• NIH Bets $20 Million Music Can Heal Our Brains

NIH Bets $20 Million Music Can Heal Our Brains

 NIH Bets $20 Million Music Can Heal Our Brains

…Well, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is hoping to find out why and whether music can feed and perhaps heal our brains as well.

The nation’s medical research agency is throwing in $20 million over five years to bring together music therapy and neuroscience and to study music’s potential to ease symptoms of an array of disorders including Parkinson’s disease, stroke and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

• How Cognitive Bias Leads People to Believe That They Are Far Superior to Others Than They Actually Are

How Cognitive Bias Leads People to Believe That They Are Far Superior to Others Than They Actually Are

How Cognitive Bias s Leads People to Believe That They Are Far Superior to Others Than They Actually Are

In an illuminating episode of the colorful whiteboard animation series After Skool (previously), guest hostTrace Dominguez explain the cognitive bias at the heart of the Dunning–Kruger effect leads people to believe that they are far superior to others in terms of skill, knowledge and/or ability than they actually are.

The effect essentially renders an individual unable to recognize their respective limitations.

In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is.

• Preacher Jarrid Wilson Dies by Suicide, Idiot Christians on Social Media Put Their Ignorance on Mental Health Issues on Display Once More

Preacher Jarrid Wilson Dies by Suicide, Idiot Christians on Social Media Put Their Ignorance on Mental Health Issues on Display Once More

Preacher Jarrid Wilson ended his own life a few days ago. I didn’t have the time then to write a post about it, though I wanted to.

From what I’ve seen of the after math of Wilson’s suicide, most Christians remain totally ignorant about mental health issues and erroneously believe that faith alone can and will heal someone of having a mental health problem,
while another variety of Christian wrongly believe that having faith in Jesus will keep one immune from developing depression or other mental health problems in the first place.

Here are a few links about that, and then I will add my two cents further below (and there are even more links below my commentary):

Jarrid Wilson, pastor and mental health advocate, kills himself

A US pastor known for his mental health advocacy has killed himself, church officials say.

Jarrid Wilson, 30, worked at te 15,000 member Harvest Christian Fellowship Church for 18 months before his death.

Mr Wilson and his wife founded Anthem of Hope, a programme created to help people dealing with depression.

He is survived by his two sons and wife Juli, who wrote the death had “completely ripped my heart out of my chest”.

Popular Megachurch Pastor and Mental Health Advocate Jarrid ilson Dies by Suicide at Age 30

In 2016, he founded Anthem of Hope, a faith-centered organization dedicated amplifying hope for those battling depression

by Robyn Merritt
Wed, Sept 11, 2019

Popular megachurch pastor and mental health advocate Jarrid Wilson has died by suicide.

His wife Juli Wilson broke the news to her followers by sharing a video of her “sweet husband” playing with their son.

Jarrid — a pastor at the Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in California — was 30.

• My New Daisy Twitter Account – Because Twitter Locked Down My Original Account YET AGAIN

My New Daisy Twitter Account – Because Twitter Locked Down My Original Account YET AGAIN

My new Daisy account, located here (the handle is @Flower2Ms)

Unfortunately, Twitter says they have temporarily locked down my original Twitter account, “@MsDaisyFlower” (located here).

They locked it down about a week ago. I am tired of waiting for them to rectify this situation.

I have used their “Help” contact form to contact them, and I e-mailed them, seeking redress, but my account still remains locked.

• Posts from Roll to Disbelieve Blog Regarding Christians Who Deconvert or Deconstruct

Posts from Roll to Disbelieve Blog Regarding Christians Who Deconvert or Deconstruct

This may be a post I amend in the future if I see more posts on the Roll to Disbelieve about Christian deconversion or deconstruction.

As Joshua Harris and Marty Sampson – two “Christian celebrities” have recently announced they are “done” with the faith or are “deconstructing,” I thought I’d feature some links about them.

I don’t agree 100% with all views expressed on the Roll to Disbelieve blog, but I do think the author, Captain Cassidy, does a pretty good job of explaining how and why Christians act the way they do about people who question or leave the faith.

