I want to address my friends who have time and again offended me when they have disagreed with my political views and have, in my humble opinion, demonstrated one of the worst hypocrisies, about mental illness, especially whenever the charge comes up during political discourse: 1) mental illness or saying someone is mentally ill is not just personally offensive, it is defamatory. It is in fact frequently written into statute on federal and state levels on slander and libel as a specific form of defamation. 2) Some of you think you mean well, but your thinking is pernicious. There is little that damages personal reputations than to say someone is mentally ill, and since I know of only one psychologist on my friends list, NONE of you are qualified to make the charge against anyone and in fact demonstrate an inverse projection of your own personal qualities. 3) It is noteworthy that nearly every single time I have heard someone describe me as such, it has been during political discourse, even though my relationship with said persons extends beyond political discourse. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THAT. If in fact your amateur diagnosis was genuine, it would apply in so many different situations for one is not merely mentally ill during politics. If you find yourself leveling this charge only during political discourse, then it is symptomatic of you, not the person you are defaming. 4) Mental illness is a thought-terminating cliche, employed to silence or avoid discussion. This I know it to be VERY true. I cant begin to describe how infuriating and hypocritical it is to hear persons dismiss argumentation, not with careful consideration or disputation of facts, but with mental illness. Again, TAKE NOTE IF YOU FIND YOURSELF CALLING SOMEONE THAT THAN HEARING WHAT THEY ARE SAYING. Calling someone mentally ill not only cheapens the genuine struggle people actually have with mental illness, it also means you dont want to actually think about points raised, even when they are beyond doubt. I couldnt count the number of persons who care less about whether a position is correct or not. If it makes them uncomfortable, then they are quick to level a charge of mental illness against someone. I study religion and am familiar with the association between religion and schizophrenia, but I can tell you, again from experience, that I have encountered more of this association during political discourse than when I have openly declared any of my religious beliefs--which on their face deserve the charge of mental illness more than any political argument I have ever constructed.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 01:36:07 +0000