VOICES OF GOD

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. The medical Internet site – WebMD indicates that people with schizophrenia:

a) Hear or sometimes see things that aren’t there (hallucinations);
b) Often believe some things that aren’t true (delusions); and
c) May think that some people are trying to harm them (paranoia).

It’s not uncommon for individuals suffering from schizophrenia to report their belief that God spoke directly to them and instructed them to act in one way or another.

I am not a psychiatrist or even a medical doctor, but I have known several individuals who’ve suffered from schizophrenia and observed their conduct over a sufficiently lengthy period of time to have some idea of how the disorder affects their daily lives. That’s why I feel confident in asserting that many of today’s GOP presidential candidates are suffering from schizophrenia and somebody should seriously consider conducting scientific research to get to the bottom of the question why. Our Nation’s future viability may one day depend on it!

Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum have all reported receiving explicit verbal instructions from God directing them to kill ISIL followers, abortion doctors and women choosing to terminate their pregnancies. Carly Fiorina is more circumspect about the message she received, but given her rabid attacks on the women’s health care provider, Planned Parenthood, it is clear that Fiorina believes she has been divinely instructed to wipe that organization off the map. God supposedly told Ben Carson to axe Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Scott Walker heard a revelation instructing him to go after labor unions, but since Scott dropped out of the presidential race, I’m not sure whether that counts or not.

Other GOP candidates have no problem believing things that aren’t true. Donald Trump thinks the Mexican government, the same government that can’t hold on to their prisoners or protect its citizens from the murderous rampages of drug cartels, is sufficiently organized to efficiently execute a sinister conspiracy to send its criminal element to the United States undetected. He also thinks that Sarah Palin was onto something when she declared last week that President Obama was behind her son’s assault on his girlfriend and PTSD that war-time soldiers contract. Ben Carson thinks climate change is a hoax on the same magnitude of the Apollo moon landing, and he should know because he’s a retired surgeon with an intimate knowledge of meteorology.

All of the GOP presidential hopefuls believe that Hillary and the liberals are out to get them…well, okay, that one is true so you got me there, but really, we don’t wish them any personal harm. We just don’t want them leading our country. Most of the Republican candidates think that Muslims as a whole are trying to destroy America, which is flat-out delusionary thinking, as is the notion that violence in America can be wiped out if we only add more guns to the mix. But, I digress. This is supposed to be about a serious mental health problem among presidential candidates, not guns. Where was I? Oh yes, paranoia. Liberals bent on destroying the fabric of America’s society has become a staple of the Republican presidential candidate’s diet, but that piece of trope couldn’t be further from the truth. We liberals breathe the same air as our more conservative counterparts, drink the same water, eat the same food (albeit in lesser quantities of caviar and foie gras) and have the same desires for health, safety and opportunities for personal and professional advancement. We think educating our children is the key to a better future and we believe that assisting those less fortunate than ourselves not only a noble pursuit, but a moral imperative for a free society. Liberals also believe that the government plays a vital role in providing for the mental health of its citizens, including GOP presidential candidates. God didn’t tell me to write that. I dreamed that up on my own.