Posted on 02/01/2022 1:06:37 PM PST by Morgana
I grew up hearing that mental health disorders and illnesses of every kind were evil.
Because I was told these things from an isolated world of fundamentalist Christianity, I was not surprised to see Pastor Greg Locke’s sermon suggesting autism, epilepsy and other mental health disorders are actually demon possession. I’ve heard this countless times while sitting in the pews of independent fundamental Baptist churches.
A screaming child was said to be a rebellious child who the devil was using. I recall the preachers saying often, “How many lost souls did those ‘tantrums’ lead into hell?,” berating children and the parents who tried to calm them in the process.
Greg Locke has been controversial for some time now. I admit, he fell off my radar because I wasn’t interested in a preacher who utilized what is much of the same talking points as the independent fundamental Baptist churches. Ironically, Locke is former independent fundamental Baptist, graduating from one of their colleges, Ambassador Baptist College located in Lattimore, N.C. Locke may technically no longer carry the title of independent fundamental Baptist, but his antics, his hateful rhetoric and his ignorance on health speak to the fact he has yet to remove himself fully from fundamentalism, the same brand of fundamentalism that has mentally and spiritually injured so many who sat under preachers just like him.
(Excerpt) Read more at baptistnews.com ...
He is a moron.
No. Not in a million years.
My daughter ius NOT possessed by a demon, guaranteed.
That was confirmed by "independent fundamentalist baptist" -- not a southern baptist. LOL
He dumped his wife for another woman. He was riding the Trump Prophesy train for a while
Yeah, probably demon possession.
Could be the mom was smoking crack too.
Equal parts crack and demons.
Next problem?
Moron has my vote.
“I recall the preachers saying often, “How many lost souls did those ‘tantrums’ lead into hell?,” berating children and the parents who tried to calm them in the process.”
Lol, this lady had more excitement at church than I ever did! The reality is that even in extreme religious environments most just tune all that stuff out, even the kids whose tantrums supposedly have them surfing the edge of Styx. But people love to play up the damage religious fervor can do.
autism is an overused term nowadays.
That would seem a bit odd that Satan somehow jumps into the human genome and causes disruptions in neurotransmission, synaptic scaffolding and gap junctions. Maybe autism is better explained by papers such as this:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3659167/
Wow, that’s a tough one. Mark 9:14 and following tells of such a thing, so obviously it is possible for it to happen. But just because it is “possible” doesn’t mean that it happens to be the case for every young person with some form of ailment does it? Jesus also says that prayer and fasting will deliver them if that is the case, so if no medical explanation can be found, perhaps prayer and fasting is in order?
Excellent point.
It’s been my experience that a lot of these preachers? When they say stupid crap about children? They either don’t have them or don’t have a child with that condition. Know what I mean?
In reality they need to save face by keeping the lower 1/2 shut.
“sermon suggesting autism, epilepsy and other mental health disorders are actually demon possession.”
I have never attended a church with a sermon like that. Must wonder if those are churches where they have grand musical events before the Pastor speaks are giving sermons like that.
Agreed. As someone who has volunteered with NAMI for over 17 years, it’s this kind of ignorance that adds to the stigma of living with any mental health condition.
There IS a difference.
Mother of a Baptist minister.
This guy is a MORON.
Agreed. Almost anyone can be within the “spectrum” nowadays including many adults who made it through life with little assistance.
Pretty embarrassed by the Pope, but at least traditional Catholicism is pretty reasonable about possession: you have to exclude natural (as opposed to supernatural) causes to diagnose someone as possessed.
Who?
We don’t watch tv
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