DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Love God Only
HTML https://lovegodonly.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Philosophical Questions
*****************************************************
#Post#: 10618--------------------------------------------------
Psychopaths
By: Kerry Date: March 29, 2015, 10:53 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The distinction between psychopath and sociopath can easily be
overlooked since both types share many of the same traits.
Both tend to have contempt for laws and social mores; both don't
care about the rights of others. Both can be violent at times.
Both appear not to feel remorse or guilt. On the latter point,
some psychologists may assert that sociopaths do not have
remorse or guilt; and I shall attempt to explain why this is not
so. Rather I assert that sociopaths do feel remorse and guilt
but suppress it well.
One thing about the truly psychopathic personality is that he
suspects everyone else is as evil as he is. Thus he will never
voluntarily put himself in a position of vulnerability where
others could damage him. His belief is that any displays of
affection are pretend and untrue, that people want to lure him
in to feel safe and make himself vulnerable so they can injure
him. Thus you will never see a true psychopath getting drunk
or using mind-altering drugs that could make him vulnerable.
He must feel as if he's in control at all times, and getting
drunk or using drugs puts him out of control; and if he did
that, others could then injure him.
The sociopath may be an alcoholic or drug addict. He is not in
control of himself. Indeed I would say he may be driven to
alcohol or drugs because of the suppressed guilt of his
misdeeds.
Another sign is how people respond to laughter. Most people do
not enjoy it when others laugh at them; but most people can
relax, from time to time, to see the humor in their own flaws.
The psychopath cannot tolerate anyone laughing at him. If you
want to get an emotional reaction from a psychopath, laugh at
him. He may be immune to other emotional displays; but the
central feature of pride in himself is at stake if others laugh
at him.
You can't be sure someone is a psychopath if you see him getting
angry when others laugh at him; but if you see someone who
doesn't always get angry at it, you can be fairly sure he's not
a psychopath.
There is another curious thing about psychopaths. If they
feel you cannot do anything to harm them, they may feel
comfortable enough to relate some of their crimes. They can
tell you about horrendous things they did without the least
trace of remorse; indeed they seem to enjoy it when they can
boast about them. It's not everyday the psychopath who has
committed heinous crimes can feel safe enough to talk about
them; but sometimes the shocking things they do aren't not
crimes. They relate these things with pride, almost oblivious
to any shock the person they're telling may feel. They are
proud they did them and just as proud about being clever enough
to get away with them.
#Post#: 10622--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: HOLLAND Date: March 30, 2015, 6:33 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I have not heard, Kerry, of this distinction between
pychopathology and sociopathology. I will think on it.
Peace be with you!
#Post#: 10623--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: Kerry Date: March 30, 2015, 7:25 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I am rereading a book by Huysmans called Là-Bas that I read
years ago. It's not always an easy read or a casual read. He
explores the psychology of the notorious Gilles de Rais who is
often called Bluebeard. Completely fascinating to me is how
Huysmans has his character explore de Rais' relationship with
Joan of Arc. De Rais was a pious enough fellow when he
fighting by Joan's side for king and country; but after she was
betrayed and burned at stake, de Rais had a radical character
change.
It's not always a pleasant book to read. Huysmans forces his
readers to confront ugliness. I find it a very interesting book
since it seems to have so many facets to it. Huysmans was a
devout Catholic himself, and the book has religious overtones as
you may guess by the title 'Down There" but usually given as
"The Damned" in English.
On a personal note, I have this belief -- or call it memory if
you like -- of having known Huysmans in a past life; and if you
want a glimpse into my character in that life, he based Dr.
Johann in that book called Dr. Johann on me. We knew each
other rather well since he was living with me towards the end
of my life. I can't say I agree with his portrayal of my
character; I think he makes me too much of a saint. Of course,
the opposite is usually the case: The Abbé Boullan is usually
vilified as a Satanist; but it is not so. What is true that
that he had enemies inside the Church who tried several times to
get him defrocked and they finally succeeded. The character of
Dr. Johann is a minor one who shows up at the end of the book.
