I’m not much for the recreational outrage thing, and I’ve resisted temptation as heroically as I can, but sometimes you just have no choice but to give in:
For those who don’t care to follow the link, last week a 19-year-old man from Galveston, citing undefined ‘stress’, put his two-month-old baby in a microwave oven at the motel in which they were staying, and turned on the power for ten to twenty seconds. The baby suffered burns but is recovering.
Lest ye think that this was just some particularly egregious act of nuttery, however, there is a perfectly rational explanation for his action. Yesterday, the man’s wife issued a statement helpfully explaining why he tried to turn his daughter into human popcorn:
One hopes, when the daughter is released from hospital, that CPS wil not be unduly swayed by these remarks and that the little girl will not be returned to the loving arms of her family. Sheesh.
Sorry, I know how these kinds of threads tend to set people off, but I have no choice in the matter. Satan made me post and I am too weak to resist him.
Whoops, just noticed that the couple is from somewhere in Arkansas, and had just arrived in Galveston the day before the baby-nuking incident. I apologize for Satan’s mistake in the OP.
You know, I try. I really try to take a live and let live towards theists. But it’s fucking nutters like this that make it so difficult. I suppose that had they been atheists, she would have offered up some other lame excuse for her nutter husband’s behavior.
I know a number of otherwise sensible people who sincerely believe that anytime something bad happens to them, it’s because Satan is “attacking” them–obviously they’ve been doing too good a job spreading God’s word and just generally upholding the Kingdom, so the Devil has to take 'em down a peg, see if he can’t shut them up.
So they live in a world without a “shit happens” philosophy to explain when Bad Things Happen To Good People–everything bad that happens to them is the work of the Devil.
There’s a woman in my church who was abruptly diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer during routine gall bladder surgery, and her whole clan is praising God for it, because it means that Satan is directly attacking them and trying to silence their collective witness.
So lest you think this woman’s statement is just “some particularly egregious act of nuttery”, be aware that there are a whole lot of people out there who are nodding their heads knowledgeably this morning and going, “Uh-huh…”
And if the woman seems otherwise clinically sane to DCFS, I predict that they’ll give her back her baby, statements about Satan notwithstanding, simply because she’s not the one who put the baby in the microwave–he is.
Nitpick: Not all theists believe in the Devil. It would be kind of hard for, say, a Wiccan or a Unitarian to think they were being controlled by something they don’t believe exists.
“Police said Joshua Mauldin told them he put Ana Marie in the microwave because he was under stress.”
Oh, well, that explains everything. I mean who hasn’t tried murdering their child when they were a little stressed?
Sometime I wonder where police find the restraint from taking someone like this, putting their head through a wall, and yelling “What the hell is wrong with you?!?!”
Yeah, I understand. But it’s theists like this that tend to make headlines. The last time I heard of a Unitarian roasting up some tender baby back baby was… Never, I think.
My ex used to work at a hospital as a social worker. She would see all sorts of kids in the ER due to their parents’ stupidity. In one case the ER doctor got so pissed he punched a parent in the face. I think it was the guy who thought it was a good idea to let his 4-year-old play with a chainsaw.
Even if one were to accept the husband’s premise re Satan and preaching, what on earth has Ana Marie to do with any of that? Satan pissed you off so you hurt a helpless infant?
Next he’ll be saying that Satan made him do it. I guess God has no say in any of this–or this person is not listening to his god.
What the fuck kind of God is that? I for one (except for the harm done to the baby) I am glad that Satan is pissing this guy off. He sounds like he needs some harassment. Maybe Satan’ll stress him out enough so that he’ll self-destruct. That may be the only thing that saves Ana Marie. I say that with the firm belief that “Satan” is being used as a cover and an excuse–I am sure this guy will hurt that baby again. And the baby’s mother will enable him.