EVIL MINDED BELIEVERS-2

CRIMINAL/EVIL MINDED BELIEVERS?

PART TWO

The classic example of a criminal minded believer can be found at the very beginning of creation. Earth's first inhabitants were expelled from Paradise because they sinned. They followed the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. The first progeny were Cain and Abel, some commentators think they were perhaps twins. With no other influences around them (other than their parents) one was inclined towards righteousness and one was consigned to evil. The command to bring the correct offering was followed by one, while the other brought the wrong offering. Why the contrast in obedience? Influence from neighbors? There were no neighbors. Influence from television, you must be kidding! What about movies? Books? Peer pressure? None of these were applicable in this case.

Cain was rebuked for bringing the wrong offering and became very angry about the situation overall. Satan, the fallen Angel, then became the whispering voice in the ears of Cain. This evil being passed along his hatred and lying persona to Cain. He then followed the evil inclinations of his advisor, Satan, and he killed/murdered his only brother in cold blood.

You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stands not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44

Cain was taught the necessary commandments of the time by his parents. This is obvious by the context of Genesis chapter four and the preceding chapters wherein Yahweh instructed Adam. More than likely Adam and Eve passed these instructions/commandments to their progeny.

"And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh.
And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Yahweh.
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Yahweh had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
And Yahweh said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your countenance fallen?
If you do well, shall it not be lifted up? and if you do not well, sin couches at the door: and unto you shall be its desire, but you should rule over it.
And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
And Yahweh said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?
And he said, What have you done? the voice of thy brother's blood cries to me from the ground.
And now cursed are you from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand;
when you till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto you its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shall you be in the earth.
And Cain said unto Yahweh, My punishment is greater than I can bear." Genesis 4:1-13

Cain becomes the first murderer and liar of the human race. He knew he had killed his brother, and he knew where he was at! He denied knowing anything about it, and such are his descendants to date. Murderers and liars!

The next murderer is found in Genesis 4:18-24

And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methushael; and Methushael begat Lamech.
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe.
And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron: and the sister And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; You wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me:
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

Lamech killed two men for something that does not even carry a death sentence. What can we learn from this passage? First; Lamech was a descendant of Cain. Second; he took two wives, the first bigamist in recorded history. Third; he was a man of great anger. Fourth: he killed without any reason, just like his forefather Cain did. This thought process has been perpetuated throughout the annals of recorded time.

Perhaps it would be of interest to inject something of importance here? Mankind has an innate ability to reject killing their fellow human being! So, why do they? Something has to change for this horrible event to occur.

"Aggression and Violence"

By Dave Grossman
Oxford Press, 2000

To understand the nature of aggression and violence on the battlefield, it must first be recognized that most participants in close combat are literally "frightened out of their wits." Once the bullets start flying, most combatants stop thinking with the forebrain (that portion of the brain that makes us human) and start thinking with the midbrain (the primitive portion of our brain, which is indistinguishable from that of an animal).

In conflict situations, this primitive, midbrain processing can be observed in the existence of a powerful resistance to killing one's own kind. Animals with antlers and horns slam together in a relatively harmless head-to-head fashion, and piranha fish fight their own kind with flicks of the tail, but against any other species these creatures unleash their horns and teeth without restraint. This is an essential survival mechanism that prevents a species from destroying itself during territorial and mating rituals.

One major modern revelation in the field of military psychology is the observation that such resistance to killing one's own species is also a key factor in human combat. *Brig. Gen. S. L. A. Marshall first observed this during his work as an official U.S. Army historian in the Pacific and European theaters of operations in World War II. Based on his post-combat interviews, Marshall concluded in his book Men Against Fire (1946, 1978) that only 15 to 20 percent of the individual riflemen in World War II fired their own weapons at an exposed enemy soldier. Key weapons, such as *flame-throwers, were usually fired. Crew-served weapons, such as *machine guns, almost always were fired. And action would increase greatly if a nearby leader demanded that the soldier fire. But when left on their own, the great majority of individual combatants appear to have been unable or unwilling to kill.

Marshall's findings were and have remained controversial. Faced with scholarly concern about a researcher's methodology and conclusions, the scientific method involves replicating the research. In Marshall's case, every available parallel, scholarly study validates his basic findings. One of these studies was Ardant du Picq's survey of French officers in the Korean War when the rate of psychiatric casualties was almost seven times higher than the average for World War II. Only after the war settled down, lines stabilized, and the threat of having enemy in rear areas decreased did the average rate go down to that of World War II. Again, just the potential for close-up, inescapable, interpersonal confrontation is more effective and has greater impact on human behavior than the actual presence of inescapable, impersonal death and destruction.

