No Casseroles for Mental Illness


A wonderful article relates the experience of a devout Christian. A friend was diagnosed with cancer at the same time she was diagnosed with a mental illness. Church members sent food and support to her friend. She suffered in silence.

I recall watching Pat Robertson's 700 Club 20 years ago. A talented young woman was his co-host. She disappeared. When she came back as a guest months later, she was not interviewed by Pat but by a new host. She said she had suffered severe depression and advised viewers to get professional help. Pat came on and was visibly unhappy. Mental illness is a human flaw like sin that needs Jesus, not doctors.

I've never seen this discussed, by I think the prejudice some Christians have against gays and trans people comes from the same flawed mythology. People's minds are full of sin. Sin can be conquered by kneeling before Jesus. Gay or trans are just another version of sin. Pray the gay away. Illnesses like cancer deserve sympathy. Mental illness and same sex attraction both deserve the scorn of sinners. They can change by submitting to the required myths.  

So often, Christianity is praised for starting hospitals and shelters. The harm done by ancient hatred and prejudice is just winked at and forgotten.

We should not be surprised when Christianity turns its fangs on people who think differently or have mental illness. We need only go back the Galileo and recall the Pope at the time proclaimed the sun moved over a stationary earth. When Galileo made light of the Pope's myth he was put under house arrest for life. Today the Catholic church repeats the myth that abortion is more dangerous than giving birth. It preaches the divorced and remarried are living in sin. It calls birth control a sin. That there is little to no support for families with mental illness is a continuation of a misguided mythology. 

While rallying around local people who suffer cancer and accidents is a fine thing, the same support for families where mental illness is present would be a welcome improvement. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 23, 2023 at 3:58 PM

    Yup, it all seems to boil down to sin, which is the belief that humans are basically evil and only a splash of water from the front of a church can begin the “healing “ process.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more