The cat in the book may be a more important character.
Despite his many crimes, I would say de Rais was a sociopath and
not a psychpath. He repented before he was executed when he had
nothing to gain. The detail of how he lost faith in good and in
God is also telling. I don't think people become psychopaths
overnight. One must lose all faith in goodness, becoming
convinced completely that others are evil, that evil is stronger
than good, and it is foolish to want to be good. Pretending to
be good is a game. Since de Rais repented, I'd say he hadn't
stepped over that line where the sociopath becomes a psychopath.
I would say it usually takes several lifetimes to become
completely evil. The Divine Nature in man is not easy to
extinguish; but I think it can be if the person consistently
hardens his heart over several lifetimes. That may sound quite
odd at first; but I think my ideas on the subject explain some
difficult passages in the Bible. I believe I can explain
passages which most people duck.
#Post#: 10624--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: coldwar Date: March 30, 2015, 7:53 am
---------------------------------------------------------
One thing that gets my goat regarding both conditions is how the
Psychiatric profession tends to ignore both, along with
Borderline Personality Disorder. I got involved with a "Mental
Health First Aid" course, to help people who have family members
with certain conditions to recognize the symptoms of when people
are in a crises, and need special care, or at least to be
watched. But conspicuous by their absence from this course were
Psychopathy, Sociopathy, and BPD. When I asked about this, the
answer I was given was "those are not considered to be on the
spectrum of Psychiatric disorders". Huh?
Now, flip the page to my wife and I with our experience of
meeting men in the Prison Chapel. Guess what? THIS is the place
where you find the people with these conditions. Psychiatrists
took them out of their text-books so to speak, and placed them
into one broad category of "criminal". The reason could be that
Psychiatry really cannot treat Psychopathy, Sociopathy, and BPD
effectively, and so there's no choice but to wait for them to
commit a criminal act, so they can be locked up and forgotten.
Indeed, over time, I've learned how to spot these problems, and
I would say that every man I've met in the Prison are afflicted
with one of these problems. Recently, I greeted one young man
with a friendly touch on his shoulder, and the normally friendly
guy quickly lurched away from me, and I could see anger
immediately flare up in his eyes. I said "Oh, I'm sorry", and
after he had calmed, he said, "that was just my BPD (response)."
I speak to him every time I'm there - he loves to talk about
Bible stuff and I'm glad to oblige, but I didn't know about his
problem. Turns out I was fortunate that he didn't punch my
lights out, because it was a BPD induced rage / assault that got
him in there.
All this to say that what a good thing it would be if Psychiatry
would take on the appropriate study to develop effective
treatment for these conditions, instead of just throwing them
over the big wall.
#Post#: 10627--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: Kerry Date: March 30, 2015, 3:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=coldwar link=topic=1004.msg10624#msg10624
date=1427720033]
One thing that gets my goat regarding both conditions is how the
Psychiatric profession tends to ignore both, along with
Borderline Personality Disorder. I got involved with a "Mental
Health First Aid" course, to help people who have family members
with certain conditions to recognize the symptoms of when people
are in a crises, and need special care, or at least to be
watched. But conspicuous by their absence from this course were
Psychopathy, Sociopathy, and BPD. When I asked about this, the
answer I was given was "those are not considered to be on the
spectrum of Psychiatric disorders". Huh?[/quote]
There are certain professions that attract psychopaths and
sociopaths. Psychiatry is one. Why would they want to be
honest about the subject? Then you have the people who are
attracted to the mental health field because they know something
is wrong with them -- here we have the victims of psychopathy.
The history of psychiatry is gruesome. Consider how doctors
used to slash people's brains in an attempt to "cure" them.
How could mutilating someone cure him? It didn't.
Lobotomies did turn the people into vegetables though, more
easily managed. This surgery was touted as a miracle however
and even people who entered the mental health field for
benevolent reasons believed in it. There was no real good
reason to do it, unless your goal is to make people conform by
breaking them down.