Ardant du Picq's surveys of French officers in the 1860s and his observations about ancient battles (Battle Studies, 1946), John Keegan and Richard Holmes' numerous accounts of ineffectual firing throughout history (Soldiers, 1985), Holmes' assessment of Argentine firing rates in the Falklands War (Acts of War, 1985), Paddy Griffith's data on the extraordinarily low firing rate among Napoleonic and American *Civil War regiments (Battle Tactics of the American Civil War, 1989), the British army's laser reenactments of historical battles, the FBI's studies of nonfiring rates among law enforcement officers in the 1950s and 1960s, and countless other individual and anecdotal observations, all confirm Marshall's fundamental conclusion that human beings are not, by nature, killers. Indeed, from a psychological perspective, the history of warfare can be viewed as a series of successively more effective tactical and mechanical mechanisms to enable or force combatants to overcome their resistance to killing other human beings, even when defined as the enemy.

By 1946, the US Army had accepted Marshall's conclusions, and the Human Resources Research Office of the US Army subsequently pioneered a revolution in combat training, which eventually replaced firing at targets with deeply ingrained conditioning, using realistic, man-shaped pop-up targets that fall when hit. Psychologists assert that this kind of powerful operant conditioning is the only technique that will reliably influence the primitive, midbrain processing of a frightened human being. Fire drills condition schoolchildren to respond properly even when terrified during a fire. Conditioning in flight simulators enables pilots to respond reflexively to emergency situations even when frightened. And similar application and perfection of basic conditioning techniques increased the rate of fire to approximately 55 percent in Korea and around 95 percent in Vietnam.

Equally high rates of fire resulting from modern conditioning techniques can be seen in Holmes' observation of British firing rates in the Falklands and FBI data on law enforcement firing rates since the nationwide introduction of modern conditioning techniques in the late 1960s.

The extraordinarily high firing rate resulting from these processes was a key factor in the American ability to claim that the United States never lost a major engagement in Vietnam. But conditioning that overrides such a powerful, innate resistance has enormous potential for psychological backlash. Every warrior society has a "purification ritual" to help the returning warrior deal with his "blood guilt" and to reassure him that what he did in combat was "good." In primitive tribes, this generally involves ritual bathing, ritual separation (which serves as a cooling-off and "group therapy" session), and a ceremony embracing the veteran back into the tribe. Modern Western rituals traditionally involve long separation while marching or sailing home, parades, monuments, and unconditional acceptance from society and family.

In the *Vietnam War, this purification ritual was turned on its head. The returning American veteran was attacked and condemned in an unprecedented manner. The traditional horrors of combat were magnified by modern conditioning techniques, and this combined with societal condemnation to create a circumstance that resulted in 0.5 to 1.5 million cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam veterans. The mass incidence of psychiatric disorders among Vietnam veterans resulted in the "discovery" of PTSD, a condition that we now know traditionally occurred as a result of warfare, but never in such quantity.

PTSD seldom results in violent criminal acts, and upon returning to society, the recipient of modern military conditioning is statistically no more likely to engage in violent crime than a nonveteran of the same age. The key safeguard in this process appears to be the deeply ingrained discipline that the combat soldier internalizes with his military training. However, with the advent of interactive "point-and-shoot" arcade and video games, there is significant concern that society is aping military conditioning, but without the vital safeguard of discipline. There is strong evidence to indicate that the indiscriminate civilian application of combat conditioning techniques as entertainment may be a factor in worldwide, skyrocketing violent crime rates, including a sevenfold increase in per capita aggravated assaults in America since 1956. Thus, the latest chapter in American military history may be occurring in the city streets.

* Konrad Lorenz, On Aggression, 1963. John Keegan, The Face of Battle, 1976. Jim Goodwin, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: A Handbook for Clinicians, 1988. Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, 1995. Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, 8th ed., 1996. Dave Grossman and Gloria DeGaetano, Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV Movie, and Video Game Violence, 1999.

