I get comments

May 28, 2018 • 9:15 am

Here’s a comment from one “Dominick” that arrived in the moderation box. I’m posting it here largely because Dominick claims to be a “mental health professional.” Tracing his email address, which of course I won’t divulge, I found that this is true. Do we really want people like this helping others become mentally healthy?

The comment was intended for my post: “Moving Naturalism Forward videos now online“. I reproduce it exactly as posted.

Free Will exist as does God. If mankind was living in an atopia we couldn’t handle it. The current state of affairs leaves one to question God while it is clear to me that our though and decisions are our own to be later scrutined by the man upstairs. Why? Because the human condition was created by a choice that was influenced by evil. As a mental health professional I see evil and mental health as a difference. Whether one buys into the Bible and it’s events or not there is a supreme being and a evil force at work. The human condition is a struggle and there is reasoning even in tragedy. Human reasoning can be likened by Thomas Aquinas but even above reasoning rains valid if it we’re known. I live in the mystery myself with faith hope and love. Just my humble opinion I don’t sell it. I respect others views.

“Just my humble opinion I don’t sell it.” I think there are two lies there. . .

Kudos to any reader who can figure out what this guy is saying.

64 thoughts on “I get comments”

  1. Oh my days! I can’t figure it out! But, if he is a mental health professional, I hope he keeps his religion out of his work, as many conditions carry religious delusions; therefore, his religion doesn’t belong in his work.

  3. There is an evil force at work in this commenter’s spelling and prose.

    “‘Just my humble opinion I don’t sell it.’ I think there are two lies there.”

    To be fair to Dominick, I don’t see how he is being any less humble or more forceful than anyone else who gives their opinion in this site’s comments section. He was respectful and didn’t claim that those who disagree are somehow lesser beings or doomed to eternal hellfire.

    1. You have a point there.

      But he really should check his spelling and typing. It becomes slightly less cryptic if you correct ‘though’ and ‘rains’ and ‘we’re’, for example.

      But I do like ‘atopia’ – presumably the opposite of ‘utopia’.

      cr

      1. I have to acknowledge – as pointed out by Dr. I Needtob Athe at #20 below – that ‘atopia’ is a real word, so Dominic’s statement is probably correct (though it might not be what he meant).

        We live and learn.

        cr

  4. This person is incoherent and writes at a level that a twelve year old could easily surpass.

    Any interaction I have had with “mental health professionals” has shown them lacking competence from my viewpoint.

  5. Taking the religion out of the equation…if his abilities as a mental health professional are anything like his abilities to articulate, his patients are in trouble.

  6. It’d be useful if he could punctuate for a start? An incoherent ramble, I think he’s trying to say that good and evil coexist thanks to god. All I can say is if you’re thinks ng of giving Dominick a berth, make sure it’s a wide one? Having him near anyone would concern me.

    2. Righto. This would be worthy of her talents. How someone with such cognitive deficits could be a (licensed?) “mental health professional” is beyond my ken.

  9. I have this suspicion that anyone can call themselves a “mental health professional” even without an official qualification. Or a high school diploma for that matter.

    1. He comes across as a mental health professional in the same way that I was a professional surgeon when I had my appendix removed.

      1. Depends how you parse ‘mental health professional’ I guess.

        cr

  10. Yikes, this may be a simple case of the lunatics taking over the asylum. Of course, a “mental health professional” could loosely describe a lifelong institutionalized patient. The writing is discursive and non-sequitur, the appeal to authority (Aquinas)is tautological and nonsensical. Dominick’s rambling is incoherent. All the signs indicate this is a patient, nurse’s asst., or possibly a janitor.

    1. “All the signs indicate this is a patient, nurse’s asst., or possibly a janitor.”

      Or perhaps a Rick Perryesque/George Bushesque politician with a Harvard MBA?

      There’s at least one American truck driver or motorcycle mechanic out there with a Ph.D. in philosophy.

  11. He is part an obscure Christian sect that does not believe in the existence of commas.

    1. I wish all these Christians would stop having sects. We’ve got enough of them already.

        1. Yes you did. You need to look to Jeseus’ twelve. Apostrophes for examples of correct behavior.

          1. Well, it might beat going to a priest. That might just get me back to what I wrote. (More yikes!)

  12. What he is saying is “Jesus loves you” and through him and by him all things happen. It necessarily follows that this “religious health” practitioner charges his clients nothing since charging something for what another did is fraud. Yada, yada, yada.

  13. “Human reasoning can be likened by Thomas Aquinas but even above reasoning rains valid if it we’re known.” This could be the most profound thought I’ve ever read. I’m going to post this above my monitor so that I can re-read it forever.

  15. I will figure out what he is saying but you will have to pay a lot more than a “kudo”.

  17. The human condition was created by choice that was influenced by evil. That statement would require a lot of unpacking before we could understand it. Mostly he is just making pronouncements and providing nothing to shed evidence or reason for these statements. If there is g*d or evil running the show please back it up with something instead of nothing.

  19. IF you can’t say it in English, you are not thinking clearly or coherently and you risk being perceived as “not only not right, but not even wrong” as physicist Wolfgang Pauli famously said.

    Billy Graham was capable of grammatically correct English. this guy isn’t.

  20. Atopia is a real word and Wikipedia says it can mean “an inhospitable location that cannot be turned into a dwelling-place.” So Dominick’s claim that “if mankind was living in an atopia we couldn’t handle it” is actually true.

    2. Yeah, I had to look that one up as well. So, he might be crazy, but I learned something.

  21. Hi
    I can work out what he is saying because:

    1) I’m a mental health professional myself (technically I teach other people to be mental health professionals these days)

    2) I live in a religious country where its not totally unknown to hear folk talk this way–although maybe his first language is not English?

