At Large
Sympathy for the Devil
A French court is mired in moral confusion.
The recent guilty verdict in the infamous “Freezer Baby” murder case shows how ambivalent we in the West remain when it comes to the question of evil.
Last week a French jury found Véronique Courjault, 41, guilty of the murders of her three newborn children. Yet despite her confession and statements that undermined her psychological disorder defense, Madame Courjault will serve only 8 years — less than 3 years per murder — instead of the life sentence she might have received.
The story began in 2006 when South Korean police announced they’d found the bodies of two frozen newborns in the deep freezer of French expatriate couple Jean-Louis and Véronique Courjault. For months afterward Véronique Courjault denied that she was the mother of the murdered infants. After DNA testing confirmed her maternity, Madame Courjault confessed to having suffocated the children, the first in 2002, and the second in 2003. She also told police she had killed and burned the body of a third baby in a fireplace in France some time in 1999.
The French public’s initial response was naturally disgust and horror, but for many that reaction quickly gave way to feelings of compassion and empathy, especially after a succession of doctors suggested Madame Courjault likely suffered from a psychological disorder called pregnancy denial. One comment on a website tracking the case was representative:
“Personally I am sad, really sad for this lady. Yes, what she did could be qualified as cruel or some other adjective. But first, what I would like to understand is why this woman went ahead with her pregnancies, what she believed in, what her hopes were.”
The author of a celebrated book on the case noted how sympathetically the French public related to the “Freezer Baby” murderer: “It helped that the public could relate. [Here] you had a middle-class, bourgeois family, educated people. It made people think, ‘This could be me.’” (Interestingly the Web comments of Europeans were markedly different from those of Americans, who were not so quick to think “this could be me,” and whose comments usually ran more toward the sinfulness of the deeds and demands for vengeance.)
The court, however, seemed to accept that pregnancy denial — where a woman is so mentally opposed to having a child she seems to show no physical symptoms of pregnancy — is a legitimate disorder, so the question came down to whether hers was a case of mental illness or premeditated murder. Or a little of both.
A few of Madame Courjault’s early comments threw the denial defense into doubt, as when she said: “I decided straight away not to keep the baby I was carrying.” And “[I know it sounds absurd], but I was conscious of being pregnant, but not of being pregnant with babies.” What’s more, Courjault admitted she and her husband had agreed that they did not want any more children and that she wore loose fitting clothing to hide the pregnancies from her husband and others.
So why was the court so lenient? After all, with the three years already served, Madame Courjault will be out in a mere five years.
ACCORDING TO many media reports, the court’s leniency was due to the fact that Madame Courjault retains the affection of her husband Jean-Louis and their two children. Said Jean-Louis: “[I have] no doubt about Veronique’s potential as a wife and as a mother. We must free that potential.” Very sweet, but for the sake of any future newborns, let us hope Jean-Louis wears a condom from now on.
I suspect the reason for the court’s extraordinary leniency was more philosophical and had to do with a post-Christian nation’s refusal to accept the existence of evil in the world, a startling fact considering the hell France has been through the past century. If evil does not exist, there must be some other explanation for Madame Courjault’s actions. A dubious psychological disorder like pregnancy denial seems tailor-made for the purpose.
In earlier Christian times there could be no doubt about the existence of evil. It was literally an article of faith that man had two natures, one good, one evil, and one must constantly struggle to keep the bad in check. Today, especially in Europe, that duality is considered a quaint superstition. With each successive generation we are thought to progress morally and ethically. There is no evil, just disorders, and those disorders are hardly the sufferer’s fault, but often the fault of society, which puts too much pressure on…women, children, fill in the blank.
In the end the court seemed as morally confused as Madame Courjault when she repeatedly made puzzling statements like:
“What I did is so monstrous, without explanation. For me, those children did not have a real existence.”
“The pre-trial investigation allowed me to become aware of many things, to ask myself questions. But I still don’t have any answer. I hope to find some.”
