An obvious mentally ill man attempts to swim to Liberty Island after a hallucination that god told him too.

The Gothamist has an article about a 29-year-old New Jersey man who after having a hallucinatory conversation with god decides to swim to the Statue of Liberty. Though the distance is only 1,200 meters from New Jersey, the man is caught within the flowing currents and luckily enough for him is rescued before he is drawn out to sea.

It's a "snarky" article that is either one: poking fun at the man's mental illness with a sharpened, poisoned-tipped, pen. Two: using this "swimmer" as a straw man argument at how ridiculous the concept of "God" really is. Finally, three: using this man's obvious metal state to attack both the man and the concept of God some how tying both mental illness and religion into a single package.

I post this to illustrate the overconfidence that people have, either sane or ill, when approaching an open water challenge. Even Fran Crippen and crew, and this includes the execs at FINA to the coaches on the beach, grossly underestimating the severity of the Dubai conditions. Should this fellow be ridiculed for being both ill and doing likewise? The only difference here is that New York city did a better job at preventing the tragedy,

Here is a snippet:

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Sometimes He tells you to kill your son on a mountaintop, other times He commands you to send an army to take out the guy in Iraq who tried to kill your dad. [Read as George Bush - Tony] Yesterday God was busy over in Jersey, where He sent an unidentified man on a mission to swim to Liberty Island. Unfortunately, the federal gov'ment stepped in once again to thwart The Almighty's sovereign will...

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