Realm Wave Rider: Voices in his Head

Courtesy of the Guardian Unlimited, Photographer: Charles Dharapak/AP

"Voices Inside My Head" by The Police
Album: Zenyatta Mondatta

Voices inside my head
Echoes of things that you said
(Repeat over and over)

Aren't people who hear voices considered in need of psychiatric help or evaluation? At least, that's what I always thought was the proper course of action for anyone having those experiences. Hearing voices has been regarded by psychiatry as 'auditory hallucinations', and in many cases a symptom of schizophrenia.

Well, maybe so for most people, unless you are the President of the United States with a die-hard, faith-based support infrastructure. Anyone else would be considered a candidate for a psychiatric consultation.

How about others who have heard voices? Others like Jennifer Cisowski, Teresa Ann Archie, and Henry Glen West whom God has spoken to and resulted in the deaths of others? Why is it any less disturbing? Is it merely because he is WHO he is?

A young mother maintained that voices in her head told her to test her faith in God, causing her to repeatedly slam her infant son to the ground and down a flight of stairs. Jennifer Cisowski, 21, of Connecticut, killed her 8-month-old son Gideon Fusscas in his grandmother's upscale Florida home on Aug. 21, later saying she believed he would rise from the dead if her faith were strong enough.
Source: Tampa Tribune, Aug. 22, 2001

A Talladega County jury in August found Teresa Ann Archie, 40, guilty of the 1996 murder of her daughter Shavon Jackson. Archie, a paranoid schizophrenic, chased her daughter through their home, shooting her twice in the back after becoming convinced her 16-year-old was possessed by Satan, and that God wanted her to cleanse her home of all Satanic influence. She told police Shavon's last words were: "Mama, don't shoot me, I love you." She replied, "I know, Baby, but I have to do the Lord's will."
Source: The Daily Home, Aug. 15, 2001

God made him commit a crime spree was the defense of bible-toting Henry Glen West, sentenced by an Okahoma County judge in April to two life terms. During West's 5-hour crime spree in January 1998, he severely beat his brother, raped his brother's girlfriend, broke into a house, robbed a convenience store clerk and then tried to run her over twice. At a second convenience store, he repeatedly shot the husband-and-wife owners.
Source: Daily Oklahoman, April 21, 2001

Is it really God speaking in George Bush's head, a symptom of schizophrenia, or something more sinister? I guess in order to explain away what could be generally considered a psychiatric condition, one could attribute the voice to God or some higher being. It is better to believe one has been chosen by God as "special" and worthy of His communication, then to accept there may be some sort of psychological problem. Also, one man's God-speaking-in-his-head could very well be another man's, or intelligence agency's, implantation of subliminal thoughts or transference of mental control.

According to today's Guardian Unlimited Special Report, George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq', President Bush told a Palestinian foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, that not only was he on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but that it is his "moral and religious obligation" to create a Palestine state and ensure Israel's security.

Mr Bush went on: "And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."

Mr Bush, who became a born-again Christian at 40, is one of the most overtly religious leaders to occupy the White House, a fact which brings him much support in middle America.

Let's hope we are not actually witnessing a modern-day religious crusade. If so, the bloodbath has just begun.

Community Service Message
If you are hearing voices you can go to one of the following websites: