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Present School Shootings and Gun Rights

September 20, 2023 Eric Potter Current Inks ,

(Written before 2023 Tennessee Special Session, but will apply to January 2024 Legislative Session)

               Middle Tennessee drank from a bitter cup in 2023, experiencing what other communities have previously endured with the tragedy of a school shooting.  While we may never know the full story of the shooter’s angst and anger, we know that lives were taken and we know that families continue to mourn.  We mourn with them, and extend our sympathy to their pain.  As a community and state, we collectively look for solutions to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. Some call for gun control as the solution.  Some call for more gun freedoms as the solution.  The spectrum of proposed solutions extends in multiple directions from this overly simplistic dichotomy as everyone wants the same thing, no more school shootings. 

               In response, our governor, Bill Lee, called a Special Session of the legislature to address such an extraordinary situation.  As with the majority of politicians, he and others in his camp believe that government intervention offers the best opportunity for prevention.  No one wants to be accused of doing nothing as the potential for another loss of life could be in the making.  Neither does anyone want to react rashly and somehow lead to either similar or different harms to our children in the school system.  In the midst of these competing priorities and inclinations the state legislators find themselves as we, the people of Tennessee, watch and attempt to avoid further harm from resulting.

               With hopes to come out of this tragedy in a better position to protect lives than when we entered it, I offer the application of principles in guiding you and our legislators towards real solutions.  I am not privy to any special knowledge of the events nor in any position to implement significant changes at schools.  However, I am a citizen of this state who directly or indirectly could be impacted by unwise legislation and who wants my children and your children to grow safely into old age rather than meeting their demise at the hands of an vengeful shooter. 

               Without special insight or knowledge and without influence, I might choose to focus energy elsewhere, but I want each of you to grow in your wisdom so that we as a people can influence those who have the knowledge and/or the power.????  In order to do so, I offer principles from one of our core values and another principle of general wisdom as they can be applied to the question of “what do we do now?”  Those principles are first noted in the core values promoted on this site before suggesting they be applied to the school shooter and its aftermath.  They include 1) Truth Seeking and 2) Considering the ramifications of our response.

               First, in facing the choices of how we or our leaders should respond we must seek truth.  Partial truth risks inadequate or even harmful responses.  We should ask ourselves and others for a full picture of not only what happened that tragic day but also for a full picture of the wider situation of school safety.  Countless questions need answering regarding what led a young woman to plan the murder of those she gunned down.  We don’t have those answers and are thus hindered in our response.  We know a good deal about the actual events themselves from security cameras and can greatly appreciate the rapid response of the police force in limiting further loss of life.  On other hand we don’t know whether others with guns would or would not have bought this tragedy to an end even sooner, but that has been the case with active shooters in other situations.

               With the tragedy in mind, we now hear calls for various responses to the question of school safety.  The various responses from both sides of the political spectrum which get the most attention repeat simplistic responses of either more guns or less guns.  We must again seek the whole truth by methodically evaluating what we do know about the safety of schools.  We must better understand the full problem which encompasses multiple issues like bullying, mental health, school facility locks and alarms, staff training, the juvenile justice system, and more.  The breadth and depth of the issues leading to this shooting seem difficult to exhaustively comprehend but we must do our best before taking a reflexive action.

               We must submit to this first principle of truth seeking or risk a worse response being implemented.

               Second, we must consider all ramifications of the response or responses we choose whether individually or collectively.  Every choice we make first focuses on a primary outcome.  In this case, we all agree that we want children to be safe from armed attackers.  If it were that simple, there would be no debate and no need for this essay.  While the primary outcome may be first in view, rarely do our choices impact solely on the primary outcome without impacting secondary and tertiary outcomes.  This is especially true when legislation is enacted which applies across hundreds of schools across our state and thousands of children in those schools.  While situations do arise which necessitate such broad and sweeping actions, still we must consider those secondary impacts. 

               Some specific questions include the following: 

Will more guns on school campus truly decrease the occurrence of school violence?

Will the mental health of children be adversely affected by the presence of guns?

Will more locks and security features interfere with any other aspects of school safety?

Will more money for counselors and mental health professionals bring more federal control of state schools?

Will the worldviews of mental health professionals conflict with the views of parents?

Will stricter gun laws interfere with constitutional freedoms?

Will limits on freedoms lead to other societal adverse effects down the road?

               I could go on, but the point is made that legislative short-sighted reflexes which echo the reflexive voices of the media arising from the extremes of political opinion may cause us to miss the bigger picture, creating either a larger problem than we began with or new problems which did not exist prior to our response.  We must seek as much truth regarding the problem before proposing a solution.  We must then consider the full ramifications of that solution.  While many like Governor Bill Lee apparently believe that me must act quickly with a Special Session (and many in the legislature seem to agree despite their claims to the contrary), the legislature is moving forward in the dark and our children and our freedoms are at risk when they needlessly stumble. 

               Ask yourself these and other questions.  Ask our legislators to answer these questions.  Demand an answer from yourself and from them.

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Conformed to Jesus – R.C. Sproul

September 19, 2023 Eric Potter Quotes

“To be conformed to Jesus, we must first begin to think as Jesus did. We need the “mind of Christ.” We need to value the things He values and despise the things He despises. We need to have the same priorities He has. We need to consider weighty the things He considers weighty.”― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

              R.C. Sproul understood something that many today miss in their getting caught up in the daily flow of life. He understood that belonging to Christ meant becoming like the one who redeemed us from sin and death, including not only our beliefs about reality, but in our values, our thoughts and feelings, and our actions. If we truly believe that Christ is the Son of God and that we owe all our being and all our salvation to His work, everything about us should change from our previously unredeemed state.

              This “mind of Christ” must go beyond superficial make-up replacing our old desires and preferences inclined towards sin. It must penetrate deeper and deeper to remake us in the image of God in man, best exemplified by Christ himself, our elder brother. We must think about ourselves, about our lifestyles, about our relationships, and more as Christ would have us think.

              Our desires should become more and more pleasing to Him and His desires, thus leading us to feel differently that those who do not follow Him. When we value what He values, we will prioritize different things in our daily life, and thus act differently than the world around us. We will be concerned about what Christ is concerned about.

              We will be changed inside out. We will resemble Christ not simply because we go to church or make a profession of faith, but because our new natures of beliefs and values will pour out of us naturally. We are to respond to Christ’s calling us to become like Him by submitting to this sanctifying work in all our beliefs, our thoughts and feeling, and our practice individually and collectively. R.C. had this right on target.

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The Changing Reasons We Gather Today – Part 1

September 16, 2023 Eric Potter Gather

               As John Maxwell once emphasized, “Change is inevitable.  Growth is optional.”  With the march of time, individuals change, families change, and every level of life changes in some way.  In today’s world, add to that inevitability an antipathy towards tradition and an attraction to the novel and you have a strong force for change. Change in and of itself is neither good nor bad.  The moral value of a change arises from what is changed to what it is changed.  A prior bad can be changed to a good when pain is relieved and health is restored.  A prior good can be changed into a bad when one’s happiness is shattered by a loved one’s death.  Society inevitably changes over time, but not inevitably for the better.  The generalizations in part one of this essay apply to how the reasons for gathering have changed in families and other settings today.  Part two looks at further societal trends and their impacts on the gathering of families as well as for friends, co-workers, and churches. 

              While generalizations in this essay do not apply universally across our culture, they do reflect some of the more common patterns and trends within the culture.  Anyone will find it difficult to argue against the reality of these changes in our society over preceding decades.  While there are a variety of reasons for gathering and a variety of settings, for the most part today we have all been influenced by society’s trends as well as technological advances (these advances may be addressed in future essays).  While in one sense we are more connected than ever, in another sense we may feel more disconnected than before.  We can share more information with more people but can feel more separated, even marginalized from others. 

               With this in mind, an evaluation of the changes in how we gather must be measured by something other than just being different than before.  We must measure it by a higher standard which does not change in its principles.  We must consider God’s call to how we gather and compare it to today’s gathering.  Having in the last essay looked at how we gathered in the past, we look now at the description of how we gather today.  In the essay following part two of this one, we consider God’s principles for “true” gathering. 

              In the most basic setting of gathering, the family, familial ties still bind although in today’s society, they are somewhat weakened by various factors including geographical mobility, children’s extracurricular activities, and general age segregation.  The ease of geographic mobility, the fact that anyone can move significant distances away from other family members inevitably influences the tightness of such bonds.  While the familial expectation to remain geographically nearby is not entirely extinct, the desire for successive generations to make a name for themselves in a new location seems more prominent.  As adult children move themselves away, they may retain deeply heartfelt connections with the family members of their early life, yet their own children will not have the same opportunity to develop closeness to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins when living hours away.  Deeper layers of shared memories cannot accumulate when physical interactions only occur with holidays.  Over one or more generations, familial bonds can weaken in this age of easy mobility where life and employment opportunities pull families apart.

              Combining this with the fact that children spend more and more time either at school or some extracurricular activity, early familial bonds do not connect as deeply for many families.  Under these circumstances, as children age, they spend more and more time with peers rather than family.  The opportunities to interact with extended family like grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins diminishes as more and more time is spent in practicing and preparing for the competitions which come with the activities.  Even when the extended family gathers to watch such sports and other extracurricular events, the focus is more on the child and the event.  While the presence of family at a child’s events do nurture a child’s sense of being loved, the events can overtake the bonding.  Unless a family chooses to participate in the child’s practice of the activity, the child may become overly influenced by their peers sharing in that activity. These activities are not inherently bad but must be consciously balanced with the development of the child’s role in the family.  Allowing the child to become the centerpiece of the family through excessive focus on the child’s extracurricular activities can be detrimental to deepening of family bonds and to the development of the child’s future view of their own family.

              The separation of age groups along activities can continue as children grow, departing home for college life.  Each stage of life can become focused on one’s age group give or take a couple of years.  In such an age separated society, values become shaped more by peers at times, than by family and its family traditions.  Teens focus on their own age group sometimes to the detriment or neglect of younger siblings.  Even at the other end of life, retirees begin to gather around other retirees in retirement communities. This reflects the generational separation that is deepening in our age segregated society. 

               With these interactions between the ease of mobility, the growing influence of the extracurricular lives of children, and the tendencies towards age segregation, the strength of family cohesion may diminish.  When time together is minimized for one reason or another, in the short term or the long term, familial bonds cannot develop as deeply and as strongly.  While gathering may still happen at holidays, the “gathering” into one family may not actually occur unless effort is applied to do so.  In part 2 of this essay, examples of other societal forces pushing against family cohesion are discussed further as well as the effects of those same forces on other types of gathering. 

Next in the series… Part Two of The Changing Reasons We Gather Today.

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Sexual Education According to the Elite

September 13, 2023 Eric Potter Current Inks

“We are not in Kansas anymore”

               We want to think the best of others, to trust what they say and give them the benefit of the doubt.  That works well when we share similar values and in personal relationships in which trust has been built over time. This approach preserves family relationships and friendships.  However, large institutions or large swaths of a population like the “ruling elites” do not deserve such a benefit from us.  We do not know them personally nor do we have the same foundational worldview as can be seen in the ideals they set forth for people to follow. In fact, it is dangerous to the health of our families and society to be anything but skeptical about their intentions. This is very clearly seen in the movement promoting the “sexual rights of children,” yes children. We must not foolishly believe their attempts to sound noble instead recognizing their vain ideology and employing covenantal thinking in combating their attempts to further corrupt God’s image bearers.             

               I urge you to read the attached article Sexual Education According to the Elite with eyes wide open. In their own words and written plans, these entities both institutional and personal are pushing for further corruption of your children. Because of their false ideologies, those pushing for these supposed rights are proud of their efforts, shameless before the face of God. 

              However, reading is not enough as you will be tempted to dismiss the Epoch Times article as blowing things out of proportion or as taking the statements out of context.  You will want to brush aside the concerns of pedophilia and sexualizing children as conspiracy theories which no normal person in the world would ever want to actually do.  A quick review of THIS LINK from The Children’s Center for Psychiatry, Psychology, & Related Services should dispel any notion that our society has a big problem.  With 3.5 million children between 8th and 11th grade reporting sexual contact from an adult during a survey, how can anyone deny that the problem is more than conspiracy theory.  While the majority of adults in our school system do not hold such views, a considerable number do (Schlitz 2017).    While the left-leaning Wikipedia is not my favorite source, they give one more reason to read with eyes wide open as even they have to acknowledge that a significant number of organizations across the world do advocate for children sexual rights with adults (LINK).

              To fully encourage you to read the Epoch Times article and to do so with open eyes, I will offer a few glimpses of the challenges they present.  Starting at the 30-thousand-foot view, they boil the international effort down into two foci, one promoting comprehensive sex education and the other that promotes the view that children are sexual beings with rights to sexual pleasure.  While either effort by various organizations is clearly detrimental to children and to parental rights, the combination synergizes to create an even more dangerous situation in which children are exposed to sexual topics before they are emotionally able to handle them and granted freedom to make their own choices out from under the oversight of their parents. 

              The advocates for children’s sexual rights have canned responses to those who object to their plans.  As anyone expresses concern that these efforts will begin to engage in earlier sexual activity and experience adverse consequences, those pushing sex education will claim that such work delays sexual activity and increases the practice of safe sex.  (Statistics noted later in the Epoch Times article refute this assertion.) Further, they present themselves as caring advocates of children in general although they have little to no respect for the parental role of protection for the individual child in the family context.  While I cannot speak to the intentions of every person in every organization that promotes sex education, the overall patterns of the movement do not encourage me to trust them.  Their ideological worldview includes the belief that sex before marriage is optimal and sex with and for children can be freeing. In order to do so, they ignore any categories of sin and redefine what it means to protect the weak- among other ideological choices.

              While they may give lip service to preventing detrimental affects to children who have sex, these are usually such things as prevention of STD’s. How they plan to make children willing to consent to such inappropriate age-related behavior includes destroying family relationships and changing the definition of mental health in children- i.e. normalizing trans-sexual behavior and desire. Their ideology holds to a new truth of their own making, rejecting Biblical morays of any kind.

              The United Nations acts as primary driver for much of this effort and guides the direction with a document from its U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called “International Technical Guidance on Sexual Education.”  Working with the World Health Organization and the U.N. Women and the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the want to “’equip children and young people’ with knowledge and to empower them to ‘develop respectful social and sexual relationships.’”  The United Nations wants these policies to be enforced upon all children in all nations as one of their reports cited by the Epoch Times explains.

              While proclaiming that they want to promote the well-being of children across the world, the toolkit they offer “teaches that some children aren’t “comfortable being identified as male or female based on their sex organs.”  They teach the children that they have to right to consent or not consent to sexual activity and this activity may occur in the settings of dating, marriage, or even “commercial sex work”.  Again, these values are far from being consistent with nearly all the readers of this article.

              While the United Nations promotes this work of sex education, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) works with other organizations to “frame ‘child sexual rights’ as ‘human rights.’”  They base their declaration partly from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC).  They view children as having an “evolving capacity” to make decisions for themselves.  A review and deeper understanding of the UN CRC reveals that the Elites in charge of that effort do not believe parents have children’s best interest in mind and the government should enforce the children’s rights to autonomous decisions.  The IPPF document states that “Young people are sexual beings,” and “They have sexual needs, desires, fantasies, and dreams” on its opening page. “It asserts children can make decisions about sex based on their maturity, free from parental ‘interference.’”

              At what point in the history of the IPPF, should it be given any benefit of the doubt based on its ongoing practice of encouraging sex outside marriage and abortion.  Its founder advocated the use of abortion against other races.  It continues to promote abortion up to and after the birth of a child.  The Epoch Times article also shared the experience of April Gallart while lobbying the UN.  She found resistance to parental rights their including the intense effort to remove the words “mother and father” from a document.  The UN’s proclamations promoting children’s rights to have sex at any age is exactly what it says without the taint of any conspiracy theories.

              At this point, you cannot click away and hide your eyes from the dramatic effort by Elites in the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and other groups to remake our children into sexual beings unhindered by Biblical morals.  If there are no limits, then all, including pedophilia is permissible.  Trauma rebranded as Rights will make for a docile society willing to go along to survive the next day while at the same time fulfilling the deviant desires of wicked adults.

              We are not in Kansas anymore and should not keep pretending that this is really happening.  Pray for wisdom and opportunity.  Speak truth to your neighbors and our leaders.  Reject the claims that they are just wanting the best for our children. Protect your children and grandchildren.  God REQUIRES it.  

Primary Article:

Global Network Promotes “Sexual Rights” for Children. (n.d.). The Epoch Times. Retrieved September 3, 2023, from https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/global-network-promotes-sexual-rights-for-children-5455257 Accessed September 3, 2023.

Other citations:

Schiltz, R. (2017, July 11). Sexual Abuse by Teachers is on the Rise – The Children’s Center for Psychiatry, Delray Beach, FL. The Children’s Center for Psychiatry, Psychology, & Related Services. https://childrenstreatmentcenter.com/sexual-abuse-teachers/ Accessed September 3, 2023.

List of pedophile advocacy organizations. (2022, April 10). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pedophile_advocacy_organizations

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Covenant Defines Relationships

September 12, 2023 Eric Potter Covenant

By Jennifer Potter

              “The people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid” (Ezra 3:11b, ESV). God’s people celebrated when the foundation of the temple was restored after their long captivity.  In like fashion, we earnestly desire to restore our foundations (Is. 58:12), particularly the institution of the family.  In order to meet this challenge, we must return to explicit covenantal thinking.  We have to our own detriment oft neglected to nurture covenantal thinking; we have ignored the inherent covenantal structure of God’s created order. This failure has led to the significant erosion of foundational truths. Because covenants define relationships in Scripture between the Godhead, between God and creation, between God and man, and between man and man, reestablishing the covenantal foundations in our thinking must undergird any successful return to Biblical cultural foundations. 

               At the most essential level, a covenant is that which binds the parties involved into a relationship (1, p 6).  Samuel Rutherford takes the concept a step further when he asserts, “A covenant speaks something of giving and taking, work and renewal, and mutual engagements between parties…” (2, p 49).  In other words, the covenantal created order involves duties and obligations between parties. While a variety of covenantal relationships exist in Scripture, God has set forth the principles and obligations of those relationships in His Word.   By adhering to the covenantal structures inherent in the created order, we begin the process of renewal so desperately needed and like Paul become “the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (II Corinthians 2:15-16, ESV).

              From the beginning, God has related to His creation – even the night and the day – through covenantal structure (Genesis 9:10, 12, 17; Hosea 2:18; Jeremiah 33:25).  Rutherford acknowledges that God makes a kind of covenant with not only day and night but also the beasts, urging that they fulfill His commands faithfully (2, p. 53) In addition, God from the beginning related to His image bearers through formal covenant. “By initiating covenants, God never enters into a casual or informal relationship with man” (1, p.7-8).  In fact, all mankind, whether they acknowledge it or not, are in a relationship with their Creator under a covenantal framework. Rutherford asserts that “for God to walk among a people and be their God is to be a Covenanting God to them…” (2, p. 314). Of the Christian, Paul writes in II Corinthians 6:16 that “we are the temple of the living God.” He goes on in this chapter to use the language of Leviticus 26:11-12 for the blessings of the covenant and the language of Jeremiah 31:33 and 32:28 in regards to the New Covenant promises. Covenant defines God’s relationship to man in both Old and New Testaments. 

              Furthermore, the Bible subsumes covenants between men under the Creator-man covenantal relationship, connecting all relationships to Himself.  One such example can be found in coordinating Ezekiel 17 and Chronicles 32.  In these passages, King Zedekiah makes a covenant with King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon agreeing to be a vassal ruler under him and swearing to the God of Israel to keep this covenant.  However, eventually he breaks his covenant agreement by secretly turning to Pharaoh in Egypt for help against his overlord. Through Ezekiel God declares, “I will spread my net over him [Zedekiah], and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me” (Ezekiel 17:20). Here we see that in breaking the man-to-man (horizontal) covenant, Zedekiah is guilty of treachery against God Himself.  Horizontal covenants are encompassed as subordinate elements in the Creator-man covenant.  

              Additionally, at creation we see instituted the first horizontal covenant, that of marriage-the most fundamental of communal ties. Amid the Creation account, the relationship between the man and his wife is established in covenantal terms with duties and obligations set forth by the Creator (Genesis 1-2).  “…The man and the woman, according to God’s own stated intention for them, were created in a just and holy relationship in order that they might mirror the Creator God to his creation,” (3, p 448). Together, in their creaturely perfection, they were a correspondent reflection of the Triune character of God Himself (p. 448) and their duties to their Creator included the duties to one another (3, p.429).  While their relationship is established before the Fall, it is also confirmed after the Fall (Genesis 1-3; Matthew 19:4-7).  Further, in these first chapters of Genesis, we see the covenantal ties of family established: God commands Adam and Eve to ‘”be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). Herein covenantal obligations of this relationship exist and are fleshed out more specifically over the course of God’s revealed Word in passages such as Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Exodus 12:26-27, Psalm 78:5-6, Ephesians 6:1-4, and Colossians 3:20-21. Because God has established His relationship with man via covenant, man’s inter-relational covenants in all their interactions depend upon the covenantal stipulations of the relationship man has with his Creator.

              Because of this created dependence, we must begin the work of rebuilding a correct outworking of family relationships within God’s created order by returning to covenantal thinking – both God-ward and man-ward.  A foundation of covenantal thinking will help us to frame the positive vision for the family and to combat the negative attacks on this God ordained institution.  In doing so, may we be found stewards of the Word of God, able “to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (Eph 5:10), faithfully understanding and applying truth so that the foundations of covenantal family life may be restored leading to a renewed culture.

Bibliography:

  1. Robertson, O. P. (1980). The Christ of the Covenants. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co.
  2. Rutherford, S. (2005). The Covenant of Life Opened (D. C. M. McMahon, Ed.). Puritan Publications.
  3. Reymond, D. R. L. (1998). A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (2nd ed.). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
  4. Bible Translation, English Standard Version.
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Politician’s Views of Mental Health Crisis

September 6, 2023 Eric Potter Current Inks ,

                 Today, people from a variety of backgrounds recognize that we have a deteriorating mental health problem in our society which began before 2020, but has been exacerbated by it. While many will debate the causes, severity, and details of this problem, most admit that we live in an age of heightened sadness and anxiety expressed in a variety of symptoms and diagnoses.  We can look together at statistics further below with some general agreement, but as soon as solutions are offered, divergences begin.  We may agree that something must change, but how we view the problem determines how we believe that we should respond.  While we may be able to address our own or our family’s mental health issues, the collective societal response is best exemplified in the political proposals of those in leadership across various offices.  These legislative proposals concerning mental health care demonstrate our leaders fundamentally flawed beliefs about the mental health problem.

                Before considering the statistics, my simple definition of mental health according to worldly standards includes someone feeling good about life, having the absence of significant “dis”-ease which hinders functionality and productivity in daily life.  This plays out not as a complete absence of emotional fluctuations as with a science fiction robot. Instead mental health is viewed as an  spectrum of emotions which includes some degrees of sadness, anxiousness, joy, mourning, and other emotions.  The intensities match the context of the situation, and their duration is appropriate for the circumstances without significantly interfering with life functions.      

               While the world’s general view of mental health tends towards a focus on individual’s absence of “dis”-ease, a Biblical view of health informed by Biblical support emphasizes a Hebrew term “shalom”.  Shalom encompasses a more wholistic and positive view of health.  It includes physical and mental/spiritual health as well as relational health with God and with other people.  This shalom focuses on the presence of “well-being” rather than just the absence of negative symptoms. (for a further explanation of shalom and other Biblical words regarding health, see prior essay). 

               The world’s approach is to aim against “dis”-ease, rather than towards shalom. If we as Christians believe that God’s goal of mental health for us should be shalom for people as both individuals and in community, then we should evaluate whether the approach taken by the world and by our governmental leaders will lead to shalom or away from it.

               Assuming for the moment that the methods of assessment by the authors of the following surveys and studies are valid and portray a relatively accurate picture of the state of mental health in our nation, we see that we truly have a problem.  Elsewhere we can address the shortcomings of these methods and the factors they measured, but for now let’s take them at their face value.  A December 2022 edition of the journal Pediatrics reported on their comparison of mental health diagnoses reported in primary care between the year prior to COVID beginning in February of 2020 and two periods after this watershed in 2020 and 2021.  They found that eating disorder diagnoses in children almost doubled from 9.3 visits per 1000 patients per year to 18.3.  They also found the overall annualized mood disorder visits increased from 65.3 per 1000 patients per year to 94.0.  Basically, this second statistic indicates that almost 1 in 10 visits in pediatric primary care were for a mood related symptom. 

               In another study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported by the Pew Center for Research (LINK) in 2021, high school students were evaluated on their self-reports of mental health symptoms.  In public and private high schools, 37% reported that their mental health was not good during the pandemic and 44% reported that in the prior year, they had experienced sufficient sadness or hopelessness for 2 weeks or more which led to their stopping some activity. 

               From the website by the National Alliance on Mental Health (LINK), we find further disturbing statistics.  Their “Mental Health by the Numbers” paint enough of a picture that we don’t need to go any deeper.  They list the following in a longer list on their site:

  • About 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience some mental illness each year.
  • About 1 in 6 children between the ages of 6 and 17 years experience mental illness each year.
  • For children aged 10 to 14 years, suicide is the second leading cause of death.

               Numbers like these can tell us that a problem exists and that the current response does not appear adequate.  However, they do not necessarily explain how to change this situation. A much deeper look into the root causes of this situation would be needed and is not in the direct scope of this essay.  Neither will I provide support for my belief that there will always be some prevalence of mental “dis”-ease in a fallen world where sin is still rampant.  Until the New Heavens and New Earth, there will always be some degree of poor mental health.  For now we turn our attention to the response of our political leaders and what their response tells us about their view of the problem and its roots.

