March 8, 2016: Terrorist claims Allah called him to stab man in Uruguay

PAYSANDU, URUGUAY – If someone claims ‘God made me do it” should we believe them?

In the 1970s there was a famous African-American comedian named Flip Wilson. He’d appear regularly on programs such as the Ed Sullivan show and even had his own gig, the Flip Wilson Show which ran on NBC from 1970 to 1974 (it was the first such effort to feature an African American host).

One of his best-known characters was Geraldine Jones – dressing in drag was one of his specialities – and one of ‘her’ best lines was ‘the Devil made me do it!’. This was her way of sloughing off responsibility for her actions.

Whether it is the devil or God, when we hear that others are convinced that they are receiving messages from a deity/ex-deity we probably tend to think they have mental health issues. But is this always the case?

On this day in 2016

A Uruguayan businessman was stabbed to death in the city of Paysandu near the Argentine border by a convert to Islam who claimed that Allah had asked him to kill a Jew. There were unconfirmed eye witness accounts that the suspect yelled “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is greatest,” before the knifing.

The characteristics of the homicide lead us to presume this was an anti-Semitic attack.

Spokesperson for Central Israelite Committee of Uruguay (CCIU)

If this individual indeed ‘heard voices’ there may be some legitimate questions regarding his mental wellness. Still, I find it hard to believe that any deity, God, Allah, or whatever, would ask anyone to kill someone.

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