Quote:
Originally Posted by ERCougar
Wow...I don't know where to even start with this thread.
Suffice it to say, I almost completely agree with SU. I think most people in the medical field, who have to deal with the episodes of "possession" on any sort of regular basis, would agree with SU. That's not meant as any sort of medical arrogance; no one is more aware than doctors of the limitations of medical knowledge (a whole separate thread if we want to get into that...). But there is potentially significant harm in attributing these phenomena to spiritual causes, and ignoring very real underlying medical issues. This isn't hypothetical either--it happens frequently on a smaller scale with the person suffering from depression who's just told to pray harder. We already have a subconscious bias against mental illness (the area where the majority of these episodes seem to involve) having any sort of biochemical basis; we don't need anything else contributing to this.
I won't deny the beneficial impact of faith. I just see too much overreliance on it, or a misunderstanding of what faith involves. If I were to choose between SU and Christian Science, I'll take SU's view.
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BDB, you owe me an apology.
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Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be.
—Paul Auster
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