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LTTE: Health concerns best handled by medical community, not Bible
By Seth Andrews, Broken Arrow | 24 comments
Elizabeth Franklin offered a tragically oversimplified (and hugely misinformed) "solution" to mental and physical illness ("The Bible way," Aug. 19).
While it's true that ulcers, heart attacks, etc., can be triggered by stress, it's a long leap to declare that pursuing "the mind of Christ" will alleviate the problems, especially as Christianity teaches that our Earthly maladies are the product of an inherited sin nature, disobedience, a lack of faith, or an attack by a sinister Satanic force.
Someone with heart trouble might, indeed, be stressed, or he might have a blocked artery or inherited heart disease and require medical intervention. Someone with an ulcer might be stressed, or he might have H. pylori. Instead of naming and claiming a happy-clappy verse from an anonymously written magic book (which declares that humans are born broken, to blame and only redeemed by an invisible other), he would be better served with a heart scan and the intervention of trained medical personnel.
Positioning the Bible as a source of peace and goodness (Franklin quotes 2 Timothy 1
) is problematic, as the Bible reveals enough Yahweh-induced blood lust, bigotry, misogyny, racism and hellfire to palpitate anyone's heart. And we haven't yet mentioned that ultimate de-stresser ... eternal hell.
We need better books, better resources and better ideas, and those suffering from illness deserve more than a "Yea, Jesus!" pep rally as they navigate through their complex physical and mental challenges.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/letters/letter-to-the-editor-health-concerns-best-handled-by-medical/article_792039bd-9567-5de7-a99c-fd799f920045.html
Elizabeth Franklin offered a tragically oversimplified (and hugely misinformed) "solution" to mental and physical illness ("The Bible way," Aug. 19).
While it's true that ulcers, heart attacks, etc., can be triggered by stress, it's a long leap to declare that pursuing "the mind of Christ" will alleviate the problems, especially as Christianity teaches that our Earthly maladies are the product of an inherited sin nature, disobedience, a lack of faith, or an attack by a sinister Satanic force.
Someone with heart trouble might, indeed, be stressed, or he might have a blocked artery or inherited heart disease and require medical intervention. Someone with an ulcer might be stressed, or he might have H. pylori. Instead of naming and claiming a happy-clappy verse from an anonymously written magic book (which declares that humans are born broken, to blame and only redeemed by an invisible other), he would be better served with a heart scan and the intervention of trained medical personnel.
Positioning the Bible as a source of peace and goodness (Franklin quotes 2 Timothy 1
) is problematic, as the Bible reveals enough Yahweh-induced blood lust, bigotry, misogyny, racism and hellfire to palpitate anyone's heart. And we haven't yet mentioned that ultimate de-stresser ... eternal hell.
We need better books, better resources and better ideas, and those suffering from illness deserve more than a "Yea, Jesus!" pep rally as they navigate through their complex physical and mental challenges.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/letters/letter-to-the-editor-health-concerns-best-handled-by-medical/article_792039bd-9567-5de7-a99c-fd799f920045.html
Spot on response. The best part are the comments, with the usual apologist BS being spewed by one or two ignorant dolts. Sounds familiar.
1 replies
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