Then someone invented electroshock therapy. Again there is no
evidence at all that this cures anything; but like lobotomies,
it reduces the person's ability to act and turns him into a
semi-vegetable. It's torture, pure and simple. Some mad
doctor (I'd say a psychopathic one) invented it and then
convinced his colleagues of its value. The sociopathic doctors
embraced it, of course.
Insanity is contagious. Most of us have been sociopathic to at
least a small degree one time or another; and being around evil
makes us more evil ourselves. Being around crazy people will
make us more crazy ouselves. If you took a completely sane
person and put him in a mental ward and kept him there, he would
develop some mental illness. We also know that sane doctors
and nurses develop symptoms of mental illness by working with
mental patients. You can see how mental health professionals
become sociopathic, how they often become abusive as a means to
"control" the patients they can't cure. Similarly people who
work in prisons often develop mental health problems and become
somewhat sociopathic.
Do let us remember that "modern" psychology developed in large
part in America after World War II when German "professionals"
came to America. There is history there. We know how
psychiatrists aided Hitler during WWII. Crazy and gruesome
experiments were conducted.
Skip forward now to how the "mental health professionals"
brainwashed Catholic Bishops about how they could cure
homosexuality. This was a complete lie, of course, based on
rigged statistics and a lot of hot air; but they convinced the
Bishops. Some Bishops got into more trouble than others.
Cardinal Law got into real trouble. That case is worth
discussing. Here's my take on it.
Law believed molesting priests could be cured by the mental
health professionals. It was the official position of the
American Bishops. So he tried to help cure them. In doing
that, he was neglecting to follow official Church procedures
since canon law demands specific actions; but Law trusted
"modern mental science" more than the ancient tested procedures
for weeding out bad apples. Now if modern science really could
"cure" homosexuals as claimed, Law and the other Bishops would
have been right to try to get help for the offending priests.
Why adopt a punitive approach if you can help someone cure his
problems? So Law and other Bishops did that. The whole thing
failed miserably, of course.
The sex abuse cases then began to emerge; and accusations were
made that Law had neglected the rights of victims and protected
the criminals. That is true, no doubt about it; but I think
it's a little naive to see Law as deliberately siding with the
wrong people. No, I say Law himself was naive -- and a little
insane himself by being around crazy priests and crazy
psychologists.
That situation was so crazy, the Worchester Diocese of the
Catholic Church bought a mansion -- yes, a mansion -- and turned
it into a facility to house molesting priests. No sane person
could ever possibly believe that you can help a group of gay
priests by throwing them all together and then failing to
supervise them. Rev. Thomas A. Kane founded that -- the House
of Affirmation -- was himself accused of molesting boys. Indeed
some of the money that was supposed to go to support the
molesting priests and cure them was diverted into paying off
someone who said Kane had molested him.
The mansion remains controversial. It got shut down as a mental
health facility; but now the Catholic Bishop of Worchester is
involved in a lawsuit after a gay couple wanted to buy it and
turn it into a bed and breakfast. The Bishop's reason was that
maybe people would have gay sex there. Oh the irony! But then
Bishop MacManus is hardly an example of complete sanity himself,
being arrested for drunk driving. That tells me the evil has
still not been rooted out. It also tells me that MacManus is
not the real psychopath since a real psychopath would never get
that drunk.
[quote]Now, flip the page to my wife and I with our experience
of meeting men in the Prison Chapel. Guess what? THIS is the
place where you find the people with these conditions.
Psychiatrists took them out of their text-books so to speak, and
placed them into one broad category of "criminal". The reason
could be that Psychiatry really cannot treat Psychopathy,
Sociopathy, and BPD effectively, and so there's no choice but to
wait for them to commit a criminal act, so they can be locked up
and forgotten.[/quote]I'd say true psychopaths can't be changed.
There are things that can be done for sociopathy and BPD.
There the problem is caused by the associating with evil. The
people then began to act more and more psychopathic themselves
although they aren't real psychopaths. A prison is not a place
I'd expect to see them improve that much -- they could, but
being surrounded by other evil and insanity makes it harder. If
they learn the value of avoiding evil and insanity in prison,
that may be the most important thing since once they get out,
they could avoid situations that are making them act crazy.
