Posted on 12/15/2004 9:23:25 AM PST by Ellesu
McKINNEY, Texas -- A mother who admitted killing her baby daughter by severing the girl's arms was guided by a Bible passage in which Jesus refers to cutting off body parts to cast away sin, the woman's attorney said Tuesday.
Dena Schlosser, a 35-year-old housewife with a history of mental illness, has referred to the New Testament passage since the killing of 10-month-old Margaret, attorney David Haynes told The Associated Press.
AP Image Dena Schlosser
In the Book of Matthew, Jesus says: "If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
Schlosser was charged with capital murder Nov. 22, after she told a 911 operator she had cut off her baby's arms. Police found her in the living room, covered in blood, still holding a knife and listening to a hymn.
Haynes said Schlosser was mentally ill at the time.
He said Schlosser is still disoriented but is improving under medication she is receiving in jail.
"She knows the baby is dead," he said. "I think she understands generally the physical facts of how that came to be, but she is now conscious that her mind has not been clear for years and she's still coming to grips with that."
Schlosser had been hospitalized for postpartum depression in January as part of an investigation by the state's child-protection agency. Social workers said she exhibited symptoms of psychosis but improved with medication and psychiatric help, and the agency closed the investigation in August.
A Bible scholar said that in the passage cited by Schlosser, Jesus was speaking figuratively and using a common expression of his time.
Virgil Howard, who teaches the New Testament at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology, added that even if the passage were interpreted literally, it still wouldn't suggest that one person harm another.
"Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about cutting off someone else's hand or foot or eye," he said.
I missed the part where if thy infant child's arms offend thee, thou getst to cut them off.
And of course this story will be used to make Christians look like lunatics, when in fact, this troubled soul is the real lunatic.
Hmmm - I missed the part of the Scripture that says "if somebody else's arm offend thee, cut it off".
She ought to be dismembered and allowed to bleed to death. Even that would be too good for her.
htae book
How long did it take the attornies to come up with this laod of crap?
There is no punishment too severe for this f***ing bitch. None. She better damn well receive the death penalty.
Satan guided her. Now she needs to be guided to the death house in Huntsville.
Unfortunately, you are right.
"Because those wacky Christians are the ones who voted for Bush, so you know they're a little off . . . "
Feeds into the "sour grapes and denial fest" that is the Democrat arty these days.
oops
arty = party
She ought to be dismembered and allowed to bleed to death.<<
My thought was to place her in solitary confinement with an electric knife or chainsaw and no "meds".
But then, how would she get both arms?
Although some of the dems are arty. I consider Hilary Clinton to be highly arty--just look at how creative her lifetime of lying has been.
Great.... this creature is obviously insane to anyone who has half a brain... The only thing reported by the "lawyer" is she referenced the Bible for her actions.
I'm getting down right ticked about all this!
Christians everywhere need to stop turning the cheek and express some outrage!! This kind of reporting is everywhere, in our own communities and nationally. I'm very frustrated. Thanks for letting me rant....
Now maybe the gestapo will apply trop's solution to offenses.
This is really sad and tragic. That poor, poor baby. This woman has a history of problems and should not have been allowed to have an infant in her custody. And where was the Dad? Seeing as the mother is a mental case, I can't wish the terrible harm on her that you would. She obviously needs help. No loving mother in her right mind would do this to their child.
Just more anti-Christian hate from the God-less left.
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