“There is, it seems, a heartlessness in the heart of America,” David Chartrand, a syndicated columnist from Olathe, wrote in a commentary in Thursday’s Eagle. Chartrand was observing that most of the eight states — which included Kansas — that received F’s on their services for the mentally and emotionally disabled are in the Midwest. He then challenged Bible thumpers to practice what Jesus preached: “Midwestern conservatives want schools to teach the message of Jesus, which, last I checked, is the Gospel of compassion for the weak and sympathy for the unfortunate. And given that nothing shatters families like untreated mental illness, you’d think these moral guardians would also be enraged about their communities’ treatment of the emotionally disabled.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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50 Comments
I hope this writer isn’t suggesting we have more mental health facilities like the one Arlen Kaufman ran. I suggest it would be good that the government cease providing mental health care, considering how many years were required to put the Kaufmans out of business.
The giving of charity is compassionate. When politicians tax one person and give the proceeds to another, no matter how great the need or worthy the cause, that is not compassion or charity.
Interesting… you trash the church for involving itself in civil issues…. now you trash the church for NOT getting involved in civil issues! Make up your mind Phillip… which way do you want it?
There are a multitude of charitable organizations sponsored and funded by the churches… unfortunately, Americans choose not to give much to charity. There is just not enough money to go around. I confess, I have not given “specifically” to help the mental health situation in Kansas, what have you done Phillip?
The shooting at quick trip is another example of how the system has failed the mentally ill. The laws have changed to the point that families can’t intervene when a loved one starts to get psychotic. The only way families can court order a member into treatment is if that person is openly homocidal or suicidal, then hospitalization is for crisis intervention only, so the person can be released in a matter of days, long before they’re really ready to go home.Unless we stop the cutbacks to mental health services and give families more power to intervene, these tragic situations will continue to happen.
Damoon..Are there any good faith based programs out there that we, as individuals can contribute to?
Suport mental health or I’ll kill you
I’m not sure, Sam. Comcare is the main source of mental health care here in Sedgwick Co.The best thing I think is to write our legislators and scream and cry about cutbacks and the changes in the law that ties the hands of families who have mentally ill loved ones. If the media would give some serious attention to the problems caused by changes in the law and cutbacks in mental health services, it might do some good. We tried several years ago to get them to do this when the cutbacks started, but the media is only interested in the mentally ill when they get psychotic and do something sensational, like cooking a cat or the quick trip shooting, other that that it’s hard to get them to bring any attention to the problem.We missed you at the picnic, Sam, it would have been great to meet you. Hopefully you can make the next one.
I know that United Way helps fund some mental illness programs and homeless shelters. We know that those go hand-in-hand sometimes from previous blogs.
I am a case manager for people who are mentally retarded and or mentally ill. Mental illness is an invisible epidemic that effects almost all American families in one way or another.
If you really would like to contribute in someway to people who suffer from mental illness I suggest a donation to the Breakthrough Club – they serve people with mental illness by providing support, community inclusion, and job training.
We can blame the Republican party going back to Ronald Regan for cuts in funding for programs to the mentally ill – just another legacy the Republican party has left us – nice work guys!
VC, indeed. This issue, education, and our care for the elderly are where the rubber meets the road for testing our claims to be a Christian or even a moral society. Judged against those standards, our failure is colossal.
I think working people, ordinary working people, have the responsibility to see to their own lives, with as little government intrsuion as possible.
But the segment of our socity that can’t take care of themselves, because of mental health issues, physical issues, deserves our assistance, plus the governments assistance. What goo is a government that wont provide the help for its own people who truly deserve it.
There is a real lack of care and understanding by the Republican party as a whole. How people can think this way is beyond me. That is NOT what this country was built on, but it is what can tear this country down.
David Chartrand, proving once again that saying nothing out of the ordinary in an uninteresting way is the surest way to become a syndicated columnist.
Brilliant insights by the likes of Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn are ignored by corporate media so we can be force-fed the re-warmed pablum of a David Chartrand . . .
Good post, JM.
I’m with you on that.
Good suggestion VC. I would add Catholic Charities; United Methodist for food and shelter.
This is just a clear-cut example of the evils of capitalism.
Capitalism generates wealth. Nothing wrong with that. Now what is done with that wealth is and should be debatable, but not to the point of removing the incentives which drive capitalism.
Removing or damaging the driving incentives is why communism and socialism fall short of providing even basic needs.
Too much government impairs wealth generation.
Bureaucratic government is the culprit, not capitalism.
Why don’t you ask your poor and homeless about how much wealth your superior capitalist system has generated for them?Capitalism only generates wealth for the bourgeois class. The poor are the victims because they are always in danger of losing their jobs and therefore are at the mercy of their feudal lord masters. A perfect society is a classless society, and capitalism can never achieve that.
Bow down to your feudal lords, after all, you are a part of their porperty. The serf is no different than the land he works, both are the lords’ property! May your Evil Empire crumble.
Vaclev Havel, the Czech leader who led the velvet revolution against Communism, also warned about the evils of unfettered capitalism. He noted that there needs to be a balance.
Havel was just but a traitor who fit nicely in the capitalist’s pockets! He, like that dead pope are enemies of our cause and do nothing but line the pockets of their capitalist masters with gold. Is it any wonder why religion always thrives in capitalist societies?
