All squares are parallelograms but not all parallelograms are squares.
Similarly, all psychopaths are sinners but not all sinners are psychopaths.
And neither sinners nor psychopaths are parallelograms.
It’s important that we Christians remember this.
(Not the part about parallelograms.)
Because the culture’s thoughts about psychopaths are psychotic.
Outside the church, there are no sinners.
Outside the church, they have discarded the regressive notion of “sin”.
Haha! See?
Nobody should be called vile, evil, immoral, corrupt, wicked, depraved…or sinful.
That can damage a person’s “self-worth”.
Humans make mistakes – that’s it.
Really big, famous mistakes require “psychopaths” to perform them.
Nazis exterminating Jews weren’t sinners, they were psychopaths.
And you shouldn’t speak negatively about psychopaths!
Why not?
Because we have swallowed the lie that psychopaths aren’t sinners.
We are convinced that the vilest criminals are no different than ourselves.
They’re just misunderstood.
The truth is:
“Psychopath” and “sinner” mean the same thing.
That probably makes some of the church folks squeamish.
Toughen up, Church Folks.
Mental illness is not a free pass for immorality.
Can you think of ANY sin that couldn’t be labeled “psychosis”?
If “yes”, are you sure your thinking about an actual sin and not just your opinion about tattoos or playing cards?
Outside the church, there is no sin.
People are being told that their “mental condition” is not their fault.
The right prescription will fix everything.
That’s not true.
There is no pill to treat evil.
26 Responses
Hey Pkarlgh is back after long hitasis just busy being exposed to more athestic lunacy had give you something on mental illness enjoy!! http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/february-web-only/mental-illness-sin.html
The simple answer: Sin is a result of the fall, period. We aren’t sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners, what happened in Genesis 3? Proverbs 13:6 says “Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, But wickedness subverts the sinner.” Having worked with the mentally ill, I can also attest to the fact that they are not all psychopaths…but, I digress, that’s Psycho babble, and it’s wrong, don’t buy into it; It is “worldly” thinking at ti’s best! Yes, stupid can be fixed and sinners can be saved, and I most certainly agree that mental illness is not an excuse. God made us who we are, for a reason…albeit that reason isn’t usually made clear to us. And, God has the final say, we don’t. Psalm 25:8 says “Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.”
We should do our part, as the Spirit leads, but we need to make it real, and use the Word as our foundation, i.e., Psalm 51, and Psalm 36:1, for starters. Those of this world may choose not to hear it, but we Christians are to be the salt and light. Matthew 5:13-16 ““You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Keep up the God work, John!!!!!
Beautiful, Branyan! There are many people with mental illness who are kind and gentle. There are even psychopaths who would never hurt a fly. Mental illness is NOT sin. But there are people who are mentally ill who also engage in a great deal of sin. We are all accountable and there really are no excuses. I have seen people with disabling, severe mental health problems, who chose good anyway and I have seen those who don’t. Sin is a choice, it is not the result of brain chemistry. I am absolutely certain of that, based on many years of observation.
I don’t think we disagree.
Are you upset about something I wrote here?
Are you okay today, John? You seem a little defensive to the point where I can’t quite tell if it’s a bit, haha. I don’t see anything indicating that either IB was upset or that I was being contrarian in my above posts either. Maybe I’m the moron today, though ^_^
I’m fine!
Apparently, I come off terse and combative in my comments. This is what gets me in trouble with the atheists too.
I didn’t take any of your (or IB’s) comments negatively. I’m enjoying the conversation!
I’d be open to some constructive criticism on how to come across less defensive! (And that statement seems defensive even as I write it…!)
^_^ Today in particular I’m just reading your comments as misunderstanding previous comments – which could just be my own misunderstanding.
In other times when the atheist have been angered, I think you can just be cavalier with “negative” terms that just immediately throw their walls up. Words get people so upset sometimes. Granted, there are times when disagreeing as nicely as possible also throws up their walls and their anger (as I think you’ve seen me do at times). I’m convinced that some of them are oversensitive and you can’t necessarily cater to that…
Directness, while efficient, will almost always come across the worse possible way when discussing a disagreement too… I don’t think you’re wrong for being direct (I enjoy it in our conversations), but it does make it hard for others to listen to. I caveat with the fact that flowery caveats in posts are hard for still others to listen to effectively. And for that, I’m sorry ^_^
Ha! Now we can BOTH walk on eggshells for awhile!
I sincerely appreciate your comments.
John, Pkarlgh here, my favorite podcast was your discussion on mental illness. I equally enjoy this post. I’m going to pull a Branyan and ask questions…Sin is a choice but what makes a person more likely to choose to sin? What gives a person more self-discipline than others?
I’m going to pull a Branyan and ask, “What do you think?” 🙂
My answers come up circular or black and white. 😖 I have to draw on personal experience, and say motivation. I am motivated by my eternal future to make earlthy decisions.
That doesn’t seem circular at all.
Personal experience is quite useful in the decision making process. Ultimately, personal experience is all we have! If you’re going to discount experience (as atheists do) then you can’t know anything. Reading books, listening to lectures, and doing “science” are personal experiences. Everyone who discounts personal experience does so on the basis of…personal experience.
Agreed! I have no answers. The other arguments in my head are circular, that is why I draw on personal experience.
My head goes between science and biblical knowledge on choosing to sin/self-discipline. Part of me thinks that the brain is an organ in the body and is capable of disease and healing. Different experiences can unlock those diseases. I also think persons are selfish and act accordingly to different degrees. I also think the Holy Spirit can help you become more self-disciplined toward holiness…I think my black and white mind makes me think it’s one way or another. Help me see in technicolor!
