Pathophysiology of Incest
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord, (Leviticus 18:6).
In the book, The Perfect Prescription, incest is described as the sexual abuse of another human being by a close family member or relative. Incest can also take place between related and quasi-related individuals. Author and researcher, Dr. Christine A. Courtois observes that when the perpetrator of an incestuous relationship is older and much bigger or stronger or has the advantage of power differential, such as a parent with a child, a grandparent with a grandchild, an aunt with a nephew, or an uncle with a niece, then that incestuous expression becomes child abuse, too. Incest offenders usually prey on the trust of their victim and use it to manipulate them into submission. The effects of incestuous relationships on the victim can last a lifetime. Victims of incest tend to have emotional, relational and sexual scars that outlast the physical scars. The findings of a study by Bushnell and associates conducted among women aged 18-44 in New Zealand to assess potential long-term effects of intrafamilial sexual abuse during their childhood years demonstrated that incestuous sexual abuse during childhood were significantly associated with increased mental problems including depression, bulimia, and anxiety. The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault Fact Sheet states that in the United, 46% of children who are raped are raped by their own family members and about 61% of victims of rape are raped before they are 18. Twenty-nine percent of these rapes take place when the victims are below 11 years old. About 11% of rape victims are raped by their own fathers or step fathers. Societal taboo against incest forces the victims to carry and keep to themselves this violation for many years. A child who is raped away from home can run home for safety and support but a child, who is sexually abused by a person at home, in the same family, has nowhere to run to for security. Sexual abuse by a father is one of the deepest betrayals a child can experience because, in the balance of power in the family, the father is a symbol of authority and security. Fathers betray their roles as protectors of their families when they rape their children. The father is supposed to protect everybody who comes under his roof from such violations. He is the head of the family, and power and authority differentials are skewed in his favor. Therefore, when the father becomes the perpetrator, the children feel trapped. An abused child has very little knowledge about therapeutic resources that might exist outside the family. As a consequence, recovery from the violation becomes very difficult. Although in all cases of incest, the survivors of incest know that there was nothing they could have done to prevent it, they still experience a sense of guilt and shame because of their involvement.
God foresaw millennia ago the devastation caused by incest, particularly to the victim and warned against it even before science discovered its adverse effects.
Learn more about the negative health outcomes of incestuous relations. Check out the book, The Perfect Prescription by Reigh Simuzoshya at: http://youtu.be/9TOcHIb8N5k
Biological Machines or Bearers of the Imago Dei-Choose Ye This Day!
Richard Dawkins, atheist Oxford Professor of biology, who prefers to label himself as one of the militant atheists, contends that blind, mindless, and unguided processes have the ability and power to produce complex biological information, and that the intricate information contained in the DNA in the human genome containing 7 billion bits of information merely emerged out of matter in an automatic, mindless and unguided process. In The River Out of Eden, Dawkins further makes this astonishing statement: “The universe we observe has … no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. … DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the DNA molecule together with James Watson, made this statement: “You, your joys and sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.” In other words, you are nothing but nerves and molecules-you have no spirit, no creative force within you, no freewill, no soul; just a random assemblage of atoms and molecules and nerves!!! Stephen Hawking further asserts that “”It is hard to imagine how free will can operate if our behavior is determined by physical law, so it seems that we are no more than biological machines and that free will is just an illusion.”
If all of the above is true and that there is no evil and no good; that we merely dance to the music of DNA, then what do we say about morality? Why should anyone be held responsible for crime if they are merely helplessly dancing to the tune of their DNA? Why should did we have Nuremberg trials? Why was the Rwandan genocide abhorrent? Why were we so shocked about the carnage at Columbine and Virginia Tech and many others?
However, some scientists take a different view from all this. They do not relish in pitting science against religion. Scientists such as Dr. Fritz Schaefer, III do not relish in pitting science against religion. Schaefer makes this statement: “The significance and joy in my science comes in the occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to myself, ‘So that’s how God did it!’ My goal is to understand a little corner of God’s plan.” Francis Collins, physician-geneticist who led the Human Genome Project (HGP) has written a book titled The Language of God in which he tries to help people address the confusion caused by the conflict between science and religion. It seems that he has managed to demonstrate that science and religion are compatible. God reveals his creative genius by revealing the laws of nature.
I am not proselytizing, nor am I trying to convince anyone to believe in a particular manner. I am only challenging us to think, critically, and analyze the arguments advanced by both sides and make intelligent choices.
Learn more about your inherent worth: http://youtu.be/9TOcHIb8N5k
The Perfect Prescription2014 