Posts Tagged Philosophy
Faith or Psychosis? A Case Study
Posted by annaldavis in Everything Else on April 16, 2012
Abraham is an elderly male presenting with symptoms of acute psychosis. Physical exam, taken upon admittance, is normal. Psychiatric evaluation shows severe mental and behavioral distortion. Below is a transcript of the evaluation (P= Psychiatrist, A= Abraham).
Patient exhibits strong signs of psychosis, including delusions of grandeur and reduced capacity to recognize reality. Recommend treatment with antipsychotics, and need for increased patient awareness of disorganized thought processes. Talked with patient’s wife about the condition, explained the dosage of medication and need for increased vigilance toward mental wellbeing. Patient agreed not to make any big decisions until treatment takes effect. Patient will indefinitely postpone moving his family.
Patient also agreed to follow-up with psychiatrist in two weeks to discuss medication and other long-term prevention and self-care methods in the event of a repeat severe psychotic event. Prognosis is good. Patient has sufficient family support and shows initial compliance with treatment plan.
Which is it: FAITH or PSYCHOSIS? Sometimes it can be hard to tell…
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).
(This post was inspired by Genesis 12 from the Bible, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschal.)
ideas and truth
Posted by annaldavis in Everything Else on August 7, 2010
“What’s the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to steal it.” ~ Inception
When was the last time you really thought about what you believe? And where that belief, that idea, came from? Some ideas come through the wisdom and understanding of those who have gone before us. Other ideas may be harmful at their core, once we deconstruct the true meaning and motive.
As we grow older we learn to deprogram ourselves from potentially harmful ideas that have been imbedded in us, or to consciously choose the beneficial ones. If you haven’t done this with the big issues – theology, politics, sex, and money – then how do you know what YOU really believe?
And if that idea came from someone else, how do you know it was based on truth? I think it’s entirely possible that the True, Original ideas become tainted over time and that this is especially true with spirituality and religion. Religious deception is everywhere. When was the last time you deconstructed what you believe?
Because it would make sense that the most powerful ideas are also the most strongly opposed. Ideas that are both original and Truthful are under constant attack because of their sheer power. If something can twist the Truth — dilute and distort it — then it can potentially change everything.
God, the first and last truly original idea, is building a magnificent City that is transforming the world and rewriting the rules of our fallen history. But too many of us are following the lie, the planted false truth. When was the last time you deconstructed what you believe?
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
pluralism and the END of the WORLD
Posted by annaldavis in Everything Else on June 7, 2010
This is probably one of my more dramatic post titles, and if WordPress had a soundtrack widget I imagine there would be some intense thematic music in the background. Maybe if this were a speech instead of a blog, I would stand at the podium, wild-eyed, staring everyone down before spitting out the words “pluralism! and. the. END. OF. THE. WORLD!!!” I’m sure I would be convincing, all 4’10″ of me (because I can be convincing, you know).
So this is a weighty topic and while it deserves a heavy hand I certainly am not in the mood for that tonight. VBS with a bunch of screaming happy kids (some with waterguns) will do that to a person. But here we go…
Pluralism says that “all paths to truth are valid,” even opposing paths. This is the prevalent philosophy of American culture and much of the West, and it won’t be long before globalization spreads pluralism to all corners of the earth. While I believe that working together to achieve unity and world peace is ALWAYS good in the natural world, the spiritual message behind pluralism leads us down a dark lie-based alley. This is because to achieve unity through religious pluralism, we ignore our differences to such an extent that we think we are spiritually united with other faiths, when in fact two such faiths may believe opposite things. This is a false spiritual unity. (For the unabridged version of these thoughts click here, here, and here.)
I suspect that the false spiritual unity brought about through pluralism is related to the Spirit of Babylon (the great harlot) that we read about in Revelation. The Babylonian spirit is known for how it puffs up, flatters, and causes us to think that we are everything, that we can be like God, and that there is no other besides us. This is what took humanity out of God’s presence in the Garden of Eden, and I’m beginning to think that it will be the same spirit that ushers in the kingdom of the antichrist at the end of the world. It makes sense, doesn’t it? To come full circle, back to the original deceit.
So just imagine with me another 30 years or so of pluralism, where I don’t talk about Jesus and you don’t talk about Muhammad (or we ignore some of the more crazy parts, like the whole “I am the way, the truth and the life” bit) and we all begin to feel a type of synergy with each other. The nations and governments get really cozy. Sure there will continue to be wars, but the overall flow of things will tend to bring us closer together. The nations will NEED each other like never before, we will be interdependent. Enmeshed. Anything that threatens this blissful “we are one-ness” will be seen as extremism. Old-fashioned. Mythic. Less evolved. Primitive.
And it’s all a costume, based on a philosophy that promotes false unity. So what happens when you build a modern-day Tower of Babel on a lie?
The same thing that happened to the first Tower of Babel, only this time a beast will be waiting in the wings. Check out Revelation 17 and 18 to see how this will play out in the spiritual realm, that beautiful and dangerous place we cannot yet see.
Of course I don’t know what will happen over the next 30 years. Sometimes I think God laughs at us, down here, trying to figure these things out with our limited intelligence. I don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. Do you? I mean, do you REALLY know?
