Psychotic, crazy, mass hypnosis, gullibility? Probably all.

Is it that much different now, 34 years later?

Charismatic preachers, acting like messengers from some crazy god, continue to have enormous religious and political power. In their eyes, birth control and homosexuality are clearly a sin. Now the preaching has taken on an even crazier tempo. Republicans are battling each other to prove who is the “true” conservative.

As a psychiatrist, I often wonder what is really going on. Am I the crazy one? If I don’t believe, will I not get into “The Kingdom”, or wherever religious fanatics go who are true believers? Whatever their fantasy might be, I’m not interested in joining them.

When a patient is overtly psychotic, logic doesn’t help. Talking to rigid evangelicals also won’t help. So what will?

Join groups like Planned Parenthood, work to have all 50 states pass equality laws supporting gay rights, speak out against any school that won’t teach evolution, speak out against any use of violence to advocate a religious belief, and do whatever you can to expose any hint of terrorism that will limit our right to have the freedom to come to our own conclusions about the world.

Because so many people need to drink Kool Aid, doesn’t mean that we have to respect or ignore the dangers that it breeds.

Any thoughts?

Please subscribe to Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist.

Hero of the Week

I have to confess that I was so overwhelmed by the bigots this week that the search for a hero seemed daunting.  Fortunately, our Cyndi Lauper, founder of the Give A Damn Campaign, which strives for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender equality, is now opening a homeless shelter for LGBT teens in New York.  True Colors Residence homeless shelter for LGBT teens opens today, September 9, 2011, thus earning Cyndi Lauper our HWA.

True Colors Residence will serve youth from ages 18 to 24 who have been disowned by their families because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  The youth will receive housing, social, and educational support; they will also receive help finding employment.  Brava, Cyndi Lauper.  How wonderful to build a legacy of love, strength, and advocacy in a culture of hate, discrimination, and fear mongering.

“A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi to come back – but they are gone. We are it. It is up to us. It is up to you.”–Marian Wright Edelman