The French public and the court in its sentencing seemed to support Madame Courjault in her search for answers, as if to say: hopefully, some day, she will find the answers she seeks and she finally will be at peace. Meanwhile the overall impression from the media is that such murders are inexplicable, that, while such crimes occur more than one would think, they can never be satisfactorily explained. If nothing else the trial and its outcome did support one of my many contentions. What else explains the court’s excessive leniency and the outpouring of sympathy for Madame Courjault, but society’s profound moral confusion when it comes to questions of unspeakable evil?
About the Author
Christopher Orlet writes from St. Louis.
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Darin| 6.24.09 @ 7:42AM
At least she didn't dismember them in the womb, inject saline solution to dissolve them, or suck their brains out. That monstrosity is done in America and those who do are receive sympathy (Dr. Tiller) when they are murdered.
Regarding Dr. Tiller, consider this. Under current US law, the Germans who plotted to kill Adolph Hitler, had they succeeded, would be guilty of murder and possibly a "hate crime." That in no way condones the killing of Tiller, but it does raise interesting questions.
Appleby| 6.24.09 @ 8:52AM
She will find the answers she seeks when she stands before the Heavenly Bar of Justice and faces those three children as the sentence is read from a Judge who cannot be swayed by stupid philosophical syndromes.
I guarantee she won't like those answers.
KyMouse| 6.24.09 @ 9:44AM
No doubt this favoring of the mother over her babies stems from the West's unwillingness to admit to, much less defend, the humanity of babies in the womb. Since newborns are barely out of the womb, we must be careful to avoid defending them, or we raise uncomfortable questions about abortion. Mothers, since they are women, can do no wrong in our radical-feminist culture; and babies either in or freshly out of the womb are little more than property.
Jesus warned of a time when there would be a loss of natural affection. Verdicts such as this French one, and America's killing of 50 million babies by abortion, tells me that we've been in that era for decades.
Pingback| 6.24.09 @ 10:04AM
Animal Print Bedding » The American Spectator : Sympathy for the Devil Criminal News links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Alan Brooks| 6.24.09 @ 10:13AM
why did she keep the infants in deep freeze? to cook & eat them later?
Trotter| 6.24.09 @ 11:36AM
There are times in this world whereby an individual, mentally disturbed or not, relenquishes the right to walk freely amongst us. This is one of those times, and I can only pray that this monster somehow never gets out.
KyMouse| 6.24.09 @ 11:51AM
Alan Brooks, there is precedent, unfortunately. In 1995, Hong Kong's "Eastern Express" magazine (and then in "The Christian Standard" in Fresno) reported that China's Shenzhen Health Center for Women and Children gave out bodies of aborted babies for human consumption.
A female physician there admitted, "Normally, we doctors take them home to eat..." An abortionist said that the babies were nutritous, and that she had eaten 100 during the previous six months; she said that the best ones to eat where first-born males from young women. "We don't carry out abortions just to eat the fetuses," she said, but added that they would be wasted if not eaten.
The preferred recipes were meat patties or soup, with pork and ginger added to disguise the smell.
Warren Lee, president of the Hong Kong Nutrition Association, told "Eastern Express" investigative reporters that "eating fetuses is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine...in terms of nutrition, a fetus would be a good source of protein and fats, and there are minerals in bone." A female physician in the Sin Hua Clinic added that aborted babies "can make your skin smoother, your body stronger and are good for kidneys."
Gary| 6.24.09 @ 11:55AM
Typical of Euro trash ambivalence about right & wrong, soon to be coming to a town near you in America. Why not kill unwanted babies at any time? The only sin in today's world is homophobia, racism, & not doing enough for the enviornment.
JerseyJ| 6.24.09 @ 12:19PM
"There is no evil, just disorders, and those disorders are hardly the sufferer's fault"
And if there's not already a disorder, let's just make one up to suit our purpose.
KyMouse you hit this one exactly. I agree with you 100%. The libbies would have you believe "It's just a newborn after all" which is the obvious next step from "It's just a fetus after all." Disturbing to say the least.
Roy| 6.24.09 @ 2:15PM
Ah, if only that defense worked on other people. I blow a French person away, then claim I was suffering from "France denial disorder" whose symptoms are that I make French people disappear.
