What do you get when you combine the solipsism and psychopathy? You get religious wackos like Anthony Louis Lopez, who recently made a bizarre confession during his initial court appearance a few days ago. Lopez is accused of murdering his sister, Lisa Rosenzweig on November of last year, after he struck her in the head with an unidentified object. When court proceedings began, he waived off his council, claiming that he would be representing himself. He then followed this up by yelling in court that he was simply following “God’s Law” before being escorted out.

On December 6, police revealed that 39-year-old Anthony Lopez was a suspect in the case. Lopez was apprehended by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police in North Carolina on a fugitive warrant. Following his extradition to South Carolina to respond to the murder charge, Lopez faced the judge on Friday.

Neighbors expressed their disbelief and hoped it was a tragic mishap. “She didn’t deserve that. She didn’t,” said Betty Taylor, Rosenzweig’s next-door neighbor, referring to the abuse she suffered.

Now the question is, how long has Lopez been a danger to society, and how much of his mental illness was hidden behind a mask of piety? It’s likely impossible to tell, which should really be all you need to know about religion in general. In my estimation, belief in God is merely a displaced sense of supreme authority, externalized to make it appear less psychotic. How many times have you heard a religious person claim that God is on their side? This is merely their own belief in the themselves, masquerading as obedience towards a higher power.

Lopez thought that he was the ultimate authority over the life of his sister. Now, as reality comes crashing down around him, he will soon face the consequence of his psychotic belief. Unfortunately, a woman is now dead because the signs of this man’s mania were hidden under the guise of religious fealty.