Lt. Col. David Grossman has written several books as noted in the final section of the above article by Lt. Col Grossman. In my personal collection the following book was of exceptional interest to me. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, 1995

This book explains the innermost working and thought processes of the human being in combat situations from first hand experience, and backed up with research data. This man's conclusion parallels mine from a different angle. I personally could never believe that man was created to kill another human being. There had to be exterior forces at work to accomplish this heinous act, and there is! The influence must come from an outside source i.e. viewing scenes of repetitive murder that can be found in movies focusing on extreme violence. Also, conditioning must interplay with breaking down the resistance to killing, i.e. the training used by military forces. These training techniques are also found in video games employing interaction on the players part. Both serve as conditioning tools used to break down the natural resistance towards killing. After continued exposure to killing, the natural resistance to murder is diminished and eventually accepted. The horror of seeing the first murder is replaced with acceptance after viewing this same scenario over and over again. This is known as psychological conditioning. Murder is accepted as a natural act for survival.

Almighty Yahweh has designed the human race with survival in mind. This is also true of the animal kingdom. If the human race turned on one another, the survival factor would diminish exponentially. If the animal kingdom followed this same pattern, they would become extinct also. So, the human race was designed to recreate themselves. The animal species were designed to follow the reproduction pattern according to species. Each was commanded to be fruitful and multiply, not murder or cannibalize one another.

The Creator designed barriers in the human mind to resist killing another human. Something must happen to broach this design mechanism. In the first case of murder reported, Cain was angry for having his offering rejected. Yahweh gave him opportunity to correct the situation. However, Cain did not accept the counsel of Yahweh and allowed his anger to consume him. This anger displaced the resistance towards doing evil, and allowed Satan to enter into his inner most being. With Satan now in his mind, Cain was vulnerable to Satan's suggestions and power. His resistance barrier was violated and he killed his brother.

The brain is made of three main parts: the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The forebrain consists of the cerebrum, thalamus, and hypothalamus (part of the limbic system). The midbrain consists of the tectum and tegmentum. The hindbrain is made of the cerebellum, pons and medulla. Often the midbrain, pons, and medulla are referred to together as the brainstem.

The Cerebrum: The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. The cerebral cortex is divided into four sections, called "lobes": the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. Here is a visual representation of the cortex:

What do each of these lobes do?

1. Frontal Lobe- associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving.
2. Parietal Lobe- associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli.
3. Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing.
4. Temporal Lobe- associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech.

Let's analyze the brains function and learn about the particular parts.

Brain Anatomy

The brain is the most complex part of the human body. This three-pound organ is the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of body movement, and controller of behavior. Lying in its bony shell and washed by protective fluid, the brain is the source of all the qualities that define our humanity. The brain is the crown jewel of the human body.

The Architecture of the Brain

The brain is like a committee of experts. All the parts of the brain work together, but each part has its own special properties. The brain can be divided into three basic units: the forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain.

The hindbrain includes the upper part of the spinal cord, the brain stem, and a wrinkled ball of tissue called the cerebellum. The hindbrain controls the body’s vital functions such as respiration and heart rate. The cerebellum coordinates movement and is involved in learned rote movements. When you play the piano or hit a tennis ball you are activating the cerebellum. The uppermost part of the brainstem is the midbrain, which controls some reflex actions and is part of the circuit involved in the control of eye movements and other voluntary movements. The forebrain is the largest and most highly developed part of the human brain: it consists primarily of the cerebrum and the structures hidden beneath it (see "The Inner Brain").

When people see pictures of the brain it is usually the cerebrum that they notice. The cerebrum sits at the topmost part of the brain and is the source of intellectual activities. It holds your memories, allows you to plan, enables you to imagine and think. It allows you to recognize friends, read books, and play games.

The cerebrum is split into two halves (hemispheres) by a deep fissure. Despite the split, the two cerebral hemispheres communicate with each other through a thick tract of nerve fibers that lies at the base of this fissure. Although the two hemispheres seem to be mirror images of each other, they are different. For instance, the ability to form words seems to lie primarily in the left hemisphere, while the right hemisphere seems to control many abstract reasoning skills.

For some as-yet-unknown reason, nearly all of the signals from the brain to the body and vice-versa cross over on their way to and from the brain. This means that the right cerebral hemisphere primarily controls the left side of the body and the left hemisphere primarily controls the right side. When one side of the brain is damaged, the opposite side of the body is affected. For example, a stroke in the right hemisphere of the brain can leave the left arm and leg paralyzed.

The Geography of Thought
Each cerebral hemisphere can be divided into sections, or lobes, each of which specializes in different functions. To understand each lobe and its specialty we will take a tour of the cerebral hemispheres, starting with the two frontal lobes, which lie directly behind the forehead. When you plan a schedule, imagine the future, or use reasoned arguments, these two lobes do much of the work. One of the ways the frontal lobes seem to do these things is by acting as short-term storage sites, allowing one idea to be kept in mind while other ideas are considered. In the rearmost portion of each frontal lobe is a motor area, which helps control voluntary movement. A nearby place on the left frontal lobe called Broca’s area allows thoughts to be transformed into words.

