The Atrocities Future Historians Will Make Documentaries About One Day. Where Are You In The Story?
Re~posting a facebook post from my page today for my own posterity and for your own education (see below if you are so inclined to read). Thanks for bearing with me before hand.
"Today at my church we heard an amazing sermon about forgiveness by our pastor. It was the culmination for me of a long struggle in my heart towards our system and attitude of care (or lack thereof) in this country for the seriously mentally ill.. On a personal level I struggle with how to advocate, should I advocate?, how to work towards justice without becoming cynical and bitter, unforgiving, and thus not bringing glory to my savior. I haven't mastered this by a long shot, but this is the very reason I have to keep posting these stories...Christ came to seek and save the lost. He went to the outcasts (like me), he healed them, he corrected the Pharisees of that day (the ones like me) with his compassion and mercy. In my heart I want to shout at the top of my lungs about this! So...we freed the mentally ill from "The Cuckoos' Nest". But what did we do for them afterwards?? This is it folks. Prison, homelessness or men shooting crowds of people or killing loving parents...or killing themselves because we have allowed young men and women to become too ill to be able to tell reality from delusion. There's nothing to be afraid of, they're sick. They need us. We do have the tools and ability to treat them. People say it's too costly to care for the most ill and weak among us, but we are paying all right. It is the cruelest thing and it will mark us. I heard it said that people didn't believe the Holocaust was really happening until they saw pictures. We have pictures. We have stories. We have tragedy unthinkable just a decade ago. Stop being o.k. with "mental health" conferences and P.S.A.'s from celebrities. Do the right thing and hold your elected officials accountable. Show your support to Representative Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, the ONLY Congressman I know of taking up the courageous challenge. Speak up for the weak, the fatherless. Follow one of the fiercest advocates I know, Dj Jaffe at Mental Illness Policy Org. and support him. Support Treatment Advocacy Center. You can find these groups on facebook. The ones who are fighting the fight are few, please read the following story below and see if your heart is not moved. No, obliterated. Thanks."
"One of the Darkest Periods in the History of American Prisons", by Andrew Cohen of "The Atlantic". Mr. Cohen, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
"Today at my church we heard an amazing sermon about forgiveness by our pastor. It was the culmination for me of a long struggle in my heart towards our system and attitude of care (or lack thereof) in this country for the seriously mentally ill.. On a personal level I struggle with how to advocate, should I advocate?, how to work towards justice without becoming cynical and bitter, unforgiving, and thus not bringing glory to my savior. I haven't mastered this by a long shot, but this is the very reason I have to keep posting these stories...Christ came to seek and save the lost. He went to the outcasts (like me), he healed them, he corrected the Pharisees of that day (the ones like me) with his compassion and mercy. In my heart I want to shout at the top of my lungs about this! So...we freed the mentally ill from "The Cuckoos' Nest". But what did we do for them afterwards?? This is it folks. Prison, homelessness or men shooting crowds of people or killing loving parents...or killing themselves because we have allowed young men and women to become too ill to be able to tell reality from delusion. There's nothing to be afraid of, they're sick. They need us. We do have the tools and ability to treat them. People say it's too costly to care for the most ill and weak among us, but we are paying all right. It is the cruelest thing and it will mark us. I heard it said that people didn't believe the Holocaust was really happening until they saw pictures. We have pictures. We have stories. We have tragedy unthinkable just a decade ago. Stop being o.k. with "mental health" conferences and P.S.A.'s from celebrities. Do the right thing and hold your elected officials accountable. Show your support to Representative Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, the ONLY Congressman I know of taking up the courageous challenge. Speak up for the weak, the fatherless. Follow one of the fiercest advocates I know, Dj Jaffe at Mental Illness Policy Org. and support him. Support Treatment Advocacy Center. You can find these groups on facebook. The ones who are fighting the fight are few, please read the following story below and see if your heart is not moved. No, obliterated. Thanks."
"One of the Darkest Periods in the History of American Prisons", by Andrew Cohen of "The Atlantic". Mr. Cohen, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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