Still the situation would be hard. Parole officers often go a
little crazy by being around craziness. The police do. Social
workers do. They often call it burn out. What it is is
feeling that what they'd doing isn't working. They feel all
their good efforts aren't working. The temptation then is to
try something else.
[quote]Indeed, over time, I've learned how to spot these
problems, and I would say that every man I've met in the Prison
are afflicted with one of these problems.[/quote]If they didn't
have mental problems when they entered prison, they'd develop
them. It's like putting a sane person into a psychiatric
hospital -- he would start going a little crazy by being around
other crazy patients and the staff who were also going crazy.
[quote]Recently, I greeted one young man with a friendly touch
on his shoulder, and the normally friendly guy quickly lurched
away from me, and I could see anger immediately flare up in his
eyes. I said "Oh, I'm sorry", and after he had calmed, he said,
"that was just my BPD (response)." I speak to him every time I'm
there - he loves to talk about Bible stuff and I'm glad to
oblige, but I didn't know about his problem. Turns out I was
fortunate that he didn't punch my lights out, because it was a
BPD induced rage / assault that got him in there.[/quote]
My guess is he was around someone who was either a psychopath or
a sociopath. People who go on rages like that are either
associating with a negative person in the here and now or they
had a powerful influence from someone in the past, often in
their childhood. The BFD response is not that everyone is
truly evil -- but that suspicion is growing. Thus a friendly
touch can easily be interpreted the wrong way. It is not a
completely wrong response to have if you are around evil or
somewhat crazy people.
There is a game that psychopath and some sociopaths seem to
enjoy. You lure your victim in by being friendly or appearing
vulnerable. You can put on the act of being very charming and
then murdering your victim once he or she has been fooled and
lured into a situation where you can kill him or her. Or you
can pretend to need help as some people do, appealing to the
good nature of your victims. Do you remember the case of the
mass murderer who would ask children to help him look for a
missing dog? I think there was one who would ask women to help
hold his groceries while he opened his car door. In Huysmans'
novel, he has de Rais seducing the children by getting them to
trust him; and once he felt they trusted him, he would rape and
kill them.
Being around people who enjoy stabbing you in the back once they
think you trust them can erode your faith in people in general.
It can make you want to stab others in the back before they
have the chance to stab you. It also makes people leery about
any act of kindness. Almost anything can be perceived as a
threat.
The solution is to learn how to spot the evil and the crazy and
then avoid it whenever you can. See it for what it is, and
realize that not everyone is either evil or crazy although we
all can act that way from time to time. I can see associating
with people who have problems if they want rid of their
problems. If I perceive someone is enjoying his problems and
is not willing to change, then I cut off my association.
People don't like to "give up" on something until they've "won"
at it. Tangling with evil and craziness is like that. People
can get mired down in these things and not want to "give up" on
it until they feel they've "won." But that is how people get
sucked down further and further.
The psychopath and sociopath who aren't violent and who do their
evil deeds using non-violent means actually enjoy it if you do
something wrong to them. That means you feel guilty, and then
they can play on that. No matter what they do, they can remind
you of all your own bad deeds. They can cut you down to the
point where you feel you deserve to be abused. [/quote]All this
to say that what a good thing it would be if Psychiatry would
take on the appropriate study to develop effective treatment for
these conditions, instead of just throwing them over the big
wall.[/quote]My own belief on this is that the "bad apples" have
so infected the field of psychiatry that it will never happen.
Psychopaths are running the show. I'm not saying all
psychiatrists are psychopaths; but I am saying the ones who are
are the ones with the most influence. The people who entered
the profession hoping to help others are often naive or entered
the profession themselves because they were wondering what was
wrong with them. The goal of psychiatrists today is largely
what it was in Nazi Germany -- to control the minds of others.
It's not curing anyone. Look at the history.