               We can gain a sense of how our Tennessee legislators view mental health by considering a few of the recent bills they proposed in the 2023 Special Session called by Governor Bill Lee for August of 2023. This session is now adjourned and the following bills were not passed, but these bills can be returned or refiled to committee and the Senate or House floor for consideration in the next session in January of 2024.  We as a state still must contend with these bills for better or worse and with the worldview foundations of our legislators which underlie these bills’ proposals.

               We look first at SB7079 and its companion bill in the state House, HB7035 which proposed loan repayment incentives to mental health professional students in exchange for a required number of years of their service in Tennessee.  The beliefs or assumptions of legislators can be deduced from this proposal.  They appear to believe that we have a shortage of mental health providers and by raising that number, we can improve mental health.  They appear to believe that experts in mental health can alleviate the problem.  They appear to believe that more money spent on these experts will alleviate the problem.  By not mentioning any other potential resources like family, church, or community, they suggest a belief that these factors are not important especially when considering that no other legislation in the special session addressed those factors.  They appear to believe that the views of mental health professionals, which in general conflict with the previously stated Biblical view of health, can solve the problem.  I believe these are plausible inferences to make from their proposed bill.

               We look next at SB 7032and HB 7066 which proposed the coverage of at least three mental health telemedicine visits to youth.  Besides many of the same appearances gleaned from the previous bill, we can add a few more.  The legislators appear to believe that children should be able to freely access these services without parental involvement as that is not mentioned in the bill.  The bill has no mention of the ability of parents to oversee either the individual mental health care of their children, nor have any say in the collective work of that system.  Beyond that, while the bill has possible provisions for further visits beyond three initial visits, the legislators appear to believe that short term interventions can be sufficient for such chronic issues.  That is a debatable opinion and this bill, if ever passed, will undermine parental rights.

               We next look at SB 7016 and HB 7076 which proposed adding 1 school counselor per every 250 students in the public school system.  This would add over 3800 new counseling positions in 1800 schools across the state at a potential cost of about 280 million dollars.  Again we see the appearance that legislators believe mental health experts know best for our children and should have access to children potentially without parental involvement or even parental awareness at times.  They also appear to believe that schools are a good location for such services.  This fits with the central role school frequently plays in the life of families, shaping their activities and relationships around schools’ calendars and connections.  (This dovetails with the mindset of the federal government since the schools receiving federal funding are no longer required to get parental consent for mental health services source. LINK.)

               We finally look at SB 7074 and HB 7069 which proposes that Tennessee seek federal waivers through Tenncare to receive more federal money to increase mental health services in Tennessee.  The legislators proposing this bill clearly believe that federal government money flowing into Tennessee is a good option to meet the need for mental health care.  They would appear to not be concerned about any regulations that such money would bring from the federal government that would dictate how Tennessee mental health provider treat Tennesseans with mental health problems. 

               In summary, our governmental leaders appear to believe in the following principles behind their solutions:

  • Experts can solve the problem
  • Government money from the state or federal government can fix the problem
  • Other resources like family, church, and community do not play a role in a solution
  • Understanding the root causes of the problem are not necessary for a solution
  • For children’s mental health, parental and family involvement are not necessary
  • Without a mention of the contribution of sinful behavior to the issue, they don’t consider it a factor

               Are these principles ones which Tennesseans agree with?  These foundational principles regarding what our legislators believe about mental health and the relationship between parents and children give me great concern as a Christian parent and a Christian physician.  I should not be surprised as much of our society sees little problem with these foundational principles.  Even our churches and their leaders don’t quite understand that a Biblical approach to mental health should aim at shalom rather try to resolve “dis”-ease of a worldly view of mental health.  I would argue with Psalm 11 that the righteous must consider what to do next in the face of the foundations being destroyed and having been replaced by faulty worldview foundations.  It is high time to return to Biblical principles including the striving for shalom rather than the reduction of “dis”-ease through more governmental mental health intervention.

In future blogs… What should the role of state or federal government be in mental health? 

Bibliography

Potter MD, E. (2023, June 1). True Health: What does it include in Biblical terms? (Part1) – Whole Person Whole Life. Whole Person Whole Life. https://wholepersonwholelife.com/true-health-what-does-it-include-biblical/

Mental health and the pandemic: What U.S. surveys have found. By John Gramlich Pew Research Center. March 2, 2023.  Accessed August 30, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/03/02/mental-health-and-the-pandemic-what-u-s-surveys-have-found/

National Alliance on Mental Health. Mental Health By the Numbers. Last updated: April 2023. Accessed September 4, 2023. https://www.nami.org/mhstats

Hoge, A. (2023, August 29). Biden Expands ObamaCare For Mental Health Services at Schools to Psychoanalyze Children 0 to 21. News with Views. Accessed September 4, 2023. https://newswithviews.com/biden-expands-obamacare-for-mental-health-services-at-schools-to-psychoanalyze-children-0-to-21/

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Demolishing Arguments

September 5, 2023 Eric Potter Quotes

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” – NIV

              As we do today, Paul encountered numerous philosophies and religions which at their cores opposed a true knowledge of God. Each sought to explain life, to guide lifestyles, and to ultimately justify rejecting the God who not only created all things, but rules sovereignly over the universe. To this God of Abraham, we must answer regardless of whether or not we were to create in our minds some false explanation of reality.

              Paul’s first goal was to glorify God by proclaiming the truth which had been revealed to him, but accomplishing that goal included overcoming these false arguments and pretensions. In order to evangelize others, bringing them into the kingdom, God through him had to overcome these falsehoods with spirit and truth. These arguments against God and pretensions denying Him had to be demolished. 