Christopher Scott| 6.24.09 @ 2:24PM
The French court was lenient with Madame Courjault because she killed her own babies. Courts are usually sympathetic to a mother who commits infanticide because most people believe that the crime itself is strong evidence of the woman being mentally ill. For example, Andrea Yates was committed to a Texas mental institution instead of being sentenced to death for killing her five children. (Not executing Mrs. Yates struck me as the correct result.) As another example, South Carolina sentenced Susan Smith to life imprisonment instead of executing her for drowning her two sons. (I think Ms. Smith should be executed for her crimes.) I think society as a whole does not feel threatened by these women because they are unlikely to kill strangers, and they are usually viewed as pathetic figures. Consequently, society tends to not punish them as severely as we would punish someone who killed a non-family member.
I think this is generally appropriate, but Madame Courjault got too lenient of a sentence. (Although, I think serving an eight year sentence will ruin her life.) Also, she and her husband should both be compulsarily sterilized.
fundamentalist| 6.24.09 @ 2:40PM
Maybe the French just considered the killings to be very late-term abortions.
cv| 6.24.09 @ 3:12PM
Why not think of it as really early capital punishment. The infants could possiblyhave grown up to commit a crime, so they possibly deserved the punishment.
KyMouse| 6.24.09 @ 4:41PM
Christopher Scott, you're right about people being more lenient toward a mother who commits infanticide because they think she must have to be mentally ill in order to kill her own child.
Hmmm....if she kills her child while he's in his cradle, she's mentally ill. If she kills him while he's in her womb, she's a wise, liberated woman exercising her constitutional rights. Now, THAT'S crazy, n'est-ce pas?
WR Jonas | 6.24.09 @ 4:50PM
This is one of those stories that just sends chills straight down my spine . The Yates murders were also the obvious effect of insanity. Eight years for triple murder. It is beyond rational understanding.
The phenomenon of dispassionate understanding towards gross evil and crime is itself a crime.
It ultimately encourages others to commit similar crimes.
Years ago a woman in Philadelphia admitted she had killed a half a dozen of her own children by faking "crib death". Some statistics showed several years afterward the incident of mysterious crib (SID) death rose dramatically following the story. No one ever tries to investigate these deaths as far as I can tell. The claim is automatically validated and approved by the psychologists and specialist who grant every scrap of doubt toward the mothers credibility.
This case is a stamp of approval for all of the deviant , insane murders who are contemplating the murder of their own children.
zxc| 6.24.09 @ 5:00PM
If she was purly a cold calculating evil psychopath a tragic drowning, poisoning, or hypothermia would have been simple and undetectable. Her behavior is irrational, maybe not to the point of legal insanity but definely unsound. If the law provides lenience for such matters...
James Newland| 6.25.09 @ 1:19AM
I don't know where Mr. Orlet came up with the idea that Christians have ever believed man has two natures, one good and one evil. Jesus Christ has two natures: one human, one divine, but man has only a single, human nature. "Good" and "evil" refer to the character of the choices he makes by the power of his free will, a power which follows upon his human nature but is not his human nature itself.
KyMouse| 6.25.09 @ 7:11AM
James Newland, I had the same thought a little while ago. Thanks for making it. Like all other human beings, I have one nature -- fallen. There is "none righteous" (Romans 3:10); "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23); there isn't "a just man" (Ecclesiastes 7:20); "the heart is...wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9-10); etc., etc. The good news is found in John 3:16.
The Sanford press conference started me thinking about a related matter. It seems to me that taking pleasure in another person's failures is a sin that demonstrates our exclusively human fallen nature. Do animals do such a thing? One animal might stumble, drop the food it is carrying in its mouth, and another animal might snatch it up, taking advantage of the situation. Or one animal might lure away another animal's mate. But as far as I know, they aren't gleeful about the other animal's loss. It takes a human being to feel that way, and I think that's evidence of the reality of evil in the human heart.
Crusader| 6.25.09 @ 7:16AM
A few years back I was talking with a friend and mentioned that IMHO in about 30 years you will be able to kill your baby up to 12 months after delivery. Kind of like a "trial" period, or really late term abortion. He was shocked and told me I was crazy.
Verdicts like this tell me my guess of 30 years may have been a little too generous.
