Florida woman shoots interstate drivers, says God told her to because of the eclipse, police say

return2ozma@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 536 points –
Woman shoots interstate drivers, says God told her to because of the eclipse, Florida police say
abcnews.go.com
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friend, just reading the headline - this isn't organized religion at work, this is psychosis. she could have said the Care Bears told her to do it - same thing.

Psychosis PLUS organised religion. That’s my point, friend. Psychosis alone is a tragedy we should work to address as a society. But many of these stories would not end in senseless violence if there weren’t an underlying system of fantastical belief that bolstered people’s delusions and convinced them their delusions were divinely inspired.

if you have been close to or worked with psychotic people, you might recognize they don't necessarily need religion to come to fantastical conclusions and potentially act on them. i mean, maybe the radio told her. or the coffee pot. or the person who lives in the walls. or the cat.

fwiw, i'm not a massive defender of religion (nor especially a hater). i just think it's a mistake to blame religion for what is sometimes organic disease of the brain (among various possible causes).

This bullshit has convinced non-psychotic people to commit atrocities. It’s not a leap to think it convinces actually psychotic people their delusions are true. Especially when they say so themselves.

No, but if you have a person without glaring mental health issues, adding religion can put them in a state of mind very similar to madness.