My favorite post yet!
I remember one of the job interview questions I got when applying for my Mental Health Caseworker job was “Some people say that people with mental illness are dangerous. What do you think about that?” and my answer that impressed the interviewers was to say “Not all people with mental illness are dangerous. Both people with mental illness and people without mental illness do bad things.” Of course, this was about 6 years ago in the backwoods of Central Pennsylvania…
Point being – people with mental illness (which, at this point in time most people should recognize this is a spectrum, not binary, anyway) still have responsibility for their actions. To take that away from them is degrading and dehumanizing. It’s disgusting to me,
The other troubling aspect is judging who is “mentally ill” and needs treatment vs committing a crime that needs to be punished. Do we really think we can differentiate between those things?
Absolutely not. That’s what I mean by Mental Illness is a spectrum. There are some people who have depressive episodes once every few years, there are some that have them every month. They still both get “Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent” put on their diagnostic axes.
Scripture says if we break any part of the law, we’ve broken all the laws. It seems that “sin” doesn’t have a spectrum. What do you think?
I’m absolutely in agreement with that – anyone who commits sin (or any behavior) is responsible for that sin (or any behavior) and liable to it’s consequences Clearly, different sins have different immediate consequences though which may range in severity… that’s kind of a different topic than I think you were getting at, though…
“Absolutely not” was an answer to your question, not a poor rebuttal to your statement ^_^
I’m still working through all this stuff. I won’t pretend that I have the definitive answer.
But the hard-line approach to sin that I find in scripture makes sense as I watch the culture go soft on mental illness. Sin is sin no matter my individual circumstances.
Regardless of Sin (even if you don’t believe in Sin or Evil), our actions have natural consequences. In that way, I think there are “degrees” of sin. However, given that all sin is short of a required perfection, in that way, sin is sin is sin. It really kinda depends on what you mean and I feel like two people can be talking about this topic but have two different conversations.
I agree. The consequences of sin, at least in the short term, ‘natural’ sense, come in various degrees. My response to my own sin is what matters. Realizing the same sin that causes me to steal 2 cents worth of candy from the bin a the store is what causes other people to open fire on a concert crowd in Las Vegas–is horrifying.
In a culture where the shooter is front page news, it is easy for me to think my petty thievery is no big deal.
Dear John,
Your words:
“I agree. The consequences of sin, at least in the short term, ‘natural’ sense, come in various degrees. My response to my own sin is what matters. Realizing the same sin that causes me to steal 2 cents worth of candy from the bin a the store is what causes other people to open fire on a concert crowd in Las Vegas–is horrifying.
In a culture where the shooter is front page news, it is easy for me to think my petty thievery is no big deal.”
This post is absolutely wonderful.
I’ve felt horrified and chastened by this. (I love the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It hurts for a moment, but is so healing for the soul.)
I can no longer, personally, excuse myself (sound bite of Steve Martin “Excuuuuse Me!”) and rationalize/ justify a sin that I commit or am tempted to do, because I can find someone who has committed a worse sin, or worse version of the same sin. No!
Commiting that petty theft that you mention is a very good example.
My struggle with my hatred of Hefner is a real-life example for me (yesterday’s post). If I hate Hef, I’m a murderer, plain and simple. Commiting murder is a sin. I have laid this at Christ’s feet and have been confessing this sin. I have to learn from my Lord how to be angry, and sin not; how to hate the sin yet love and pray for my enemy. I’ve been working for a long time on forgiveness as Christ calls us to forgive. It’s very difficult- yet life gets better and better when I do it. (I’m even given new opportunities, for practicing deep forgiveness. Oh joy!)
To not acknowledge sin in order to spare ours or someone’s ego is a horrific development in the fall of mankind. “Self-esteem” is a pretty wrapping hiding putrid pride. Less ego is what is needed. Humility, while painful to the poor widdle ego, is a saving grace to the individual and civilization.
It often hurts, shlepping along the narrow path (Pilgrim’s Progress), but that kind of pain is good. I do compassionately understand why our less-fortunate God-deniers want to do anything, think any way they wish, in order to avoid momentary pain, or even “Positive Disintegration”, Dark Night of the Soul… Only the Love of God, and the love for God, can give enough courage and motivation to continue along The Path.
Denying sin makes life much less painful in the moment, but the consequence of separation from God is the ultimate suffering.
(I wasn’t going to write, but I greatly appreciate this post and discussion. Nice work, John.)
I did a paper on this subject for my Psychology class, btw I love it because we put Psychological issues in a Biblical perspective. Anyhow as one discussion went some in the class felt that a psychopath was nothing more than a demon-possessed person, I for one feel that it is a half true statement why half true? Well although some may be possessed people such as Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, and Adolf Hitler were just straight up evil people they enjoyed inflicting pain and suffering on others so to call them a sinner would be an understatement.
I think about this subject a lot. It isn’t wrapped up with a bow for me yet.
I’m really uncomfortable with the status of mental illness in America. “Sick” people get away with horrendous acts of evil because “experts” can’t agree on what part of the brain is causing the “malfunction”. Psychology is another modern day idol. When we have full understanding of how the brain works, we’ll eradicate mental illness. …I don’t buy it.
“Mental illness is not a free pass for immorality.”
Put that on a T-shirt.
That would make a great T-Shirt