              Today, many “-isms” offer an alternative view of reality, an excuse to deny the God who requires us to come to Him through faith alone in Christ alone. Scientism and materialism claim that all reality is encompassed by the physical and no spiritual reality including God exists. Legalism in its myriad forms seduces men and women to believe they can earn their freedom from the guilt of sin. Woke-ism deceives with its perverted definition of justice, enslaving instead of freeing its followers to another law they cannot fulfill.

              We should follow in Paul’s footsteps both in opposing the false arguments and pretensions within our own minds and lives that mislead us from true worship as well as the same lies that deceive others around us today. To accomplish this we must first discern the lies in all their forms, uncovering not only their foundations but all the ways their deceits extend into our beliefs, our thoughts and feeling, and our practice individually and collectively. Then we must systematically shine the light of God’s truth on them, exposing them so we can demolish them. We and others around us will flourish in God’s blessing through such work.

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How We Gathered in the Past

June 4, 2023 Eric Potter Gather

              Modern life has pressed itself upon us such that we gather differently today than in yesterday’s era.  Future essays will consider characteristics and patterns of today’s gatherings, but here we look back at decades ago when life seemed a little slower.  In those times we see more rootedness.  In those times we see more connectedness.  In those times we see more meaning to gathering and life.  Within family, friendships, and community there was time for relationship.  Society and culture supported gathering and relationships rather than hindered it.  Such gathering still occurs somewhat in some areas of America and within many families, but it is not as natural as it once was.              

              In contrast, we find a measure of dysfunction in how many gather today, a topic which we address more deeply in another essay.  For now, we look back to past times for what was better then, in order to try to regain some of what has been lost.  We must also see how we got here in order to improve today’s gathering.

              Rather than idealize one era of history or get bogged down in debatable details, we will look at principles of gathering that are less emphasized today.  The principles which we emphasize are intended to draw out what was good in the past while we acknowledge that not all was good in those times.  We agree that there was no perfect era of gathering, but we look for a comparison to see how the present is changing for the worse.  Ultimately, we want a Biblical view of gathering to win us over, but as there is no social etiquette handbook in the Bible, we need to see how the Biblical principles have worked out in history. 

              In a prior age of less geographic mobility, people had more time to build relationships with roots.  Where families and communities lived alongside one another for generations, family connections and friend connections were a part of life’s background.  Repetitions of interaction drew individuals tighter and tighter into enduring bonds.  One was connected not only by one’s personal interactions, but also the interactions of their families and relational networks.  Your parents and siblings connected you to the lives of others.  Your friends overlapped and drew you more and more into the networks.  The connectedness grew by additions and multiplications of layers.  There was more rootedness when one did not pull up and move around as often as we do in modern society.  There was a wider and deeper connectedness that had developed over time.

              In those past times of greater rootedness and connectedness, life could develop more meaning together.  When life was more than one’s personal accumulation of experience, but instead a multilayered, interconnected web of family, friends, and community, one’s individual life had greater meaning in connecting with others.  The individual meant something to those around them.  Their actions meant something to the lives of others.  A loss for one was a loss for others in the network.  Mourning such a loss was a collective experience in which the primary mourning individuals were supported by the community.  An accomplishment for one was an accomplishment to be celebrated by family, friends, and community.  Even shame was shared by others in community.  There was social pressure to confirm to a standard, right or wrong it may be, when one’s embarrassment could deeply affect connected others.  One could not live as an island in such a connected community.

              Society supported this development of rootedness and connectedness.  While prolonged time in one place permitted histories of life to deepen together, society also pushed people together.  Common locations of gathering fed the process.  Common church life brought people together around worship and deeper meaning.  Shared life of neighbors over time built bonds of community.  Sports teams and activities brough not just the children together, but families and communities into a shared experience of striving together.  Community events nurtured a common experience of memories and interests.  It became an unspoken expectation to be a part of a community.

              Without pressing into the details of modern life, it is needless to say that we have less rootedness, less connectedness, and less meaning in life.  This change is not uniform across America as pockets of gathering richness do still exist in some families, some communities, and some churches.  On the whole however, this is difficult when recent statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau estimate that the average American moves 11.7 times in their adult lifetime resulting in a move every 5 to 6 years (1).  While some moves may be within a community, experience reminds us that corporate America frequently moves its managers and executives around between cities.  We are continuing to lose the benefits of long-term gathering.

Next in the series… “How We Gather Today”.

Reference:

Calculating Migration Expectancy Using ACS Data.  U.S. Census Bureau. Revised December 3, 2021. Accessed June 12, 2023.  https://www.census.gov/topics/population/migration/guidance/calculating-migration-expectancy.html.

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Exemple

Why We Gather

June 4, 2023 Eric Potter Gather

              Understanding why we gather can help guide how we gather with the hope of greater fruit from the gathering.  Knowing the telos or the purpose of gathering is important.  Broadly speaking, gathering has internal and external goals.  Internally, we are wired for relationships as we possess the image of God in man from creation itself which includes a relational aspect (see my paper on the Image of God in Man – coming soon).  Externally, the call to take dominion of the world through stewardship of creation requires a collective response which one person cannot fulfill. Understanding how these internal and external goals drive us and work out in life requires wisdom through study of the Bible and discernment of our human natures.