At least we got our new arena.
oooohhh! I see we have a nice little Communist to join the liberal rank and file on this BLOG! Congratulations you leftist S.O.B’s you must be really proud of yourselves!
You are nothing more than a capitalistic pawn of the church and the American government! “CrusaderX” eh? Your name befits you! You are little more than a blind zealot keeping the rich wealthy, and the robbing the worker of his rightful inheritance! “Religion of the Poor” indeed!
Hegel,Your stupidity is a perfect example of the utter depravity and moral bankruptcy that is the summation of every Leftist individual persona on this BLOG! YOU are nothing more than a lazy, communist PIECE OF SHIT! YOU are just sad that we kicked your Russian butts during the Cold War.
Now you are admitting that your Evil Empire was at fault for stopping the spread of our perfect Marxist society! You are nothing but a hot-headed money-grubbing PIG!
My only mistake was communicating to you in a language you do not understand! After all pigs don’t understand human speech! I was at fault for talking with you, let me communicate in a language you are familiar with: Ahem!
OINK OINK OINK, OINK OINK? OINK OINK OINK! OINK, OINK….OINK!!!
Ah! you’re a regular comedian! Laugh it up, a$$hole! What are ya doing on a Kansas BLOG? Shouldn’t you be more at home in a CCCP BLOG with the rest of your Commie f*cker buddies!? Oh I forgot, your “superior” communist economic system couldn’t support your people! Ah! But I must agree with you! I long to live in a society in which we have to line up for bread, and are at the mercy of the Kremlin which ultimately replaced the bourgeous class! The only slaves of the twentieth century were the ones living in your motherland, bitch!!!
By the way, I’m stocking up on CCCP era flags to burn down when I’m on break! How do ya like them apples, biatch?
Even Lennon said Marxism wouldn’t work.
The Russians could not produce enough food to feed their people so out of each “collective farm” the gave the farmer 1 acre and told him whatever he raised he could sell and pocket all the money.
58% of all the fruits and vegetables came out of those 1 acre plots which accounted for only one tenth of one percent of all the land in cultivation in the USSR.
You are a villain! Russia had many natural resources and food was not a scarcity! The only economic troubles we had were because of American and Western European sanctions imposed upon us! You are a perfect example of capitalistic greed!!!
Why did the USSR need to buy corn from the United States?
HEY!!! STOP USING MY SCREEN NAME YOU F*CKING RAT!!!
God-damn commie no good sons of bitches!!! Go to hell!!!
The only one going to any hell is you and your fellow capitalist scum!
When the workers of the world wake up from the facade of lies that the capitalist pigs have brainswashed them with, our retribution will be swift and unrelenting!
While you go to Communist heaven and stave again?
I’m just curious. Is it a coincidence that this thread concerns mental health that it is here that this little show is going on?
starve
I’m ought to give YOU a swift kick in the A$$!!!
Oh, it’s about mental health alright.
JR, Ed,Stay out of this! This is between me and the commie punk bitch!
And yes, the show goes on.
I wonder……..
We got us a live one here. Somebody isn’t taking their meds.
I wonder too JR. Lets talk in code, oink oink oink…ok? HEE HEE that was really funny.
As the daughter of a mentally ill woman, my life has been directly affected by the lack of societal support and recognition that mental illness is a legitimate, serious, and rather endemic illness. We as a culture seem to have a long, long way to go in taking a close look at our priorities in funding as well as how much of a dark mirror we may not want illuminating back those issues we would rather pretend do not exist. I can understand that people who’ve never experienced directly the pain and confusion of having a loved one suffer from severe mental illness may not “get it”, but what I cannot understand is the blatant and indignant turning away from attempting to bridge the wide gap of understanding and compassion. This is beyond a political issue, as it is an issue of staying open to the fact that there are things in this world we cannot explain, and that many times our own immediate experience may not necessarily be directly involved in those things. However, in the end, aren’t we all connected? Is it of true heart to deny one person support simply because it does not affect one’s person? And give to another because it does?
My mother is one of tens of thousands of mentally ill being thrown away in prison institutions, because of misdiagnoses that turn tragic. She is, and was, an upstanding and decent member of society. She has brought me countless years of guidance, love, and teachings that I will carry with me my entire life.
Thank you to Mr. Chartrand for bringing some light to one of the USA’s most dark corners.
I wonder if there isn’t a bit of a feeling among some that mental illness is some sort of moral failing and that the person is being punished for his/her sins. After all, these same people claim that conversion to their religion will change a person’s sexual orientation; perhaps they believe it will cure everything else as well.
Hegel is obviously one of those trolls who posts under different personas to jerk everybody’s chain.
No real Marxist has much good to say about the Soviet Union in the last 40 years.
Hegel is repeating right-wing talking points AGAINST Marxism as if he holds them.
Gail, the black overseas visiting professor who loves Bush, is that you?
Hegel is CrusaderX aka blogfart. Am I the only one who figured this out?
Dear Molly,
I have not seen you posting before. I want to welcome you to this forum. I also want to apologize to you that your eloquent and poignant post seems to have been missed and lost against a silly “flame war”which I was a part of.
Your story went to the meaning of the thread better than any other post here because of its relevance and your own experience. You came here to tell it and to try to make things better. And that is what blogging is all about.
I hope you will post again Molly. If I can lend what voice I have here to help you, please let me know.
Great post, Molly.