Ramon Arias | May 15, 2017
“The sick individual finds himself at home with all other similarly sick individuals. The whole culture is geared to this kind of pathology. The result is that the average individual does not experience the separateness and isolation the fully schizophrenic person feels. He feels at ease among those who suffer from the same deformation; in fact, it is the fully sane person who feels isolated in the insane society – and he may suffer so much from the incapacity to communicate that it is he who may become psychotic.” – Eric Fromm, Swiss Psychologist (The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness)
Have you ever questioned the intellectual elite’s source of knowledge and understanding for their ideas? How well trained are you in detecting if those ideas have proven to be historically and archeologically accurate? We have heard that “the proof is in the pudding” and another well-known saying is “by their fruit you will know them.”
Just as nature teaches us that everything reproduces after its kind, so it is with culture, ideas reproduce after their kind. Do you think our culture is going in the right direction? If your answer is yes, what are your considerations for that assertion? If your answer is no, the same question applies. If we are honest and pay attention to the social temperature of the nation, we will arrive at the conclusion that the population, for the most part, agrees that we are going in the wrong direction as a nation. If you are a Christian or conservative, those who disagree with your worldview make you responsible for everything that goes wrong in the nation. In reality, if you are a humanist, liberal/progressive, socialist or communist the blame falls upon you. Those who think they are neutral don’t understand that such a position doesn’t exist; nobody is neutral.
Every ideological camp has their army of intellectuals, and things are heating up. We are coming to a boiling point, if it is not resolved, we should expect the consequences. Another dangerous trend is the classification of an individual’s high IQ (intelligence quotient). When society praises human intelligence without filtering the philosophical roots of those ideas people get blinded. The landscape of history is filled with all the destruction and suffering caused by those who had been enthroned because of their IQ. While others with different levels of IQ have to clean up and restore a level of sanity, that is, until another generation forgets the wrong done in the past and the cycle repeats. The truth is that an IQ is never the true measure of any individual unless they have the source of real intelligence.
I’m sure we all admire the grand display of intelligence as it applies to specific abilities not used for destruction. We also know there are those whose intelligence scores higher than well-known people who have been venerated for decades and even centuries, yet, the facts continue to be irrefutable when they reveal instability in people’s lives, in their homes, and their society.
When I say Intellectual Schizophrenia in no way is it related to individuals who suffer a chronic brain disorder. By the way, the American Psychiatric Association explains that schizophrenia: “…affects about one percent of the population. When schizophrenia is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation. However, when these symptoms are treated, most people with schizophrenia will greatly improve over time…. The complexity of schizophrenia may help explain why there are misconceptions about the disease. Schizophrenia does not mean split personality or multiple-personality. Most people with schizophrenia are not dangerous or violent. They also are not homeless nor do they live in hospitals. Most people with schizophrenia live with family, in group homes or on their own.”
The intellectual schizophrenia I am referring to is the one suffered by a great percentage of the people, not only of this nation but also in other countries. Just by simply observing the actions of people manifests the ideas that dominate their thinking, that create the unbalance of their emotions, and their erratic behavior, even though it is accepted and praised as normal. The way people perceive reality against all logic and common sense reveals that their worldview has more to do with fantasy and delusion than with solid historical reality.
America needs solutions to this mental health disorder that is wrecking the nation. Our intellect or understanding, as it relates to our mind, is a spectacular design and must be used accordingly. The creation of our brain can know reality, truth, and facts from falsehood regardless of human source; this means we need the only reliable source that can pull us from being drawn and enslaved to intellectual schizophrenia. The source for true sanity is Jesus Christ who said:
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:27-30 (ESV)
No one knows our design and purpose to perfection than the One who created us in His image and likeness. The invitation is for all to come to Jesus; take note he is not talking about a human institution, but directly to Him, who knows how to restore us to our full potential. What do we live for, and work for day in and day out? Lack of knowledge of these two simple purposes is a never-ending burden. We most definitely need mental rest and relief throughout the day and all the days of our lives. When we learn from Jesus, our mind is nourished in such a powerful way that it will be impossible to be sucked into the whirlwind of intellectual schizophrenia.
As we develop the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), we become greatly skilled at discerning all the babble around us. The good news is that millions are experiencing this mental liberation and can engage in the market of ideas debunking the nonsense that people are being fed.
We must develop the ability to understand the source of ideas by knowing the only reliable foundation of truth, the Bible. It is a grave error to think that such an incomparable document is a religious book and if we want to learn and grow, then let us become assiduous students of God’s Revealed Word.