              Slowing down to understand why we gather will offer great insight on how we gather with others for greater fruit.  Animals instinctually gather in families and packs or herds.  In even this there is a telos or goal.  At the simplest level, this gathering is generally for survival.  At a more complex level there are opportunities for group actions which serve the higher goal of survival.  This may be the simple picking bugs off each other’s backs or the size of the herd deterring predator attacks.

              The higher consciousness and nature of mankind reflects similar principles but goes beyond instincts.  It includes complex and willfully chosen acts aimed at higher telos than simple survival.  Yes, individual and collective mankind pursue survival of self and species, but other values and goals are also pursued which do not directly extend survival.  Instead, they work to add to the pleasure and value of survival as well as directed towards obeying our creator, the means of our greatest fulfillment.

              Some of the higher goals of this higher nature arise from internal drives.  At times, even with humanity, the goals of gathering may be little more than the simple avoidance of being alone which is an inherently undesirable state if prolonged. From our creation, we were designed to “not be alone”.  We generally feel and function better when living in relationship.  At times, our goals for gathering go beyond this simple avoidance of solitude and focus attention on specific others in a particular relationship.  Affection towards another specific person in friendship or romance drives a desire to gather with them.  One desires proximity to that person in time and space more than just one’s imagination.  At other times, the natural bonds of family drive the affection and thus the gathering.  Parents usually like to keep their children close and siblings, though rivalrous at times, generally have an attachment driving a desire to gather.  Extended family share a bond that presses a gathering drive.

              Some of the higher goals arise from external drives or at least drives that extend beyond the internal.  External goals such as building something usually require a gathering of effort to create.  External goals such as providing a service usually require a gathering of multiple inputs of mind and body.  External goals of taking dominion and governing over a geographical area requires a gathering in as much as a going out to occupy.  Works of human production are greater when done collectively than when performed individually.

              Each of these sounds philosophical and dry at first, yet understanding how each drive you, can empower you to pursue the greatest fulfillment.  Greater fulfillment can be obtained when even the smaller tasks of life are achieved together.  The greatest human achievements arise from the collective efforts of such gatherings.  Mankind finds its greatest fulfilment in fulfilling the callings of God implicit in creation.  The implicit calling to gather in response to the “not good” of Adam being alone and the explicit command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.  Taking dominion in obedience and for the sake of joyful fulfillment requires gathering.

Next in this series… “How We Gathered in the Past”.

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Exemple

Welcome to the “Gather” Series

June 4, 2023 Eric Potter Gather

              We were created for relationship. Though man may live alone on an island, we are not made to be a lone island.  It was not good for Adam to be alone (Genesis) so Go provided Eve and He visited them in the garden.  We naturally, by design, gather with others for many reasons.  This gathering can bless or can curse depending on with whom we gather and how it is done as well as for what purpose.

              We are not meant to be alone.  While many religions honor the hermit, such a state of solitude arises not from created nature but from distortions of natural order.  Even this relatively rare practice defines itself by the absence of others. This most likely arises from the fact that most people feel something missing when they experience a prolonged lack of contact with others, whether that is the lack of time with family and friends, or even more so when truly without any other human contact.  One might argue that they are recharged by short times of solitude, but that fact does not counter the point that such need for quiet rest comes after the benefits of relatively longer times of gathering with others. 

              When examining the necessity of gathering with others, some aspects of life are only possible in the midst of gathering.  While one may work alone for the sake of one’s own needs and goals, work’s fruits are multiplied when the gathered work together by the volume of what is produced and the number who receive the benefits.  While many games of Solitaire allow one to enjoy time alone, again we see that gathering magnifies the joy of games which can grow in complexity, in competition, and shared enjoyment as well as memories.  As one more example, while many have been ensnared by the lure of self-love, the love of others has both a command of God and a tangible pleasure when practiced.  In these aspects of life in our world, gathering with others offers opportunities for the fullness of life which solitude cannot begin to provide.

              Very likely, such a foundational necessity of gathering arose in the Garden with God’s creation of man as good yet not good in being alone.  With the creation of Eve, Adam had a helpmeet who not only walked in the garden with him but would be the bearer of future mankind through birth.  In a sense, God did more than add 1 plus 1, but set forth a pattern in which man and women would bear a society of mankind to fill the earth.  The gathering did not end there alone, however, in that God visited them in the garden and walked with them and talked with them.  Adam, Eve, and God gathered, and it was good.

              A discerning observation of present humanity supports the assertion that most of mankind possess a natural drive towards gathering.  Most consider it somewhat unnatural to completely shun social contact with others.  Such gathering provides opportunities for pleasure and joy as mentioned earlier not available to the one in solitude.  Those who shun social contact most often have experienced the dark side of gathering when it was done for the sake of harm rather than good or done inappropriately.

              This series on “gathering” will consider these truths and much more.  Though we must always begin with the “Doc-sy” of what is true and right, followed by the “Prac-sy” of individual daily choices, we inevitably get to considering how we “Gather” which is our present focus.  We will look at the good and the bad, comparing it to the good and bad of the past, considering what a true ideal of gathering might be, with all of this taken in the context of the church, the community, the family, and in various settings.  We examine how we gather and how we should gather so we can move towards the most fruitful and beneficial gathering today before our Creator.

Next in this series… Why We Gather?

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Stewardship of the gift of life