
By: Don Martin
Re: John Salvi

    I have been saying for years that there is no way to
tell a religious belief from any other sort of delusion, but
today it appears that one has turned up. John Salvi has just
been convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life
imprisonment for his killings of the hired help in abortion
clinics in '94. While his defense attorneys sought his
acquittal by reason of insanity, he himself did not agree
with that position (many nuts feel that they are quite
sane); the judges refused the defense request to put John on
the stand to demonstrate his mental incapacity on the
grounds that all the guy would talk about there was the
conspiracy to abort everyone's babies (looks to me as though
the defense attorneys knew what they were doing--an
inability to talk about anything except one's hobby horse is
a prima facie case for mental incapacity). The lawyers will
appeal the sentence on the grounds of this judicial
decision.

    In any event, Salvi appears to me to be as nutty as a
fruitcake, and should probably be sent to the funny farm
instead of to jail (not that it makes a helluva lot of
difference--so long as we don't get another Reagan
administration trying to save money by emptying the asylums,
he stands a better chance of getting out of jail sooner than
out of the funny farm). But religionists seem disinclined to
have their beliefs written off as delusional, and as an
ironic twist on the "respect" that religions demand from the
general public, such disinclinations get supported by
judges. Letting John testify could generate some sympathy
for him and forgiveness for what he did, but only at the
expense of embarrassing Christianity.

    Yeah, I know, fundy twits--he is Not a Real, True
Christian<tm> like you. Don't bother telling me.

... Through a Jaundiced Eye Darkly--Rheum With a View
              (don@balt-rehab.med.va.gov)

--- Blue Wave/386 v2.20
 * Origin: Nerve Center - Source of the SPINAL_INJURY echo! (1:261/1000)

