Cayce Anthony: Can A Selfish Ego Drive One To Murder
Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2009
by Susan Thom
It's hard for me to fathom how someone could think solely about their wants and needs to the point of killing their own child. A twenty two year old girl stands accused of doing just that. If one were to believe the pieces of the story that have been reported, the murder of a little girl, at the hands of her mother, occurred because her mother wanted to be free of the obligations this child presented.
I have been following this story every night, because I am intrigued and baffled that someone could be so selfish as to murder their own child, or anyone else. Is this phenomenon of selfishness born out of biology, learned behavior, both, or just plain evil? How can someone feel they have more right to be on this earth than another?
That their wants and needs should come first, and if those wants and needs aren't met, they set out to do damage? Now they can lay blame on another individual for their unhappiness, but how on earth do you take a life? I can see if it is self defense, and I always have been clear with that in my mind, but to kill or hurt others simply because you are done with them?
This young girl is so selfish, it appears, that rather than let her own mother raise her child, she killed her instead. Where does this sense of superiority come from? How does this girl believe that her wants and needs are greater than her babies'? Where, when, and how does the conscience God gave us, disappear? And how in the world can we justify our actions?
I assume we can talk ourselves into believing our motives are for the best. Did this mother think her daughter would be better off dead? Could she then tell herself she ended her life for her own good? If she is lying, how can she do so, knowing the truth, or has that become so twisted in her mind that she doesn't know right from wrong?
Thousands of people prayed for her daughter's safe return. Thousands of people searched for her body, never having laid eyes on this child. Thousands of man hours searching for clues, and interviewing hundreds of potential witnesses. As she sits in her jail cell, does she know the truth? If so, how does she continue on with this massive charade of pain and destruction?
Did the red heart sticker placed on the duct tape over the child's mouth, make it alright? Does that show the world the sacrifice she made for her daughter's well-being? Or was death a direct hit to her mother? If she couldn't have her daughter, nobody could? Above all, not her mother. And how far does the apple fall from the tree?
Yes, there are those who think that the way they process information is correct, and the rest of the world is wrong. There are those who were not around adults growing up who taught them what a conscience was. Therefore, theirs was never developed correctly. They were outside torturing ants while others were trying to feed a fallen bird with an eye dropper.
If the ant killers were true to themselves, they would have to know what they were doing was wrong. There is a sickness, I believe, in those who want to torture, mame, and kill. They may have been abused themselves, raised with abnormal or inappropriate adults, or simply have a perversion to oddities that the rest of the world finds offensive.
No matter what the reason, no one has the right to affect another human being in a negative way. It is our choice to do so, God certainly didn't want that type of behavior from His children. A big problem is that these inappropriate thinkers never understand the role they play in their own demise. Will this young girl blame her mother, society, God, for her years spent behind bars, if she is convicted?
When do we take a hard look at ourselves, and realize that we alone are to blame for our thoughts and actions, and we alone, can change them? There are always consequences to one's manipulations, and this young woman may be facing a death sentence. All because she talked herself into believing her thoughts were right, if that's the case.
Those who are weak, need someone to blame. They don't have enough respect for themselves to admit they made a mistake. They'd rather spend thousands of dollars to hide behind their illness. During the course of a lifetime, it is quite possible that this illness will be exposed. Unfortunately, countless numbers of people will have negatively been affected by a selfish few, with no conscience.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)You have analyzed this correctly, in my opinion, Sue. Good article!Whenever someone purposefully takes the life of another, many of us ask ourselves, what kind of a person could commit such an unthinkable act?As a former juvenile probation officer, I saw that, frequently, it is due to parents' refusal to address properly their children's mental health and/or behavioral issues and/or chronic drug and alcohol abuse, immediately and consistently, that is responsible for acts such as this.In fairness, I also witnessed responsible parents whose biological or adopted children do these unspeakable things. Some of these children begin to demonstrate antisocial behaviors in early childhood while some do not manifest these behaviors until much later. In these cases, in spite of appropriate mental health interventions, the children did not respond to any kind of therapy or treatment. Some of these children harmed themselves, family members or others. Incarceration in an appropriate facility, with ongoing treatment, was the only remaining avenue available to protect the child as well as the public.In this young mother's case, if the media has reported correctly, there were clear signs this mother had psychological problems, prior to her child disappearing. Her parents had the option of reporting her to CPS and being appointed the child's temporary guardians. This action usually forces the biological parent(s) to receive court ordered social and mental health services, before being allowed to have physical custody of her child. This may have not prevented anything from happening to the child, but at least the grandparents could take comfort in knowing they had done everything they could to protect the child from harm.Please log in to respond to this comment.hi grammy,thank for stopping by and commenting. now i know you have experience in witnessing those with different consciences. the way this girl laughs and smiles for all when she needs to be in court, is sickening beyond belief to me. her daughter was not even 2 years old!i was smothering my kids at 2, but with hugs and kisses, and an awe at their existence. oh, i made mistakes, as we all do, and most own up to, but nothing to this magnitude and total disregard for another's life.thanks for more insight,my best to you,suePlease log in to respond to this comment.
Hi Sue.I agree with anonymous. This is well written, as usual.Why people do these sorts of things is frankly beyond my reckoning. But I think you hit the nail on the head with your title. The ego is a very tricky thing. It "talks" to us all the time and tells us many things that are not true just to maintain its existence.It's clear that this young woman needs some professional counseling and I hope that she gets the help that she needs. I have to wonder though, what would have happened had her parents allowed her to get that abortion.Thank you for this thoughtful article,DiannePlease log in to respond to this comment.hi dianne,if they had allowed it, there is one thing that wouldn't have happened-the murder of this child at almost 2, instead of during pregnancy.there is a lot more that has gone on in that household that we don't know. looks are also deceiving-when they play videos, or show pictures, this adorable little girl is well dressed, happy, singing, reading a book before the age of 2!, and yet, she was murdered before her second birthday!i am for young girls and women taking charge of their own bodies, and not getting pregnant if they don't want the responsibilities of a mother.you would think that would be one of the simpler things in life to comply with, before they have to make the decision to have or not have a child.this wasn't the case here, and now, this poor little girl is gone forever.thank you for reading and commenting,your comments are always appreciated,my best to you,suePlease log in to respond to this comment.
Thanks for sharing such an amazing article. The fact of matter is that there are people who functions completely different from us. their motives in life and patterns are different.I forgot the name of the bird, but there is a bird that lays eggs in some other bird's nest and once the baby bird breaks out of the egg, the first thing it does is to pull the other eggs out of the nest by killing them. it's sort of survival instinct. Some species and human beings live and try to cooperate with others without killing each other. Some people and some species think Killing is normal instinct for them.It's very possible that some of these People have lost the part of their brain or sense of "ego" by taking drugs or other damage in their brain that they don't realize killing is wrong.I believe the Ego-loss caused by taking various drugs and LSD and changes in their hormones is what caused people like Manson family to commit a brutal murder. I do not think Manson Family were type of people who like to go on a killing spree if they were free of control, brainwashing and drugs.Anyways, it helps us to realize that some people have a killer gene and some people are born with much higher conscious and moral values and cleaner souls.Please log in to respond to this comment.hi missan,thank you for reading and commenting.i think the ego loss is a lack of conscience, either biological. or environmentally induced.there has to be something twisted with a brain who would play with their child, dress them up in designer clothes and play with them, and then kill them, and go on as if nothing has happened (allegedly!)thanks for sharing,my best,suePlease log in to respond to this comment.
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