Reply #10: The thing is, I HAVE been there [View All]

I've been treated for depression many times, it's often hormonal and it's something I've learned to live with at some level. I understand the blacks (I never called them blues, mine at their worst were much darker). Since I never acted out on any other living thing, it's true that I can't understand going so far as to hurt another being.

But my main questions aren't really about WHY she did it. I'm more concerned about the right/wrong thing, since that's what's being looked at in court. I believe that she knew right from wrong on that horrible night. I also believe she was mentally ill. I don't see where one necessarily excludes the other.

I also have questions about how to prevent this from ever happening again in other families. It seems to me that psychosis can never be diagnosed in Pentecostal families, where hearing voices is a normal part of the belief system. What are we, as a society, to do? We can't outlaw religion. So what the hell do we do? It is entirely unpreventable, and that saddens me to the quick.