    3) I did a degree in philosophy waaayy back before my current career path

    He’s arguing the Manichean position–that earth is a proving ground for good and evil and that humans have free will so they can pick sides.

    In addition he’s taking a position common in the catholic church and some versions of orthodx Judaism (Ben Shapiro recently argued this way) that reason is only a guide to truth because god underwrites it.
    Rene Descatrs articulated a version of this (“God wouldnt deceive us if we are careful enough”) but its mainly ascribed to Thomas Aquinas as the guy says.

    In Ireland, fifty years ago, psychology had a tough time arguing for the validity of its existence because of professional jealousy from the church.

    In some places (UCC, for example) this was achieved by labelling it “applied psychology” and claiming clear blue water between it and the sort of things the church was doing. Things have moved on in a half century…well–they have here. But, perhaps not wherever this chap hails from.

    Dont know if this helps?

    Rob

  22. It seems to me Dominick argues that the idea of religious evil is valid because it is the (valid) idea of evil.

    Oh, and he seems to claim that having mental health problems is caused by “evil”, so basically – scary thought – Dominick is an active or inactive exorcist.

  23. There are evidently two kinds of mental health professionals: ones that help people with mental issues and ones that are themselves mentally ill. It is clear that this guy is of the latter kind. But who pays them?

  24. Its actually a fairly fluid piece of writing. Its opaqueness suits its content.

    Basically he is saying that humanity would be unable to handle the knowledge that free will is a lie, then justifies free will through the original sin. If free will does not exist, god would not have punished us for making the wrong choice.

    Its circular reasoning, but perfectly in line with conventional religious belief. I just find it wasteful to see a person steeped so deeply in their belief system they don’t even realize their assumptions can be questioned. Like the fish who doesn’t believe in water.

  25. With my un-green-crayon-ing in brackets:

    “If mankind was living in [a utopia] we couldn’t handle it.”
    So all the suffering is necessary to keep us sane? Then what happens when we get to Heaven? 🙂

    This was Authentic Frontier Gibberish, but here goes:
    “Human reasoning can [reach the level of] Thomas Aquinas but even above reasoning [reigns truth] if it [were] known.”

    1. Yeah, the ultimate truth above reasoning that reasoning could never attain. God-think!

  26. Forward Dom’s email to Trump’s English teacher; let’s see what she thinks.

  29. I imagine he’s getting at there is positive in negative if you can draw it out; as well as lessons can be learned such that failure can include successes. He’s just confusing it all by adding in irrelevant references to God and religious interpretation.
    That’s my guess. If it’s wrong, I think my first statement holds true, nonetheless.

  30. I read this any number of times and here is my very best shot at paraphrasing what this chap is saying….

    “God probably has free will. However, if you are living in a tent you probably didn’t put it up yourself. If however you live in an apartment building your upstairs neighbor is probably listening in on you. Watch out! Why do you need to do this? Because the bastard upstairs is an evil sod. Because of this I am seeking the help of a mental health professional. Other options? -if you purchase a bible you just might be able to throw it at this neighbor, who for all you know could turn out to be Thomas Acquinas. It’s all a big mystery, but hey….we’re all entitled to our own opinion don’t you think?”

  32. How can anybody who writes like that, and I use the term very loosely, possibly pass the courses of study needed for whatever certification he must have? The college standards must have gone downhill significantly faster than I realized since I was in college 56 years ago.

    1. Perhaps it is simply that he is lazy in his writing and proofreading outside of a professional setting, like, for example, not a few Starbucks customers who are lazy and inconsiderate in leaving and imposing on other customers a mess after they pour cream and sweetener into their precious libations (which they would surely never do as a guest at a private home).

  33. Why is it that religiosity and literacy seem to be mutually exclusive? I have no idea what Dominick is trying to say, but it probably doesn’t matter….

  34. I think a judicious note to his employer or supervisor is in order. Failing that, an entry on one or more of those medical professional review sites would do.

  35. “Human reasoning can be likened by Thomas Aquinas but even above reasoning rains valid if it we’re known.”

    This surely means that when you’re ready to leave an event and the weather is bad, the Aquaman valet reigns supreme, because only s/he knows where the heck your car is!

  36. Perhaps this is yet another variant of the ‘sophisticated theology’ we’re always being told to consult.

    So, if we commit acts of ‘evil’, it’s because we have free will. But at the same time, there’s a force of evil- presumably Lucifer,that devilish meddler- acting upon the world, making us do his evil bidding.

    I guess it all makes sense, if you’re a schizophrenic or a theist.

  37. As a person who loves verbal and written language, reading this writer caused me such distress that I had to wait until now to respond. It may be possible to figure out what he is trying to say, but who would want to when the writing is so bad?! I find it hard to believe that this person has a degree of any sort from a university of whatever kind. I also find it terrible if he is indeed employed as he says he is. If he converses with his clients in the way he writes, communication would be close to impossible.
    And his notes on sessions would be also.

  38. “Human reasoning can be likened by Thomas Aquinas but even above reasoning rains valid if it we’re known.”
    ???
    likened?
    rains?

    this fellow is wet…

  39. “… the human condition was created by a choice that was influenced by evil.”

    This refers to Genesis 3:1-6, where the serpent tempts Eve into offering the forbidden fruit to Adam, and their consequent expulsion from Eden.

    Resting his argument on this foundation renders disingenuous the offhand comment: “[w]hether one buys into the Bible and it’s events or not ….”

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