When you enjoy a good meal—the taste, aroma, and texture of the food—two sections behind the frontal lobes called the parietal lobes are at work. The forward parts of these lobes, just behind the motor areas, are the primary sensory areas. These areas receive information about temperature, taste, touch, and movement from the rest of the body. Reading and arithmetic are also functions in the repertoire of each parietal lobe.

As you look at the words and pictures on this page, two areas at the back of the brain are at work. These lobes, called the occipital lobes, process images from the eyes and link that information with images stored in memory. Damage to the occipital lobes can cause blindness.

The last lobes on our tour of the cerebral hemispheres are the temporal lobes, which lie in front of the visual areas and nest under the parietal and frontal lobes. Whether you appreciate symphonies or rock music, your brain responds through the activity of these lobes. At the top of each temporal lobe is an area responsible for receiving information from the ears. The underside of each temporal lobe plays a crucial role in forming and retrieving memories, including those associated with music. Other parts of this lobe seem to integrate memories and sensations of taste, sound, sight, and touch.

The Cerebral Cortex
Coating the surface of the cerebrum and the cerebellum is a vital layer of tissue the thickness of a stack of two or three dimes. It is called the cortex, from the Latin word for bark. Most of the actual information processing in the brain takes place in the cerebral cortex. When people talk about "gray matter" in the brain they are talking about this thin rind. The cortex is gray because nerves in this area lack the insulation that makes most other parts of the brain appear to be white. The folds in the brain add to its surface area and therefore increase the amount of gray matter and the quantity of information that can be processed.

The Inner Brain
Deep within the brain, hidden from view, lie structures that are the gatekeepers between the spinal cord and the cerebral hemispheres. These structures not only determine our emotional state, they also modify our perceptions and responses depending on that state, and allow us to initiate movements that you make without thinking about them. Like the lobes in the cerebral hemispheres, the structures described below come in pairs: each is duplicated in the opposite half of the brain.

The hypothalamus, about the size of a pearl, directs a multitude of important functions. It wakes you up in the morning, and gets the adrenaline flowing during a test or job interview. The hypothalamus is also an important emotional center, controlling the molecules that make you feel exhilarated, angry, or unhappy. Near the hypothalamus lies the thalamus, a major clearinghouse for information going to and from the spinal cord and the cerebrum.

An arching tract of nerve cells leads from the hypothalamus and the thalamus to the hippocampus. This tiny nub acts as a memory indexer—sending memories out to the appropriate part of the cerebral hemisphere for long-term storage and retrieving them when necessary. The basal ganglia (not shown) are clusters of nerve cells surrounding the thalamus. They are responsible for initiating and integrating movements. Parkinson’s disease, which results in tremors, rigidity, and a stiff, shuffling walk, is a disease of nerve cells that lead into the basal ganglia.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Institutes of Health
Reviewed July 3, 2003

When the body is in complete circadian rhythm, there is not a more perfect functional unit on earth. The human being is fearfully and wonderfully made, Psalm 139:14. (Please do not try and tell me man evolved from a single cell into the creature he has become.) However; when this unit is violated by exterior forces, problems can and do arrive. When you puncture the skin, the probability of infection increases. If you receive a severe blow to the head, the probability of concussion occurs. Although the human body is resilient and very well protected, it can be violated with enough impact or force. The same can be said of the brain's innermost functions.

How is the brain accessed? By various processes. One is visual. What you see is analyzed by the brain and stored for future reference and association. Another access is hearing. What you hear is also analyzed by the brain, the information is stored for use as needed. The various senses (six, or perhaps seven if cultivated) supply information to the brain via various sensory receptors. Each provide the brain with viable information, some of this information is relevant to immediate survival. And, this is one of the major focuses of this series.

"The unclean spirit when he is gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, I will turn back unto my house where I came out.
Then goes he, and takes to him seven other spirits more evil than himself; and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." Luke 11:24-26

Where would these demons dwell in the human being? In the mind of course. Now, with the demons entrance, the brain has been compromised, and anything can happen according to the will of these demons. Now! The resistance towards doing evil, has been compromised! This is what happened to Cain. His anger compromised his resistance and when that happened, Satan entered in, and Cain killed/murdered Abel.

More to come!

BACK TO PART ONE PART THREE

Yours in Yahshua, Hawke