REAL SOCIAL SCIENCE IS STILL SCIENCE VERSUS SCIENTISM

If we believe the conventional wisdom touted by most social scientists today, Attention Deficit (Hyperactive) Disorder is endemic to our culture.  If a boy shows any aggressive tendencies – which are often difficult to distinguish from initiative and/or a sense of adventure – we medicate him in order to control his behavior.  We recognize AD(H)D as a disability in adults and expect employers to walk softly.  The trouble is that under such circumstances the man (or woman) concerned has scant incentive to adjust his behavior to compensate for the challenges of his condition – or to explore the special blessings that go along with it.

 

            The symptoms of ADD are easy distractibility, difficulty staying on task, and poor impulse control.  Add the H – for hyperactive – and you have a person with difficulty sitting still and paying attention to the teacher while simultaneously messing with his neighbor.  The blessings are enhanced creativity, an ability to see the world globally, and a love of thinking and acting outside the box.  If Steve Jobs was not ADD, neither am I – and believe me, I am.  Instead of depending on medication that suppresses symptoms, and the creativity gifted with them, we learned to compensate for the symptoms and enjoy the blessings.  We did not believe the propaganda – because it was based on conjecture rather than research within the scientific method – that ADD vanishes in adulthood; it does not.  We did not accept the conclusion – based solely on frustrated parents, teachers and doctors – that it was a deal breaker for success; it is not.  Famous people with ADD include Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, Tom Cruise, Bill Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg, and Babe Ruth.  

 

If physical science must be based on facts and realities so as not to stray into the land of fables that is scientism, it is that much more necessary to live in the real world when we promulgate social science principals.   The consequences of delusional thinking can be catastrophic for the multitudes affected by it.

 

California has adopted several laws in the recent past that do great damage in their pursuit of the false faith of social scientism.  AB 777 and SB 48 require that homosexuality be treated as a normal condition in public school curricula at all levels, and that social science curricula lionize figures like politician Harvey Milk and composer Aaron Copeland, even though Milk was a minor local leader and Copeland was (in all probability) not homosexual at all.  Yet research trends indicate the condition is primarily a result of childhood trauma and/or dysfunctional relationship with same gender parents.  The Kinsey Report – based on skewed samples and falsified data – has been debunked for decades.  The doctor who removed homosexuality from the list of psychiatric disorders says he was wrong and geneticists deny any biological basis for it. 

 

SB 1172 forbids therapists to assist young people reporting gender confusion and asking for help.  These laws attack academic and professional freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution at the same time they paint a false picture that therapy given upon request is abusive to victims battling social stigmata surrounding their sexuality – refusing it is the real abuse.  While it is true that much research remains to be done on the topic of healing for homosexuality, the evidence gathered so far indicates cure rates about equal to those for chemical dependencies and there is no evidence whatever that this therapy is harmful to those who receive it voluntarily.

 

AB 1266 mandates that gender confused children may use the restroom or locker room that corresponds to their gender identity at any particular time.  The rationale is that transgendered children have been traumatized by school bullies and that freedom of restrooms will ease their pain.  But existing research shows them among the least likely to be bullied.  The record is that accommodation does nothing to ease their pain.  Although no studies exist to document the damage done normal children forced to share facilities, abundant anecdotes of humiliation and bullying – of the overwhelming majority of the population – should be self-convicting.  Science shows transgendered people are a small fraction of the less-than-two-per-cent who declare themselves homosexual.  Once again blind adherence to the pseudo faith of scientism can only damage gay and straight, adult and child. 

 

But responsibility still rests with the Church.  Nearly nine of ten Americans claim Christ.   Most favor life, marriage, and science.  Yet when our values and viewpoint are attacked with fraudulent claims we wring our hands instead of doing our homework and expressing truth.  It is time to step up; there are too many of us to ignore and too much at stake.

 

James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships and The Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by e-mailing him at

praynorthstate@charter.net