Responsibility Disorders - a podcast by David K Payne

A couple of blogs back I wrote about the freedom that comes when we take responsibility for our thoughts and actions. I used this quote at the beginning of the blog and thought it worthy of looking at again.

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”

― Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents

Peck in “The Road Less Traveled” spends a great deal of time dealing with responsibility and addressing the extent we go to when faced with the stark reality of our ultimately being responsible for our behaviors.  The importance of this focus is that to find our authentic life, we must face our struggles head on and conquer them a little at a time to continue progressing personally, socially and spiritually. Peck speaks of two disorders of responsibility that I want to highlight in today’s writing. Character disorders and neurosis are two ways a person can avoid responsibility, and that will cheat them out of finding their authentic life. According to Peck, “The neurotic assumes too much responsibility; the person with character disorders, not enough” (pg. 35) I relate most closely with the neurotic who automatically assumes everything is their fault. As a small child, I encountered an event that planted a seed of quilt in me that I struggle with to this day. The issue with this approach that though you may appear the martyr and it may feel you are taking responsibility it is indeed a coping mechanism that allows you to never really face the struggles in your life.  The person with a character disorder automatically assumes that any struggle or conflict is somehow the fault of someone or something else. Through this means, they justify behaviors and responses and avoid true personal responsibility.

Sadly, religion is a haven for these types of avoidances. The neurotic can hear enough messages to heighten their anxiety and fear resulting in a life that is mainly filled with a strong undercurrent of doubt and fear that leaves you hopeless to ever finding any real victory. We become dependent upon the negative reinforcement we see in religious circles that reinforces our foundation of fear and facilitates a continual avoidance of ever taking real responsibility for any personal issues. People with character disorders find plenty of support for their theory that their struggles are because of sin or the devil or all the evil in the world and that there is nothing to really be done. These personalities easily buy into the thoughts that one day everything will be set right and God will get even with everyone who did you wrong. One day when we get to heaven, all will be good, but as for now, all we can hope for is to struggle.

I realize this may be an oversimplification for many but consider what has been said and ask for understanding in how both disorders rob you of ever gaining victory over the things that only you can be responsible for changing. One of the big arguments that agnostics and atheists use against Christians is we either blame the devil or claim that God excuses our behaviors whatever they are. Both of these arguments are false when it comes to true Christianity, and that is what we are talking about today.

Faith, believing there is a God and that God cares for you, allow us peace with God and grants access into grace. In this arena of grace we don’t have to assume too much blame or avoid it altogether; instead we are free to fully explore the struggle and seek solutions that will help us be overcomers and experience an authentic life.

Don’t Strain or Struggle … Just BE!

David

Further episodes of "the DKP Word"

Further podcasts by David K Payne

Website of David K Payne