Who Or What Is Responsible?

A man believing himself to be a prophet kidnaps a 14-year-old girl from the peaceful slumber of her own bedroom. His wife washes her feet and dresses her in 'sacred' garb for a wedding ceremony where the girl will become a polygamous wife alongside the aforementioned wife #1. Incidentally, wife #1 calls herself "mother of Zion" and believes God reaches out to touch her via her television set.

Just another day in the wacky lives of Brian David Mitchell and his old lady, Wanda Barzee. For Elizabeth Smart, it seemed like the nightmare that would never end.

Both Mitchell and Barzee have been diagnosed as being delusional. Barzee was forcibly medicated in order to be declared competent to stand trial. Faced with the reality of what she had done, Barzee offered this apology:

"I am so sorry, Elizabeth, for all the pain and suffering I have caused you and your family," Barzee said, taking an emotional pause between sentences. "It is my hope that you will be able to find it in your heart to forgive me."

Now, Bipolar is different from Schizophrenia or delusions, but one thing most of us with some form of mental illness can all relate to is the weight of "getting better" only to be faced with the path of destruction we left behind. Fortunately, most of us will never have to be faced with kidnapping charges or worse, but a lot of us have garbage to clean up. Sometimes it's money we shouldn't have spent, family members and friends we shouldn't have hurt, jobs we wish we hadn't lost. But for almost all of us, the aftermath of being sick requires some janitorial work.

To the Smart family's credit (which sounds so odd because Smart is my maiden name), they have opted to forgive Barzee:

"We all make mistakes in life," he said. "If we can't forgive each other, heaven help us."

And, yet, forgiveness doesn't necessarily mean erasing responsibility.
Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart said of Mitchell:

"To me, he should never see the light of day out of prison," Ed Smart said. "I believe mentally he is an extremist and that extremism is not going to change. If he were ever to get out, he would do it again."

So my question is simple, but the answer is not.

Mental illness is a brain disease. When I think about it, for whatever reason, an image of a Swiss cheese-like brain comes to mind. A skull full of gray, gooey Swiss cheese. And if there are holes where circuits and chemicals and connections should be... how responsible are we for our actions? Do we deserve to pay if we honestly cannot help our actions?

And if we SHOULD pay for our transgressions, whether intended or not, which makes more sense? To lock Mitchell in a prison cell where he will continue to believe himself a prophet, or a mental hospital where he will be medicated, cared for, and brought back to a healthy place where he can see the surreality of his reality and possibly feel genuine remorse?

I'm looking for logic over political correctness. I'm not concerned with pleasing NAMI.

Anyone have the right answer?? Pin It