The crazier society becomes, the better! People will believe
we need a police state; and any "respectable" police state will
need more mental health professionals and more prisons. I
haven't touched on how Russia and China operated and still do
to a degree. If you oppose a certain government policy, the
psychiatrists will say you're obviously crazy. You may need to
be sent to an indoctrination camp. The state and the mental
health crowd are happy to form such an alliance which gives them
both more power over their fellow man. If you have psychopaths
in government and the mental health field, they will always
believe people are basically wicked and need to be cut down,
neutralized, made powerless.
We may be entering a new phase though in the USA. Many mental
health facilities have been closed. The job of dealing with
mental illness is now left more to the police and to prisons.
The police are behaving more erratically; perhaps they're
developing BFD. They are shooting down unarmed people even
when they can see clearly they're unarmed. A naked person
lunging at a cop is clearly unarmed; but we now have cops using
lethal force at times. This makes some people happy since they
see the cops as killing people who are threats; but it makes
other people nervous because they wonder if the cops will kill
them. If you believe the police may kill you for holding a
cellphone, I think you'd be tempted to want to kill the police.
Thus the paranoia on one side can keep feeding the paranoia on
the other side.
It seems to me that years ago I never read of such things
happening in Canada. Paranoia seems to be on the rise in Canada
now. Don't expect psychiatrists to provide a solution. I'd say
they're part of the problem.
#Post#: 10639--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: Kerry Date: April 1, 2015, 2:25 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
There is a passage in Genesis which speaks of iniquity becoming
full. The only explanation that makes sense to me is
reincarnation. I do not believe God foreordained these things,
that people did not have a choice. Rather I believe these
things were predictable.
Genesis 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell
upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall
be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve
them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge:
and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
This affliction of four hundred years was to correct the karma
at Babel where the sons of Adam voluntarily made bricks. In
Egypt, they were forced to make bricks. Trying to get into
Heaven by using bricks shows us how men so often believe they
should betray self -- should not be faithful to the unique
individual nature given to each of us by God. Men are not
supposed to be identical. We are designed to become unique; and
mankind as a whole is strong only when the uniqueness of the
individual is respected. Mankind as a whole is like a human
body which needs all its individual members. A human body can't
be made of all feet or all hands, or all hearts, or all heads.
Each member is needed.
Thus bricks show us something about man when he believes
adopting a slave mentality is best. At Babel, men fell into
this error; and in Egypt, when Israel was coming out, the older
generation still had that mentality. Thus they wanted to return
to Egypt, wanted to return to being slaves since they would not
have to worry about food, shelter, etc. Their masters could
take care of that. Cucumbers were more important than freedom
to them. This was predictable as their karma was being worked
off. It was also predictable that their children could enter
the Land of Promise for two reasons: They would not be so
steeped in the slave mentality by living under it and being
broken down mentally by decades of abuse; and secondly, they had
already paid their karma. The older generation, although they
perished in the wilderness, would also be incarnated again; and
since their karma had been balanced, they could benefit from the
new freedom given to Israel.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be
buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again:
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
We ought not to believe that God allowed men to be born when He
knew there was no hope for them. That is impossible since we
know God is not willing that any should perish. Men have
freedom, and they make choices; and if they consistently make
the wrong decisions over several lifetimes, their evil nature
becomes stronger and stronger.
I believe that people who benefit from lifetime are born into
circumstances that enable them to benefit more in the next. If
they abuse the opportunities given in one lifetime, they may
find their next lifetime more difficult. If they abused their
children, they should not be surprised if they are reborn into
families who will abuse them; and although such difficult
circumstances make it harder to repent, it's still not
impossible. All one need do is not to return evil for evil. If
we have evil parents, we aren't obliged to be like them. If we
were evil parents in the past however, we may feel somehow we
deserve it if our parents abuse us. On and on the cycle goes
until things reach a breaking point where the evil is so strong,
children born into such cultures don't stand a chance.
Iniquity has become full.
I would think that the Amorites were a wicked bunch; and people
who chose poorly in one lifetime would be born as Amorites in
the next. Over time, it is predictable that the whole culture
could fall into depravity.
