tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811680178127587252.post438163963418266510..comments2023-09-30T10:14:34.745-04:00Comments on Spirit Filled Life: Should the Judge Have Jailed Cho When He Had Him?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811680178127587252.post-10553874331030913482007-04-27T13:25:00.000-04:002007-04-27T13:25:00.000-04:00Regarding the incident I mentioned, from the Chica...Regarding the incident I mentioned, from the Chicago Tribune today:<BR/><BR/>'STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, S . . . T . . . A . . . B . . ., PUKE.' That's an excerpt from a school essay written in response to the assignment, "Write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing" -- the essay that led to a student's arrest.<BR/><BR/>See <A HREF="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0704270431apr27,1,4949627.story" REL="nofollow" TITLE="more here">more here</A>.Rich Tatumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290320244688616885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811680178127587252.post-53770714622034022712007-04-27T07:13:00.000-04:002007-04-27T07:13:00.000-04:00Thanks Rich. I am thinking about what you wrote.Thanks Rich. I am thinking about what you wrote.Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09639203507588397614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811680178127587252.post-1574579672220615942007-04-27T04:12:00.000-04:002007-04-27T04:12:00.000-04:00There's a debate raging on my blog right now about...There's a debate raging on my blog right now about homosexuality and Christianity (essentially, the dialog is over whether the Bible explicitly forbids homosexual acts or whether the disputed Greek terms imply something else, such as forcible male rape, etc.). A key plank to the pro-gay argument is that homosexual orientation (as well as gender identity orientation) is innate, possibly genetic, and immaleable. The argument goes that since it is innate, the loving, Christian thing to do is to accept the behavior as within the Biblical norms.<BR/><BR/>On the surface, this has little to do with your post here. But this is what occurred to me as I read your anecdote: Is it possible for innate mental deviancy — which seems perfectly rational to the sufferer, to be communicable?<BR/><BR/>By that, I do not mean is it possible to induce mental illness by exposure. I'm simply wondering if one's altered sense of what is right can be so persuasive as to generate a "meme" that others not so mentally inclined might eventually accept and pass on themselves?<BR/><BR/>I'm thinking of this in light of the GLBT debate, of course. But I suspect there is evidence that an individual's psychosis can become mass psychosis when a cultural "tipping" point is reached. For example, what happens when a psychotic megalomaniac rules a country? Perhaps you get Nazi Germany, or North Korea, or Iraq. One leader's delusions fuel and inform a cultural delusion.<BR/><BR/>The seed may be biological but its flowering and fruit can be sociological and cultural.<BR/><BR/>In the example you cited, it would have been theoretically possible that your director, compelled by the rationality of his "reality" could have persuaded everybody else in the room to accept his role and position by fiat. In short, his native psychosis induced a belief in his peers, family, and friends indistinguishable from his own break from reality save for the fact that his was rooted and biology and everyone else's rooted in belief.<BR/><BR/>I don't know. I feel like I'm rambling here, but it is good food for thought.<BR/><BR/>One last aside: I've been hearing reports today of a high-school boy arrested for writing too creatively when given a therapeutic creative writing assignment by his teacher. The goal was to deal with the emotional aftermath of Virginia Tech by having the students confront their emotions through writing. Unfortunately, one boy's writing proved to be too violent for comfort. The teacher called the police, and the boy was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.<BR/><BR/>Seems that if forcible treatment is to be actionable at all, there should definitely be experienced and expert mental health professionals involved, not merely lay-people.<BR/><BR/>Rich<BR/><A HREF="http://tatumweb.com/blog/" REL="nofollow">BlogRodent</A>Rich Tatumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290320244688616885noreply@blogger.com