Presenting: several posts from the Roll to Disbelieve blog:

Hillsong Songwriter Marty Sampson Has Left the Jesus Building

Snippets:

...The Vast Disappointments Served Up by Christianity.
I sure don’t wonder. None of Christianity lines up with reality. The miracle claims don’t look like actual miracles to anybody but those primed to see them that way. Prayer doesn’t actually do anything in the real world for anybody–which is why Christians must tell people they’re doing it.

• A Common Trait Among Mass Killers: Hatred Toward Women By J. Bosman, K. Taylor and T. Arango

A Common Trait Among Mass Killers: Hatred Toward Women By J. Bosman, K. Taylor and T. Arango

A Common Trait Among Mass Killers: Hatred Toward Women

(same article is available on Web Archive)

By J. Bosman, K. Taylor and T. Arango
Aug. 10, 2019

The man who shot nine people to death last weekend in Dayton, Ohio, seethed at female classmates and threatened them with violence.

The man who massacred 49 people in an Orlando nightclub in 2016 beat his wife while she was pregnant, she told authorities.

The man who killed 26 people in a church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., in 2017 had been convicted of domestic violence. His ex-wife said he once told her that he could bury her body where no one would ever find it.

The motivations of men who commit mass shootings are often muddled, complex or unknown. But one common thread that connects many of them — other than access to powerful firearms — is a history of hating women, assaulting wives, girlfriends and female family members, or sharing misogynistic views online, researchers say.

As the nation grapples with last weekend’s mass shootings and debates new red-flag laws and tighter background checks, some gun control advocates say the role of misogyny in these attacks should be considered in efforts to prevent them.

The fact that mass shootings are almost exclusively perpetrated by men is “missing from the national conversation,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Monday. “Why does it have to be, why is it men, dominantly, always?”

• Hillsong Christian Church Song Writer Marty Sampson Says He Has Left the Christian Faith

Hillsong Christian Church Song Writer Marty Sampson Says He Has Left the Christian Faith

Before I get to listing the links to the news story about Christian song writer Marty Sampson saying on his social media that he has now left the Christian faith, I wanted to make a few comments first.

Some of the comments from Christians regarding Sampson leaving the faith are either sad or ignorant.

This is from Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis (who I’ve actually defended on this blog in the past, in another context) said this (link is below):

Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham said Sampson’s rejection of his former beliefs reinforces the need for parents to instruct their children in doctrinal truths at an early age. “This sad situation about this person is a reminder the church & parents need to teach apologetics to counter today’s attacks on God’s Word,” he tweeted.
—–

I find that a lot of Christians who are still in the “Christian Bubble” do not grasp how and why adult Christians leave the faith, or are considering leaving.

I myself was brought up in the Christian faith and read a lot of Christian apologetics literature from my mid-teens to around my late twenties to early thirties.

And, of course, I also regularly read the Bible, and I spent a few years reading about the history of the Bible, in particular the history of English language Bible translations.

So believe you me, contrary to what Ken Ham believes, a lack of being instructed about the faith from childhood, and hearing defenses of it, and being educated about Christianity, are not at play in why some Christians leave the faith (or may leave it), at least not in my case.

I was steeped in Christianity as a kid and into my adult years, and I did a ton of reading on apologetics, and none of that has changed the fact I’ve been in a faith crisis the last several years.

Farther below, under one of the last links, I have several more comments.

Update August 13, 2019:  
Hillsong worship leader clarifies he hasn’t renounced faith, but it’s on ‘incredibly shaky ground’

Hillsong Songwriter Marty Sampson Says He’s Losing His Christian FaithHillsong worship leader Marty Sampson announces he’s ‘losing’ his faith

Hillsong writer reveals he’s no longer a Christian: ‘I’m genuinely losing my faith’

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Christian Post Reporter
August 12, 2019

Marty Sampson, a prolific worship music writer known for his work with Hillsong Worship, Hillsong United, Delirious and Young & Free, revealed he is losing his faith and believes Christianity is “just another religion.”