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was
dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed
between those pieces.
18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites,
and the Jebusites.
These tribes would lose their land because it was known they
would defile it. If good souls got born in other tribes and bad
souls in those tribes, surely things would reach a point where
evil could be judged and eliminated. When someone is not
completely wicked, there is still hope for him. He can change
for the better. Thus Divine Mercy is extended until he reaches
the point of being hopeless -- or where his evil is so great
that he endangers others.
Consider Sodom now. There the evil had already been approaching
fullness. We are told that the "young and old" men gathered
around Lot's house. For some reason, the KJV reverses the word
order and reads, "old and young," but the correct order is
"young and old" showing that the young men were the instigators,
worse than their parents. Their children were either
psychopathic from birth or with strong sociopathic tendencies
from birth. With poor parenting, the ones with sociopathic
problems would not have a chance of reforming.
Thus the culture was hopeless. Souls could not progress there.
The culture was wiped out, but the seed of Sodom was still
preserved in Lot's two daughters. The two cursed tribes of Moab
and Ammon were the result; but both lines of those got
introduced into Israel hundreds of years later so the seed of
Sodom could be saved. Indeed, both lines got introduced into
the Messianic line.
That is what I believe about the prophecy about iniquity
becoming full.
#Post#: 10650--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: Mike Date: April 3, 2015, 4:25 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Kerry link=topic=1004.msg10623#msg10623
date=1427718329]
I am rereading a book by Huysmans called Là-Bas that I read
years ago. It's not always an easy read or a casual read. He
explores the psychology of the notorious Gilles de Rais who is
often called Bluebeard. Completely fascinating to me is how
Huysmans has his character explore de Rais' relationship with
Joan of Arc. De Rais was a pious enough fellow when he
fighting by Joan's side for king and country; but after she was
betrayed and burned at stake, de Rais had a radical character
change.
It's not always a pleasant book to read. Huysmans forces his
readers to confront ugliness. I find it a very interesting book
since it seems to have so many facets to it. Huysmans was a
devout Catholic himself, and the book has religious overtones as
you may guess by the title 'Down There" but usually given as
"The Damned" in English.
On a personal note, I have this belief -- or call it memory if
you like -- of having known Huysmans in a past life; and if you
want a glimpse into my character in that life, he based Dr.
Johann in that book called Dr. Johann on me. We knew each
other rather well since he was living with me towards the end
of my life. I can't say I agree with his portrayal of my
character; I think he makes me too much of a saint. Of course,
the opposite is usually the case: The Abbé Boullan is usually
vilified as a Satanist; but it is not so. What is true that
that he had enemies inside the Church who tried several times to
get him defrocked and they finally succeeded. The character of
Dr. Johann is a minor one who shows up at the end of the book.
The cat in the book may be a more important character.
[/quote]
Hi Kerry,
Ever since my earliest forays into Forums I have been fascinated
by your thoughts regarding your 9 reincarnations, Huysmans, Abbé
Boullan, etc.
I began those forays pretty entrenched in my own intent to
'straighten out' the 'Christianity' that I had embraced since my
childhood, but had been obliged to abandon when I found that it
didn't 'stand the test' once hit by controversy.
But that was an entrenchment based on open minded intent to not
be bound by prejudice, and years of Christian forum diversity
have left me way out on a wing of faith that, if detailed, would
be pilloried by most Christians.
I might eventually unfold a few of my personal thoughts
regarding the 'Paranormal', but in a separate thread so as not
to derail this one.
PS I've had to re-register here in order to post somewhere ....
RCF looking like it's not going to survive.
#Post#: 10651--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: Kerry Date: April 3, 2015, 6:33 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Mike link=topic=1004.msg10650#msg10650
date=1428053120]
Hi Kerry,
Ever since my earliest forays into Forums I have been fascinated
by your thoughts regarding your 9 reincarnations, Huysmans, Abbé
Boullan, etc.
