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Alice in Wonderland logic, apologetics, atheism, biology, blogging, brains, Christianity, faith, mental health issues
Paul, the apostle Paul, is sometimes rumored to have had temporal lobe issues. I came across this bit of information a while back and I suppose I should have been triggered or annoyed about it or something, but instead I just thought, awesome! I now share something in common with the apostle Paul. How cool is that?
No, I don’t have a temporal lobe problem and I doubt Paul did either, but I have been heavily scrutinized a few times in my life for my alleged mental health problems.
As a kid I grew up among atheists and rather defiantly insisted on talking to God and seeing angels. Obviously this is not good in the atheist world and signifies some sort of issue, likely a chemical imbalance. Unfortunately the secular world of mental health care, also tends to frown on the spiritual aspects of well, spirituality, so I got to count backwards and stare at ink blots and have blood work. Sadly, they could find nothing really wrong with me.
Later, when I went on to live with my dad, the system stepped into this custody battle between my mother and my father and actually lost me in the Land of Broken Toys, where kids go when our case numbers get transposed or misplaced. To justify their funding we all must have an ailment of some sort, so I got to stare at ink blots again and have brain scans and try to explain to frowning professionals that I’m really not crazy….it’s just that there’s this whole other world on the other side of the veil and it’s awesome and there are angels singing and everything….so “chronically maladjusted” was the diagnosis. That’s what happens to people who walk IN the world but aren’t quite OF the world, if you know what I mean.
Being a good and faithful Christian who completely and unconditionally trusts God at all times (that’s a bit of self depreciating humor, by the way) I actually had a couple of recent close encounters with Him that were just disturbing enough to send me fleeing towards medical care for a complete check up. Good news, I apparently still do not have a temporal lobe issue, a brain tumor, a history of strokes, or any other sort of physical issue. I could well be insane however, they can’t really see that on any sort of scan.
It’s somewhat amusing, I’ve spent my entire life trying to avoid somebody else’s diagnoses of crazy, ironically something that has truly been projected onto to me by some genuinely crazy people. I am not alone there.
On another blog I said, “crazy doesn’t mean mentally ill or having a chemical imbalance, it flat out means I have the right to dismiss everything you say because I don’t like what you’re saying.”
That’s it in a nutshell. The chemical condition of somebody’s brain is completely irrelevant. We call people crazy because we are uncomfortable with their perception of reality and we want an excuse to dismiss it.
Insanitybytes is not really a name I made up to bemoan mental illness, but rather to celebrate and honor all of those who have been labeled crazy or damaged or mentally ill, as if that now means you have the right to dismiss anything we have to say, to treat us as second class citizens, or to project your own issues onto us.
When one has a close encounter with God, it really is a bit like getting poked in the brain, but whether or not Paul had temporal lobe issues is actually not even relevant to the fact that there was truth, beauty, and wisdom in his words.
Paul said:
They just haven’t invented the right machine to be able to see your kind of crazy IB. 😀 😛
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Paul said:
Oh, I’m working on one now – using myself as a positive test subject. I’ll let you know when it is done.
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insanitybytes22 said:
LOL, fabulous! You be the crash test dummy, I’ll wait until you get to the part about needing a human guinea pig 😉
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Victo Dolore said:
I have learned some of my best lessons from “crazy” people.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Me too. The sane are highly over rated 😉
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madamsabi said:
We all are crazy or passionate about something…
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silenceofmind said:
My Saint Paul moment happened when my whole life flashed before my eyes and I became so terrified that I went temporarily blind and the part of my brain that remembers the names of movie stars and acquaintances got fired.
But instead of having God talk to me, I was left to stew for hours in the ER because nobody knew what was wrong with me.
Since I wasn’t bleeding and no bones were broken I suppose I was better left out of sight out of mind.
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insanitybytes22 said:
That sounds scary, Silence. I call that, God poking you in the brain.
I think it’s reserved for those He wants very badly 😉
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Colorstorm said:
Boy, imagine the gossip that Pilate could have started (maybe he did) –
‘I asked Him a simple question…………………what is truth……………. couldnt answer……………. maybe something is
wrong………………’
Another time, ‘this man has a devil………………’ yea ok. I’m liking the company IB, I’m thinkin u are too.
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Eric said:
In the Soviet Union, disputing the ‘reality’ of Communism was officially considered a symptom of mental illness. Cultures that are led by lunatics define insanity according to their own beliefs.
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Michael said:
You show me a man that wants to rule over other people (for “good” or for bad) and I will show you a Lunatic!
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Michael said:
Yes, C.S. and I. B. we are in good company. Jesus said that He could hear His Father in heaven Speak and see Him work here on earth!!! Obviously He was delusional… calling God His Father? His own friends once came to take Him away and lock him up, too (Mark 3:21)! I.B. keep on posting and sharing His life in you with us. Also, thanks for your comments on my blog.
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higharka said:
Whatever you’ve got is good, IB. I’ve been engaged in discussions with both atheists and Christians this week, and each accuses me of being a nasty form of the other group when I don’t automatically agree with them on any particular point. (Ironically, they avoid each other, but my willingness to talk to both of them makes me a substitute baddie.)
You really have the “love the sinner, hate the sin,” and “do unto others…” concepts down pat, right where it counts, and that’s very much appreciated.
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lovelifeandgod said:
If it’s any assurance, most totalitarian regimes will declare anyone who disagrees with them as mentally ill. Insanity is in the eye of the beholder, huh? 😉
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violetwisp said:
I like the post in many ways, but it’s an awkward one to comment on. Anyone who hears voices in their head should definitely be aware that it’s unlikely to be a particular god and they should, as you did, seek medical invention. We know it’s unlikely to be a god or your God because the varying voices leave lots of different messages to lots of different people. Saying that, I know other people who think the Christian god God speaks to them and most of the time they function fine in society, so it’s clearly something that can be managed without writing off everything the person says.
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insanitybytes22 said:
LOL, that’s absolutely perfect Violet. Thanks for validating everything I wrote and for trusting my ability to function just fine in society. 😉
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Ronald Thomas West said:
Ahem .. well, I’m not in love with Paul (quite the contrary.) In fact the whole organized thing built around Paul’s stuff seems to lose the message .. for me anyway. I sort of doubt you have to be Christian to appreciate conversations with angels. Not that angels inspired this ‘Gospel According to Ronald’
http://ronaldthomaswest.com/2013/09/23/the-gospel-according-to-ronald/
^ More likely the inspiration of a bored imp 😉
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