Do You Suffer From Samsonite Syndrome?

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from the London Times, February 15, 2001, with a headline, “Why Sampson Was Reckless in Gaza.”  Sampson, the Bible strong man who lost his power when his hair was cut may be the first recorded case of anti-social personality disorder.  Three psychologists from California argued that Sampson showed signs of six of the seven recognized behaviors associated with the condition.  Today, people need to show only three symptoms which include impulsiveness, recklessness and fighting to be considered to have this disorder.  The psychologists point out that Sampson routinely fought.  Once he killed a thousand Philistines single handedly and gloated over his triumph.  He also showed a reckless disregard for his own safety when he told Delilah, a woman who had tried to kill him three times, that the secret of his strength was his hair and like many people with the disorder he behaved badly as a child causing fires, stealing and bullying other children.  The symptoms of the condition are set out in a 900 page manual from the American Psychiatric Association, called DSM4, which doctors used to diagnose mental illnesses.  Eric Alschuler, who led the team from the University of California at San Diego, told New Scientist, “It’s almost as if the writer of this story has the DSM criteria tacked to the wall and he is writing a sketch but this was 3,000 years before the DSM.”  He added that the diagnosis might make the Sampson story more understandable.  A chapter was devoted to Sampson’s mother being warned by angels not to drink while pregnant suggesting that recklessness may have run in the family.

T. A. McMahon:

Dave, there is only one reason why I would consider bringing this program to TV and that is—

Dave Hunt:

Tom, you know how to get me angry.

T. A. McMahon:

Well, if somebody in the audience could see your face, I mean, that would be worth going to TV for and it’s the only reason I could think so.

Dave Hunt:

You and I have a good face for radio, Tom.

T. A. McMahon:

That’s what our producer tells us—Gary.  You’ve got some hair left, now can you get through this without pulling it out?

Dave Hunt:

I’ll pull the rest of it out, yeah.

T. A. McMahon:

Let me explain just a couple of things.  First of all, the DSM that this article referred to:  this is from the American Psychiatric Association, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders.

Dave Hunt:

This is number 4, Tom, so they have had three before this.

T. A. McMahon:

Well, let me give you some numbers.  In 1952, there were 112 mental disorders according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Dave Hunt:

And Tom, look, I was born before then, I can remember growing up in the 30’s, you were either crazy or you weren’t.  That was about all there was to it.

T. A. McMahon:

But I think if you go way back there were as many as maybe 13, and people said these are problematic.  All right, lets go to 1968; we’ve got 163 in the DSM Volume 3 or Edition 3, they had 224; 1994, this is the latest, this is the DSM 4, we have 374.  Do you want me to give you one or two or should we just jump right in on it.

Dave Hunt:

Well, go ahead, give them some, they might find it interesting.

T. A. McMahon:

Well, let’s say maybe you have a teenager who argues with his parents.  Could that happen?  It happens some places, I’ve heard about that.  All right, this is #313.8; it is called “oppositional defiant disorder.”  Now, that’s a lot of teenagers on a lot of couches of a lot of therapists around the country.

Dave Hunt:

See, one of the problems is Tom, they are called disorders.  They keep inventing these things. That’s why it turns out to be more and more.  I’m sorry, you psychiatrists out there or anybody that honors them, you vote on this.  This is not scientific.  You can’t make a science out of human behavior so they are called disorders.  So, it’s not my fault, it’s some kind of an illness that came upon me.  And, instead of repenting—they used to spank us Tom, when I was a boy.

T. A. McMahon:

I’m sure there is a disorder for that right now.

Dave Hunt:

Right, that would be a disorder of the parents, abusing the children.  But there is such a thing as self control, there is such a thing as learning to behave yourself, but now we’re explaining it away, it’s a disorder.  And, they vote on it folks, this is not scientific—anyway, Tom, go ahead.

T. A. McMahon:

Now we have—we are using this DSM Volume 4, and we are now interpreting the Bible through it.  Well, what about that?  Did Sampson suffer from anti social personality disorder?

Dave Hunt:

Well Tom first of all, he didn’t light fires as a child, so they are making their own— rewriting the Bible.  He did not do that as a child.

T. A. McMahon:

And was his mother a member of AA?

Dave Hunt:

No, she definitely was not.  So, what we are trying to do is explain away sin, explain away evil, we are not accountable to God.  But now, basically we are perfect creatures until we catch some disorder like you catch a germ.

T. A. McMahon:

Or an environment—he grew up in this environment or she did.  This is where the problem stems according to them.

Dave Hunt:

Of course, we have all the facts.  There are people who grew up in the same environment, in the same family, some of them turned out to be law abiding citizens and some of them did not.  It depends upon the individual themselves and whether they are going to be obedient to parents, obedient to the school, obedient to the government.  Tom, you see the problem is, since we have been inventing more and more disorders and we have been excusing sin—it’s not my fault I just have a disorder.  What happens?  You know, when I was in school the worst thing was chewing gum in class, or talking in line, or running in the hall, or whatever.  Today, with all of these psychiatrists—this is the fastest growing industry out there—more and more psychiatric hospitals, more and more children taking Ritalin and under the care of psychiatrists and so forth—what has happened?  Has it made it better? You don’t have to be too bright to just look at it from that basis.  It’s gotten worse and worse and worse and I could tell you horror stories.  What Christian parents need to do is get back to the Word of God.  I would suggest you might want to read Proverbs daily to your children, Solomon’s counsel to his son.  But this is just a money making business.  I am sorry—they make it up as they go along and as I said, they vote on this.  You know, in Occult Invasion, I quote psychologists who went to the meetings where they coming up with the new DSM.  He said he was so disappointed, he thought it would be scientific but it wasn’t, they voted on it.  He said it was like going to the cafeteria—what do you want? Do you want apple pie this time?  So Tom, it’s a tragedy that so many Christians have abandoned the Word of God and His truth and are looking to some idea that some man has come up with to help them with their behavioral problems.

T. A. McMahon:

And Dave, what grieves us, the name of this program is “Search the Scriptures Daily,” now we have, and I’m sure people do this, a methodology of looking to psychiatric information to interpret God’s Word.  I mean what a tragedy.