I began those forays pretty entrenched in my own intent to
'straighten out' the 'Christianity' that I had embraced since my
childhood, but had been obliged to abandon when I found that it
didn't 'stand the test' once hit by controversy.
But that was an entrenchment based on open minded intent to not
be bound by prejudice, and years of Christian forum diversity
have left me way out on a wing of faith that, if detailed, would
be pilloried by most Christians.[/quote]Christianity and Islam
seem almost in the minority regarding reincarnation. It's
somewhat of a mystery to me.
There is more to say about how psychopaths are made; indeed my
guess is there are two kinds. Perhaps I should go into my ideas
about "election" first. I honestly don't understand how
Calvinists square their concept of election with a God who is
both loving and just; and I don't understand how other
Christians get around the obvious truth that not everyone is
"born equal."
[quote]I might eventually unfold a few of my personal thoughts
regarding the 'Paranormal', but in a separate thread so as not
to derail this one.[/quote]Whichever pleases you more. I don't
think I ever laid out my whole idea about reincarnation. It can
be complex. Just let me say that I agree in one way with the
Hindu that reincarnation is a bit of an illusion. The
"essential being" could not incarnate, let alone reincarnate.
Flesh is flesh, and spirit is spirit. How could a non-physical
spirit become a physical thing?
On the other hand, I will frankly admit that my first memory of
"being someone else" was not one of my own past lives. Oh, it
was a valid memory, to be sure; but it wasn't me. Rather it
was the animal-like entity that runs my body. That also
incarnates; and it's rare, extremely rare, for a person to be
born with the same "body elemental" more than once. How those
body elementals work and reincarnate also explain a lot of
diseases and the like. I met a woman who knew Hubbard
personally. When I met her, she was growing her hair back. She
had had alopecia. My guess is her GE had done it -- and it was
getting corrected. (Who sinned? Her or her parents? Or
neither? Neither. Sometimes it can be the GE playing tricks.
Sometimes it's almost random.)
When Hubbard got going on his researches, he ran into the
memories of these body elementals -- but his term for them was
"genetic entity" or GE for short. He then discovered what
others already knew, that the memories of the GE and the
memories of the person himself are different but can get
confused. Yes, you can run the memories of the GE back
millions of years.
[quote]PS I've had to re-register here in order to post
somewhere .... RCF looking like it's not going to survive.
[/quote]May or may not. A few more things can be tried, but I'm
not holding my breath.
#Post#: 10657--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: Kerry Date: April 6, 2015, 7:38 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
An interesting question is why man's lifespan got shortened
after the Flood. The reason was to cut back on the possibility
of someone becoming a psychopath.
While it was possible for someone to achieve spiritual
perfection as Enoch did then if he made a long series of right
decisions. If the world had not fallen into such depravity and
more people would have been doing what Enoch did, the lifespan
wouldn't have been shortened. It would a wonderful thing to
have such an environment so conducive to progress that many
would make progress.
Sad to say, the opposite occurred. Thus it was also possible to
become immensely wicked in just one lifetime. The twig inclined
to evil grew up as a tree inclined to evil.
So the lifespan was shortened. After each lifetime, the
developing soul could pass through the fire, so to speak, and
whatever was not worth saving could be burned away in the flames
of Gehinnom or purgatory. Whatever was virtuous survived the
flames; and the person would be born in his next lifetime with
those virtues but without his vices.
At the time of Noah, there were many souls were did not know God
and who never knew him. They were not under the protection of
Heaven. They would not visit Gehinnom or Purgatory.
However once a soul makes the decision to seek God, he comes
under the protection of Heaven. All it takes is that one
decision. He then becomes one of God's elect. God knows him,
even before he is born again in another body. God does not have
favorites. People become elect by choosing God and then God
makes them one of His chosen ones.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
Yes, God knows some people before they're born and doesn't know
others. Do not read this to mean God knows everyone:
Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered
me in my mother's womb.
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and
before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and
I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
If God knows someone before the person is born, we can say He
"foreknew" him. The term should not be that confusing. It
should also not be confusing then to say that God does not
"foreknow" everyone.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and
whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified,
them he also glorified.
