Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Health, Fitness and Religion
Does Jesus Care About Medical Gaslighting?

Does Jesus Care About Medical Gaslighting?

Last updated on: June 1, 2023 at 10:34 am by Jennifer Fitz

0 Comments

Does Jesus Care About Medical Gaslighting? 2023-06-01T10:34:58-05:00 Jennifer Fitz

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I write a fair bit about the mental game of living with chronic illness, and maybe that seems off-topic for a religion website. So let’s compare a tweet from an actual doctor who regularly sees patients with autoimmune diseases versus this morning’s Gospel.

The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus by Fernando Gallego workshop, circa 1480-1488, public domain.

First our tweet, and this is so typical of the experience of many patients with difficult-to-diagnose illnesses:

Just saw a teenager with autoimmune disease and #POTS who was sent to a certain "ability lab" outpatient rehab program, which included psychotherapy, group therapy and stretching. You might've guessed it that it made zero difference in her symptoms. The patient has no psychiatric…

— S Blitshteyn MD, FAAN, Dysautonomia Clinic (@dysclinic) May 25, 2023

Now a Word from our Sponsor, from the readings for the Memorial of St. Justin Martyr:

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.

Can you see the similarities? The patient above in the tweet has an actual disease with known diagnostic criteria and established treatments, and yet when she sought medical care, she got sent to therapy for “learn to live with it” “maybe if you just relax” “sure you’re just not anxious?”

In our Gospel, Bartimaeus is actually blind. It doesn’t get more obvious and diagnosable than that. Furthermore, he’s begging by the side of the road, which tells you: This is very disabling for him. So when he hears of someone who has actually treated this condition passing by, it is normal for him to seek some assistance, no?

And yet he gets told to hush. Just live with it, apparently? Don’t even both trying to see if something could be done?

But, just like the neurologist above (not my doctor, just someone I learn interesting stuff from on Twitter), Jesus isn’t playing that game:

But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

(Oh, now they tell Bartimaeus to have courage?? Yeah, the gaslighting is huge in this crowd.)

He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

–> Let’s pause and point out here that Bartimaeus is definitely not the one lacking courage or faith in this story. In the ancient world, especially for someone in poverty, your cloak is a seriously expensive and essential possession. If you are blind and you are out on the road in a crowd and you walk away from that cloak, there’s a good chance you’ll never see it again.

Anyhow, Bartimaeus gets to Jesus and asks for help:

Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”

And at this point, Jesus does not tell him “Maybe you should work on your coping skills” nor “You know I see people way worse off than you.” Instead:

Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

You can read the entire passage in context at Bible Gateway: Mark 10:46-52.

Conclusion: Yes, gaslighting people with intractable medical problems is as old as sin, and no Jesus doesn’t think you just need to learn to relax.

Turns out going to the doctor is the biblical thing to do when you are sick. So don’t listen to people who tell you to just hush and quit complaining. Keep searching until you find a physician who isn’t one of the fickle and faithless crowd.

General Christian

Health, Fitness and Religion

Disability & Chronic Illness

About Jennifer Fitz

Jen Fitz has certain doctors she deeply respects and others who can go jump in a lake. Homebase is JenniferFitz.com, strictly-Jesus evangelization topics at the 'stack, and on Twitter @JenFitz_Reads. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

May 11, 2023

How Do You Exercise When You Have a Serious Chronic Illness?

Next Post

July 27, 2023 Why Your Doctor Needs to Know More About "Fatigue"

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"You think I don't know people who were homeschooled? I'm married to one! I know ..."

James

3 Ways Homeschoolers Socialize Differently than ..."

"And you know this how? You personally know enough about 2 million+ homeschooling families that ..."

Susan Marie Newman

3 Ways Homeschoolers Socialize Differently than ..."

"So because homeschooled students would do well in another setting, these families should be denied ..."

Susan Marie Newman

3 Ways Homeschoolers Socialize Differently than ..."

"Thank you. My point about "mature sex life" is that most people wouldn't want their ..."

James

3 Ways Homeschoolers Socialize Differently than ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Catechesis Catholic Q&A Chastity Church Craziness Come See Me Talk Disability & Chronic Illness Economics Evangelization Facepalm Forgiveness Good Things History Homeschooling Human Rights It's All Catholic Listen to Me Survey Series Liturgical Living Marriage Modesty Not Satire. But almost. Rant-o-Rama Sacred Art & Music Satire South Carolina Spark Clutter Stick that Corner Suffering Thinking Topics Writing Stuff

Select a Month September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 January 2026 December 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 February 2019 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who wrote the book of Genesis?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Eve Paul Moses Adam