Round 'em up
December 16, 2002
Better Humans has a rather strident article on ending Biblical Brainwashing:
Imagine that you're a psychiatrist. A new patient comes to see you and says that he regularly talks to an invisible being who never responds, that he reads excerpts from one ancient book and that he believes wholeheartedly that its contents must be accepted implicitly, if not taken literally.This is one of those times where one can agree with the premise --fundamentalism is dangerous -- and reject the conclusion -- ban 'em all. Look, personally, the day religion has as much power, influence and respect as The Flat Earth Foundation does will be a great milestone in the history of Humanity. When we stop looking for cover under the context of the Invisible to solve our problems, justify our excesses or excuse our abominations, we will be much better for it. But, to me, there isn't much difference between "fundamentalism" and "mainstreamism." Both areThe patient goes on to say that that the world is only 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs never existed. He brazenly rejects modern science's observations and conclusions, and subscribes to the notion that after death he will live in eternal bliss in some alternate dimension. And throughout your meeting, he keeps handing you his book and urging you to join him, lest you end up after death in a far less desirable alternate dimension than him.
Is this a mentally healthy person? If you were a responsible psychiatrist, how could you answer yes? These symptoms border on delusional schizophrenia, which the American Psychological Association's DSM-IV describes as involving a profound disruption in cognition and emotion, assigning unusual significance or meaning to normal events and holding fixed false personal beliefs.
So, should you insist on follow-up appointments along with some strong medication? Well, quite obviously, the patient is a religious fundamentalist. So he would most likely not be diagnosed with a psychological problem. In fact, such a diagnosis could land you in hot water; the patient's religious beliefs are constitutionally protected.
Yet, perhaps it's time this changed, and that we made religious fundamentalism a mental and cultural health issue. People should be able to believe what they like, but only so long as their convictions don't harm others or, arguably, themselves. Fundamentalism, however, breeds fanaticism and often leads to terrible violence, injustice and inequality. If society can force drug addicts into rehabilitation because they're a danger to themselves and the public, then we should be able to compel religious fundamentalists to undergo treatment as well.
equally silly, with the problems of the former being ones of degree but not so much of kind when approached by the later.
Constitutional issues aside (and that's moving a lot of good things off the table), you don't get rid of an idea by banning it. That's exactly the same thing as screaming "DON'T THINK ABOUT PINK ELEPHANTS" and expecting to be obeyed. No, you counter bad ideas with better ones, with the encouragement of reason, of discussion, of critical thinking and rationality. It one of the proven ways to bring people out of the post hoc fallacies of religious experience and foster a more real world orientation.
I will give Dvorsky points for recommending the teaching of critical thinking skills and the raising of standards of living as excellent prophylactic measures against the "destructive meme" of fundamentalism from finding ground. Hastening it's journey through an immunized mind, out and into the intellectual crapper where it can be easily flushed away is a great thing. Let's hope it takes along the other idea of mandating psychotherapy for fundamentalism.
However, voluntary sessions are always recommended. Email me for a referral to mental health provider near you....
Posted by Jody at December 16, 2002 01:19 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://WWW.nakedwriting.COM/mt-tb.cgi/1443
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)