Pingback| 6.25.09 @ 7:58AM
The American Spectator : Sympathy for the Devil | All Things Babies links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Tony in Central PA| 6.25.09 @ 10:37AM
The whole story leaves me numb. It makes me want to condemn the future if this is where we're headed.
KW| 6.25.09 @ 5:26PM
James Newland wrote: "I don't know where Mr. Orlet came up with the idea that Christians have ever believed man has two natures, one good and one evil."
The belief comes from Judaism and the concepts of yetzer tov (good nature) and yetzer hara (evil or fallen nature). Jesus (aka Y'shua and the perfect Jew) knew full well of the concept and taught us to resist the yetzer hara and do good (yetzer tov).
It's really quite simple and quite consistent with Scripture but, unfortunately, still quite a challenge for Western Christendom.
And much more| 6.26.09 @ 8:09AM
Y'shua was indeed "the perfect Jew" and much more. He repeatedly identified himself with God (John 14:1, 7, 9, 11 and 5:17-18) and was accused of blasphemy for it (John 10:30-33). Some people are willing to say that He was a good man, but as one person put it, "If Jesus isn't God, He isn't good," because His claims would indeed be scandalous if they weren't true.
There is a small but growing number of Jewish men and women (such as those in Jews for Jesus) who are examining His claims for themselves and believing that He is who He said He was. His Jewish followers have included composer Felix Mendelssohn, planetary astronomer William Herschel (discoverer of Uranus), and Victorian British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.
Disraeli wrote, "Christianity is incomprehensible without Judaism, as Judaism is incomplete without Christianity...The pupil of Moses may ask himself whether all the princes of the house of David have done so much for the Jews as that prince who was crucified on Calvary...Has not He made their history the most famous in the world? Has He not hung up their laws in every temple?...Has He not avenged the victory of Titus and conquered the Caesars? What successes did they anticipate apart from their Messiah? The wildest dreams of the rabbis have been far exceeded...Christians may continue to persecute Jews (and by doing so misrepresent their Master) and Jews may persist in disbelieving Christians, but who can deny that Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnate Son of God, is the eternal glory of the Jewish race?"
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Richard Baker| 6.28.09 @ 10:15AM
Satan is truly working overtime. Does this presage the Return of You-Know-Who? Behold, The Lamb cometh. (The three part name above is for the pagans, to see if they know it).
Pingback| 8.2.09 @ 4:42AM
The American Spectator : Sympathy for the Devil | Baby Plaza links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.6.09 @ 7:36PM
The American Spectator : Sympathy for the Devil | All For Newborns links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
poptropica | 4.9.10 @ 11:29PM
I’ll have a Poptropica full written walkthrough very soon, but in the meantime, here are some answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Mythology Island. Having trouble? Post a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer it!
Getting Hercules to Help You Poptropica
Hercules won’t help you until you have all five items from Zeus’ quest. Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you. You’ll need to have the magic mirror from Aphrodite because Hercules doesn’t want to have to walk. He’s so lazy!
Getting the Hydra Scale poptropica
You can see how to do this in the videos, but basically you need to jump up when the Hydra is about to strike. He will rear one of his heads back to attack and his eyes will bulge out. poptropica
When this happens, jump up in the air and then try to land on top of his head. That head will get knocked out. When all five heads get knocked out, the Hydra will be asleep and you can click on him to get one of the scales. poptropica
I’ll have a full written walkthrough very soon, but in the meantime, here are some answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Mythology Island. Having trouble? Post a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer it!poptropica
Getting Hercules to Help You
Hercules won’t help you until you have all five items from Zeus’ quest. poptropica
Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you.poptropica
. You’ll need to have the magic mirror from Aphrodite because Hercules doesn’t want to have to walk. He’s so lazy!
Getting the Hydra Scale
You can see how to do this in the videos, but basically you need to jump up when the Hydra is about to strike. He will rear one of his heads back to attack and his eyes will bulge out.Poptropica When this happens, jump up in the air and then try to land on top of his head. That head will get knocked out. When all five heads get knocked out, the Hydra will be asleep and you can click on him to get one of the scales. poptropica