{"id":30666,"date":"2015-06-18T23:32:35","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T03:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=30666"},"modified":"2015-06-18T23:32:35","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T03:32:35","slug":"is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting<\/a>, suggesting that mental illness must be involved.<\/p>\n

I responded in a number of ways, including asking whether all the people in lynch mobs in the south some decades ago were mentally ill.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, to blame mental illness can be a reprehensible attempt at blame-shifting. Jesus taught that murder is simply the ultimate outwards expression of anger and hatred. When we foster cultures or subcultures of hatred<\/a>, in which some human beings are demonized and dehumanized, we are laying the groundwork for murder. And we share in the guilt, even if we ourselves did not pull a trigger.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, one can perhaps construe the suggestion\u00a0as meaning that racism is itself a mental illness.\u00a0The question of what \u201csanity\u201d is and how it is defined is an important one. Isn\u2019t racism simply an individual or societal delusion? Should we begin to diagnose it and treat it in the same way we might\u00a0deal with other psychological\u00a0conditions that could lead someone to harm themselves and others?<\/p>\n

What do readers of this blog think? Is\u00a0blaming mental illness for a shooting like this an attempt to shift the blame away from racism? Or is it in fact an accurate diagnosis of what racism is?<\/p>\n

There is much more coverage of this event around, for those who may be interested. CNN has video<\/a> from the Bible study at Emmanuel AME Church at\u00a0which Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people, ABC has details<\/a> about his apprehension and his white supremacist views, and other Patheos bloggers such as Crystal St. Marie Lewis<\/a>, Frank Schaeffer<\/a>,\u00a0Christian Piatt<\/a>, Fred Clark<\/a>, and Ben Corey<\/a> have reflections.<\/p>\n

\"150618__dylann_roof_facebook_screengrab_956x519\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting, suggesting that mental illness must be involved. I responded in a number of ways, including asking whether all the people in lynch mobs in the south some decades ago were mentally ill. On the one hand, to blame mental illness can be a reprehensible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":30667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[179,416,1880,2908,3035,9896,11230,13687],"class_list":["post-30666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morality","tag-charlestonshooting","tag-african-american","tag-church","tag-dylann-roof","tag-emmanuel","tag-racism","tag-shooting","tag-white-supremacists"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting, suggesting that mental illness must be involved. I responded in a number of ways,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting, suggesting that mental illness must be involved. I responded in a number of ways,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-19T03:32:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html\",\"name\":\"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-19T03:32:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-19T03:32:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting, suggesting that mental illness must be involved. I responded in a number of ways,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting","description":"I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting, suggesting that mental illness must be involved. I responded in a number of ways,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting","og_description":"I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting, suggesting that mental illness must be involved. I responded in a number of ways,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2015-06-19T03:32:35+00:00","author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html","name":"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-06-19T03:32:35+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-19T03:32:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"I had someone comment on a\u00a0Facebook post about the Charleston shooting, suggesting that mental illness must be involved. I responded in a number of ways,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/is-racism-a-mental-illness-charlestonshooting.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Racism a Mental Illness? #CharlestonShooting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}