The Pills That Mother Gives You - ‘Admirable Evasions: How Psychology Undermines Morality’

Dalrymple believes psychology has taught people to think of the world in terms of pathology rather than evil. Confronted with the “tragic dimension of human life,” as he terms it, we seek to explain behavior we don’t understand as illness, or as anything, really, other than human imperfection.

The first issue of National Review in 1955 included the essay “Why They’ll Never Get Me on that Couch,” in which movie maven Morrie Ryskind declared himself a “non-conformist” for rejecting Hollywood’s latest craze, psychoanalysis. Five years later, in the same magazine, John Dos Passos put psychology on a level with communism when he wrote about “the twin myths of Marx and Freud.” Modern conservatism had it in for shrinks from the get-go.

Now, Theodore Dalrymple, once a practicing psychiatrist, joins in with a new book called Admirable Evasions: How Psychology Undermines Morality. Dalrymple’s predecessors to this subject were mostly writers, not clinicians—laymen distrustful of an initiated class that sought to explain the troubles of adult life according to whether, as children, they had ever walked in on their parents having sex. Dalrymple’s background brings credibility to this tradition of skepticism.......

"....Dalrymple contends that this boom-and-bust cycle stems from a “terrible temptation of the intellectuals, namely that of nothing-but-ism. History is nothing but a clash of class interests, human behavior is nothing but a response to economic incentives, etc., etc.” While such reduction can sound compelling in a classroom, it cannot explain much of human life. “[T]o try to analyze human behavior by reference to genes and chemicals is to regard humans in the same light as Drosophila, the fruit fly.” Homo sapiens is not so easily reduced.

A fine example of nothing-but-ism can be found in Tom Wolfe’s 1996 essay “Sorry, But Your Soul Just Died.” Wolfe recounts his interactions with the early disciples of neuroscience and genetics, who believed that PET scans and mouth-swabbing had proved “an uncompromising determinism.” Once armed with a full genetic sequence and sufficiently beefy computers, these shamans with PhDs believed that “it would be possible to predict the course of any human being’s life moment by moment, including the fact that the poor devil was about to shake his head over the very idea.” Wolfe wrote that, as knowledge about the field was trickling down to the masses, they were coming to believe that the genetic “fix” was in, and that soon they would be reliably judged by the content of their genome, like Ethan Hawke in Gattaca. Popular fascination with this genetic predestinarianism seems to have faded.

The proper response to human tragedy, the psychologists tells us, is a strict regimen of drugs. Counseling helps too. This is all well and good for the truly ill, Dalrymple concedes, but how many are truly ill? When the DSM-V clocks in at 1,000 pages and psychologists proclaim that a quarter of Americans suffer from a “diagnosable mental disorder” each year, they are likely guilty of over-diagnosis....." Full text

Psychology is only part of the picture; it deals with modification of behaviors that should have been shaped when young.

Genes affect one's personality, and can indeed predispose people to certain mental illnesses like schizophrenia or psychosis (genes are involved with autism, too). But genes are not the entire picture: very few genetic traits are completely controlled by genes. The other component is environment, which affects how genes behave. Environment can be anything--chemical exposure, how children are raised, etc. If parents don't raise their children well, they won't turn out well. A child who is a born psychopath--who has no ability to empathize--can turn into a career criminal, or a functioning member of society, based on how his parents raise him.

“This is what we call smart power,” she said. “Using every possible tool and partner to advance peace and security. Leaving no one side on the sidelines. Showing respect even for one’s enemies. Trying to understand and in so far as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view.”

Actually, that is not bad practice. The best way to determine how to defeat the enemy is to understand him--yes, in part by using empathy. If we understand Islamic extremists, then we know that the only thing that will keep them in check is a position of strength and some measure of ruthlessness. Anything less is seen as weakness, and they will take advantage of it.

How Psychology Undermines Morality.

Like THIS??

Genesis 13:13

Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.

Psalms 12:8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

Doonesbury Cartoon for Feb/08/2013

Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

Ezekiel 16:49-50
49. "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
50. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

2 Peter 2

1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

But there IS hope!!!

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...

The Health Risks of gay sex.

True enough, but we still need to know what is “normal” as a goal to strive for. And for that we need an unassailable touchstone of truth. With the possible exception of John the Baptist, only Adam and Eve and Jesus Christ were normal human beings. Adam and Eve fell morally and passed the sin nature to all the rest of us as a result. Much like us, they did not fully appreciate all that God had created for them or the relationship God desired. What we take for granted sometimes begin to feel like “rights” instead of the gifts that they are. It’s easy to become demanding like spoiled children and want what we think we “deserve” and what we are “owed” in our pursuit of our happiness. Jesus redeemed us by his death and shed blood on the cross. Normal is bringing your life into conformity with the example of Christ. He said that he only did and said what his Father told him to do and say. He did not use his “God powers” independently of his Father but relied on the Holy Spirit to direct his ministry while on earth. He showed us how to die to self so that we might live for him. He, by his example, became our model of what God wants from us. No, we won’t be sinless until our salvation is complete, when he takes us in death or comes back for us, but we should show progress in holiness. It’s not easy to die to your own desires (not all of which are bad - but separation from fellowship with God makes them so) and live your life for someone else (Him). The enemy entices us to believe that God is holding out on us and that He’s not as good or loving as He claims to be (just like in the garden). Also, from our perspective, the self-life looks very appealing and is just too tempting for most people to “take a chance on God.” But normal is loving God on his terms and your neighbor as yourself (also on God’s terms). Impossible, if you do not have His Spirit living within you. However, if by faith, you taste and see that the Lord is good, your perspective can change. These are truths the majority of Americans used to believe - even if they did not practice them well. Are we better people today as a result of walking away from biblical truth? I think not. We have rejected revealed truth for fables from mere men. I don’t have happy thoughts when I think about America’s future. The book of Daniel shows that God rules from heaven. Fortunately for him, Nebuchadnezzar learned that lesson - but the hard way. We have the leaders today God wants us to have. I believe this is part of God’s judgement on our nation. I greave for my country and for the great nation we once were. No, not perfect, but compared to others, we were certainly blessed in so many ways. Fortunately for true disciples of Christ, nothing can prevent the Kingdom of God from coming to earth. Psalm 2 tells a little of what’s ahead.

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