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"Just doing the work of God"

I don't know who Michael Brea is.
I don't know what "Ugly Betty" is, either,
but Michael Brea had a bit part in "Ugly Betty".
"Ugly Betty" cannot be as ugly as Michael Brea.

Brea killed his mother with a sword,
and said he was doing God's work.  

"I didn't kill her," he said.  "I killed the demon inside her."

He heard voices.  

"No one could stop me," he said.  "I was doing the work of God."

Michael Brea is a nice man.  His family says so:

"All who have ever come in contact with Michael know that he is a compassionate, gentle, intelligent, spiritual and loving man.  His brother, father and friends stand by him and will aid with his recovery in every possible way. . . .  His family and friends know, without a question, that Michael was not well in the moments leading to (his mother's) death."

Maybe so.  It certainly is the case that a lot of people 
become convinced that God is telling them what to do.  
Most of them do not become convinced to kill their mothers, 
but some of them do.  The scary thing is that if you are 
certain that God wants you to do something, 
it does not matter what anybody else says.  
That is the logic of appealing to God:  
nothing takes priority over what God says.  

Be very afraid when you hear someone say they they know
what it is God wants for them, or for you, or for anyone.  
There is no appeal.  By definition, for those who believe
as Michael Brae does, what God wants matters most.

Do you want to argue with such a person 
that you know that is not what God wants?
If so, then there are two of you who know what God wants.

Abraham heard voices, too.  
God told him to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
And what stopped him?  He heard more voices.

It isn't so much the hearing of voices.
A small percentage of people hear voices.
It seems to be left-over from a time before consciences,
or maybe just something like dreaming that
someone called your name.  But when people hear God
telling them what to do, it is quite possible for "a compassionate, 
gentle, intelligent, spiritual and loving man" like Michael Brae
to go look for a knife.  

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