Atheism, Mental Health, and God

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen 

It seems that every day has been designated as a national or world day for an observance, whether to "raise awareness", celebrate, or something prosaic. October 10 is World Mental Health Day. Fine, I reckon it is a good idea to point out that millions of people have mental health issues. Many are simply things we just learn to deal with, others are debilitating and need counseling as well as medication.

Several times, this child has admitted to dealing with depression. Everyone probably has it to some degree on occasion, and other times it is a lifelong struggle due to chemical imbalances in the brain. My hypertension medications contribute to it. People in the Bible were troubled with depression.

My photo of the Hudson River, the Rondout Lighthouse is very small on the left side

Some of those problems were short-term based on circumstances, others seemed to be lifelong. David wrote some psalms showing his depression over events and his own sins, and Elijah felt that he was so alone, he asked God to kill him (1 Kings 19:4). There are others as well. God's Word doesn't sugarcoat the failings of believers, which is something that wouldn't happen in "a religion made up by illiterate bronze-age goat herders".

One reason I am writing this article is to point out to people who face depression that they are not alone. This also applies to other mental illnesses, but unfortunately, labels often do more harm than good (for example, see "The Schizophrenia Diagnosis Gamble"). One problem many people have, whether with clinically-diagnosed problems or negative feelings, is that we tend to always look on the dark side of life.

That is, we look for excuses and self-fulfilling prophesies by expecting the worst and then sabotaging our circumstances so things do indeed turn out to be unpleasant for us. Then we can say, "See? I told you so!"

Those of us who are Bible-believing Christians need to remind ourselves that God is still the King, he has his plans, we may not see what he's doing now, and that we are adopted as his children. I am a child of the living God, the Creator of the universe. Jesus, God the Son, died for my sins, bodily arose on the third day, and God the Holy Spirit lives in me. That's true for any Christian, and gives us an anchor of hope to keep us from drifting or being tossed by the waves!

A note to discouraged Americans: Donald Trump is not our savior, but he's trying to get people to stand up and oppose tyranny. Joe Biden is not God. He and his puppet masters who promote all sorts of things that God hates will stand before him at the Judgment. You savvy that, pilgrim? Christian, focus on Jesus, not man.

Professing atheists, especially those on social(ist) media, are exceptionally negative and bigoted. These do not strike me as the hallmarks of healthy minds:

• Denying or using the insipid "I lack belief" claim, then spending countless hours ridiculing Christians and mocking God
• Sharing posts by Christians (especially creationists) on social media for the purpose of mockery
• Demanding scientific proof of God's existence (a fallacy known as the category error)
• Requiring evidence for creation and the Genesis Flood, then refusing to look at it 

  

  Used under Fair Use provisions for educational purposes, click for larger

  
  
• Avoiding that evidence (even the basic argument that "a painting requires a painter, a building requires a builder"), then lying that we not only refuse to accede to their demands, but they also claim that we do not have evidence
• Leaving people of other religions alone, but focusing on Christians
• When a child wants a stuffed animal for comfort, what atheist will mock the child and say that there is no power in the animal? Yet even though they reject our beliefs, which they see giving us comfort, they are so angry and vile, they seek to take that away from us
• Giving negative reviews of Christian material on YouTube, Amazon, weblogs, social media, and other places because they are consumed with hate
• Trolling, getting banned, then coming back with a new identity
• They are exceptionally negative, and not trusted or even liked by most people

Atheists have no hope in the world. Foundational to their religious mythology is evolution, and they fight to keep it. While denying the fact that they believe everything came from nothing, they also believe that when people die, they're worm food. There is no Judgment, no ultimate justice, no peace, no hope. No wonder atheists have a higher incidence of depression, as well as suicide.

There is a link between atheism and autism, and those feckless keyboard warriors as well as prominent high priests of atheism (there's good money in selling books and giving lectures, right, Richard?) exhibit traits of being narcissistic sociopaths. If you have problems with depression, you may want to stay away from people like that; they'll bring you down.

I will take this further. While there is clearly mental illness galloping through the minds of professing atheists (Rom. 1:18-20), there are also indications of demonic oppression — possibly even possession in some cases. There are hundreds of screenshots in my storage that show how utterly depraved these people can get. If they were motivated by reason alone, wouldn't they simply go on about their business and snicker quietly to themselves about Christians?

While they are incredibly fond of laughing emojis and blatant ridicule, misotheists deny the spiritual aspect of human nature. Biblical truth can prick their consciences — this acts on the spiritual level. While I do not advocate extensive online preaching (they love to waste our time and attack us), planting seeds from God's Word is helpful, even if we don't see it. Indeed, many creationists and Christian apologists were once atheists but now proclaim the gospel message. The Holy Spirit can work in their lives, something to which other former atheists have testified.

So, on this mental health day, people should know that if they have problems, they are not alone. Those of us in Christ are children of the living God and have a glorious hope awaiting us. Also know that many atheists exhibit not only signs of mental illness, but demonic influence. We can reason and present Scripture, but salvation and true mental health are ultimately God's work. Also of interest is "Psychology, Morality, and the Bible".