN is :rolleyes: such a reliable source…(NOT).
However, here is the thing: Mitchell is not competent to stand trial. (This was something that had to be considered; anything else would be a denial of his legal rights…Ergo, he has had due process).
The man is delusional. He thinks he is God, is hearing from God…You see, this is why he has been judged incompetent.He is not living in the same world as the rest of us.
That does not mean that the rest of us need to think that our religious beliefs are in danger. (OK, they may well be, but NOT based on Mitchell). If you or I started out announcing that “God told me to [murder, kidnap, etc]”, that would be a different story from religious belief.
Many mentally ill people have delusions of grandeur. One of the most dangerous is when they start thinking that they have direct orders from God, or that they are gods; these are the most dangerous people out there. They use religious language as a way to express themselves. That is not the same thing as being genuinely religious.
There is all the difference in the world between thinking you have a divine mandate to kidnap & molest a child, & saying you have such a mandate. Due process consists in finding out which is the case, & proceeding from there.
The courts have decided that Mitchell is genuinely a mentally ill man. Therefore, he is treated as sick. If they had found him capable to stand trial, he would have to go to court.
I think that we are all (rightly) sensitive to the fact that there are abuses of religious rights. Sexual predators can claim from now until the world ends that “God told me it is OK to molest children”. That does not make it true. And it does not mean that all our rights are going to be trampled on as a result.
God bless.
 
As a person who lives in Utah and has seen many news reports about this story, I can give a little insight on this. Mitchell has been interviewed by three psychiatrists since his incarceration. Also, every time he has been brought into court, he starts singing religious songs very loudly. The courts have taken the recomendations of the doctors and decided he is not competent to stand trial. He will stay at the mental hospital until (if ever) he is competent.

As a side note, the Smart family is some what relieved that he will not be going to trial any time soon simply for the fact that Elizabeth will not have to testify and re-live her ordeal. I know there used to be a link on ksl.com which was kept up to date about Elizabeth Smart. You may want to go to that site to see if you can get any more information about this case.

Maggie
 
District Judge Judith Atherton ruled that Brian David Mitchell, 51, was suffering from a delusional disorder based on his religious beliefs, leaving him unable to make decisions in his best interest and assist his defense.

Sounds accurate.Brian Mitchell is a religious nut.
 
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Lilyofthevalley:
District Judge Judith Atherton ruled that Brian David Mitchell, 51, was suffering from a delusional disorder based on his religious beliefs, leaving him unable to make decisions in his best interest and assist his defense.

Sounds accurate.Brian Mitchell is a religious nut.
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So if this is true, his delusional disorder is becasue of his religious beliefs. How easy it is now to say that becuase we believe a man rose from the dead and walked the earth that we suffer from delusions based on our religious beliefs.
 
How easy it is now to say that becuase we believe a man rose from the dead and walked the earth that we suffer from delusions based on our religious beliefs.

Byz, are any Christians kidnapping at gunpoint, and raping 14 year old girls because of that belief? You are making a mountain out of a mole hill here. This man clearly thought his religious beliefs gave him liberty to TAKE a child and rape her.
 
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