Psychosis

It is almost a 100% guarantee that however I say the following, someone is going to misunderstand me, but it bears being said, so I am going to give it a shot (and I pray that any misunderstandings will be communicated to me so I can address them personally--which I am happy to do). Therefore, I am going to be direct about this (as though I've never done that before!), so if this is your first time reading this blog, you may want to fasten your seat belt.

The basic definition of a person with a psychosis is that he has lost touch with reality; he also has trouble thinking clearly and concentrating; he will often see things that are unreal and will always deny that he is psychotic. People who suffer from a psychosis are dangerous to people around them. They should not be allowed to do things that can easily harm others, like: own firearms, drive a vehicle, operate heavy machinery or teach college classes. For many of them, if not all of them, they should not be allowed to hold public office or have a job where other people's lives are in their hands (doctor, police, etc.). This is just basic social wisdom.

One of the most fundamental aspects of a psychosis is that the person cannot tell the difference between some basic things in a normal society: in other words, the difference between things that everyone else can recognize (and it does not matter how many people have a psychosis -- if 99% of people are psychotic, truth is still truth and reality is still real!). We are talking about the difference between things like, day and night, alive and dead, human and animal, and male and female. The last one is most specifically a problem today (though the others are on shaky ground as well!).

We have numerous people in American society (not to mention quite a few other countries) who genuinely believe that a man can become a woman and a woman can become a man just by deciding to do so (we used to call ideas like this, "science fiction"!). These same people often cannot define what a male or female is, and they do not think that something as basic as one's biological birth status implies that a person is male or female. Those who have been deluded into accepting transgenderism have clearly had a psychotic break with reality. Yes, I know how politically incorrect this is and no, I am not trying to be mean to them; I am merely using simple rational categories to put things into perspective.

We certainly cannot change the laws of the land overnight, but at the same time, as faithful Catholics we need to realize that these people cannot be trusted. They genuinely believe things that are unreal (somewhat akin to someone who believes that he is a fried egg). We must be gentle with them, but at the same time realize that they have a serious mental deficiency. Whether that deficiency is caused by an actual mental illness (which is possible), whether it is because the person has been completely brainwashed (also possible), or because they have been influenced by demonic powers (actually very possible), I certainly cannot determine. Yet, we should treat them as anyone else that is in need of serious spiritual and mental care: first, with love and respect, and second we should not let our guard down around them.

There is no telling what the behavior of people like this might degenerate into next. They may come to believe things that are even worse than what is mentioned above. They might even have a complete breakdown and start to believe that anyone working at CNN can tell the truth!