This does not mean fate. Rather it means that the person who
has chosen correctly is taken under the wings of God and given a
plan for his next life so he can achieve his goals. Paul tells
us he was elect from his mother's womb; and we see him studying
as a Jew. He got experiences that would prove valuable later.
When God was ready, He "called" him.
The soul often does not know what lies ahead in his life. Yet
he was a party to it before he was born. He helped plan that
destiny. He will not even remember God that much until he's
called. When he's called, then some of the past experiences
from his youth may start to make sense. Paul's education came
in handy later.
The next step is justification; and this means making things
right. It is not a make-believe kind of pronouncement with God
saying, "I say you are okay even though you're not." No, no,
no. God's plan is to make it possible to make things really
right. And when everything is right, then that person can be
glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day
long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Why would Paul write "neither death nor life"? Because at
first glance, it may look as if those whom God foreknows could
get lost by being born into a wicked world. Yet it is not so.
God will allow nothing to separate us from Him. We could reject
God ourselves; but as long as we do not reverse course and
reject God, once we have elected to choose God, nothing external
to us can change that. Nothing.
At the present time, my estimate is that it takes seven
lifetimes to achieve perfection after the first lifetime in
which the right choice is made. If we make mistakes in a
lifetime, we may have to repeat things. But my estimate is
that it will take eight at a minimum for most people.
Proverbs 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up
again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
#Post#: 10667--------------------------------------------------
Re: Psychopaths
By: HOLLAND Date: April 8, 2015, 6:42 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I must think, Kerry, that there is a relative perfection, a
wholeness that God wishes us to attain in this life. The Spirit
leads me to say that it is something that we must strive to in
conjuction with that Spirit, though, in the end, that wholeness
is the working of that same Spirit. That Spirit is a lustrous
beauty, an inner light that merges with the Inner Light that
descends from heaven into us all, that we neglect to our woe.
There is our workings and then there is God's grace that enables
those workings. There is such a mystery in things, and mystery
in ourselves.
Though reincarnation was held as a Christian belief by many in
the Fourth Century of the Christian era and was narrowly
condemned, I must share in a general skepticism about it. If
the Spirit leads to only a relative perfection in this life
reserving the ultimate form of perfection that we will
experience in the fullness (the pleroma) of Christ, that
presence of intractable imperfection would seem to never be
overcome by numerous lifespans that reincarnation would obtain.
Reincarnation would only seem to create manifestations of
differing relative perfections as experienced in each historical
lifespan. Though they may be beautiful to behold, great
workings of the Spirit, it would seem to be that there would be
no point to them, only the fullness that is found in Christ
after death in the eschaton. If one would consider that John
the Baptist was the incarnation of Elijah come from the dead,
the relative perfection of each would only remain partial to the
perfection that is found in the fullness of Christ, until that
entity has entered into Christ. Perhaps I do not understand
reincarnation. It does not seem intelligible to me.
In Buddhism, there seems to be a recognition of this skepticism.
There is the belief in Buddha as Amida Buddha.
Amida Buddha is one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas. "Amida" is the
Japanese form of the Sanskrit "Amita," meaning "Immeasurable
One." Amida is also known as Amitabha (Sanskrit for
"Immeasurable Light") and Amitayus (Sanskrit for "Immeasurable
Life").
Amida Buddha is the central figure of Pure Land Buddhism, a
Mahayana sect that is extremely popular throughout Japan, China
and Korea. It is believed that before his enlightenment, Amida
made rebirth in the Western Paradise (or Pure Land) available to
anyone who calls on his name in faith.
- See more at:
HTML http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/deities/amida_buddha.htm#sthash.l0Krdy54.dpuf
I confess I high regard for the Buddha, especially the Amida
Buddha. I think though, and I think the Spirit leads me to
think that the Amida Buddha points to that need of grace to be
found in Christ and His fullness. Relative perfection must only
be completed in that grace.
Peace be with you!
*****************************************************
DIR Next Page