Beware of ChatistySF.com  Addendum

The other major problem I have with ChastitySF.com and its owner is that he talks about "unconscious sin."
 
Someone contacted him and told him to make revisions to his website because the whole idea of unconscious sin is not Catholic. He rejected this advice, using armchair Freudian psychoanalysis to suggest that the person was psychologically wounded. And he referenced a homily in the Liturgy of the Hours to back up his claim that unconscious sin is a Catholic teaching.

 
Let me be clear: the Church teaches that sin is an act of the will so it cannot be unconscious. Over-spiritualizing clinical depression, anxiety disorders, or any other recognized mental health issue as "unconscious sin" will not do anyone good. It will induce false guilt in a person and Our Lord does not want that. In the Gospels, He never chastised people who committed sins out of weakness.

Can you imagine Christ blasting people for "unconscious sins?"

I certainly can't because that's not who I know Him to be!

Yes, we are fallen due to original sin, but we are also inherently good because we are made in the image and likeness of God.

In fact, I have a personal anecdote related to false guilt. Whenever I go to confession, one of the first things that I mention to the priest is I have autism and I suffer with scrupulosity. One time, I took a gamble in going to a priest who is a bit too direct in his homilies for my taste. I am extremely sensitive to certain things, including how people come across at times, and I am prone to black-and-white thinking, which is often frustrating. To my happy surprise, this priest was rather gentle when he heard my confession. He took a moment to address the scrupulosity after I told him about my sins. The advice he gave me was along the lines of "Don't be so hard on yourself. Cut yourself some slack. God isn't scrupulous and He's not that hard on you." 
 

And there was also an instance in which someone wrote to the author of chastitySF.com, saying that they were abused in the name of Catholicism and asked why they should follow any of his recommendations. He responded with, "Christ was suffering on the cross when you were abused. Look at Him."

While I agree that keeping our eyes on Jesus is crucial in the Christian life, the author's response was heartless. When someone tells you that they were abused and they were particularly abused in the name of your religion, the decent thing to do and the social norm is to say, "I'm sorry," not tell them or imply to them that the abuse they endured is nothing compared to the pain and suffering Christ endured during His Passion and Crucifixion. Christ is extending an invitation for you to offer them an apology on behalf of those who failed to fulfill His command to love others. Because when people are abused in the name of Catholicism, that's an epic failure to live up to the expectations of Christian discipleship on the part of those who perpetrated the abuse. 

The Church hierarchy has explicitly condemned using Catholic theology, doctrine, or Sacred Scripture to justify abuse. 

So please do not downplay the abuse others have endured by implying it was nothing compared to what Christ endured. No one is required put up with abuse, not even under the pathetic rationale that it's a necessary part of the process for their sanctification.  

 The author has also been accused of victim-blaming due to the material on his website and in at least two of his books. Catholic author Mike Eisenbath, in his book on depression, substantiated the accusations others have made by highlighting an instance of victim-blaming by the author of ChastitySF.com. Eisenbath writes, "Raymond Lloyd Richmond, Ph.D is involved with the website www.chastitysf.com and has been published in "Catholic Pyschology" in association with his "A Guide to Psychology and its Practice." ... Some of his suggestions for curing recommendation include: 

-Think of Christ on the cross, hated and despised, and the role that played in being resurrected with him. 

-Read what St. John of Avila had to say about St. Paul's suffering and faith and what St. Rose of Lima wrote about grace and tribulation.

 -Download a Catholic relaxation recording to your MP3 player.

-Study the basics of the Catholic faith with a cover-to-cover reading of the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" and the Bible.

-Remind yourself you are worthless and deserve nothing but condemnation without Christ yet in Christ are offered forgiveness. 

Let's put aside, for a moment,  the enormous challenge for a depression victim to tackle even a part of those tasks. It is dubious whether any or all of them would actually prove medicinal or curative for an extended period of time before the victim would run into failure to live up to the requirements to continue such a regimin and failure is tantamount to a death sentence to someone suffering from major depression. 

Two more of his suggestions truly stand out beyond any of those others. He said: 

-"If you have a lack of interest in usually enjoyable things, then rejoice, for your Christian mission in life is not to enjoy yourself but to proclaim the Gospel of all times by making constant sacrifices for the salvation of other souls."

-"If you have thoughts of death, remember that only by dying to this world can we be born to everlasting life and that until God alone decides our time here is finished we must devote all our energy to hard work in his service. So be honest with yourself and recognize suicide is just a way of saying to God, 'My will-not Thy will- be done.'"

I believed, with all my heart, the first part of Jehoshapat's prayer: "Lord, God of our fathers, in your hand is power and might, and nothing can withstand you. When evil comes, I will stand before you and cry out in affliction, and you will hear and save me!" 

That's the way way I was raised. I had accepted Jesus as my savior, the Lord of my life. I knew where to turn in time of distress. ...But it is incredibly naive and ignorant to tell depression victims that they feel alone, hopeless even suicidal because they are supposed to make sacrifices as a Christian or because their belief in God is phony and not good enough. The Catechism and the Bible are wonderful, life-changing books, with holy opportunity to meet God and the lessons to be learned from the lives of the saints can be important. 

The problem is if a sufferer doesn't have the energy to get a glass of juice out of the refridgerator in the morning or pick up a telephone to call a friend in a moment of dire need, how can he or she be expected to extensively read a book---or even open that book? 

John Timmerman's wife, Pat, in a brief journal entry during her depression, confided, "I feel so guilty that I can't seem to get well. I feel like a stranger to myself. I can't read my Bible or pray. I know God knows my needs and the needs of my family, and I trust He will take care of us all. I've reread my favorite Bible promises. But I can't feel them right now."

And guess what: Eisenbath practices Carmelite spirituality, which includes asceticism and mortification. So this is coming from a Catholic author who practices a form of Catholic spirituality that is very austere. 

There is something I would like to add: It is also deeply irresponsible and unprofessional for any mental health professional,  Catholic or not,  to tell clients or potential clients that them suffering from an acknowledged mental health illness like clinical depression is their fault. In this case, it is also over-spiritualizing a mental illness.  The Catholic Church teaches faith and reason. And since she teaches that, victim-blaming people and over-spiritualizing a mental illness is not good or charitable. 

I have already addressed the role of having  fun  and enjoying oneself in the Christian life in my original "Beware of ChastitySF.com" post as well as in my post "The Virtue of Fun." 

 St. Francis de Sales was skeptical of self-proclaimed mystics who raved about being taken above themselves in contemplative prayer, but spoke uncharitably towards their neighbor. He would look at the lives of those who claimed they were mystics to see if there was any sinful or uncharitable behavior. And in my opinion, Dr. Richmond has shown himself to be both committing a sin and being uncharitable through spreading misinformation about the COVID vaccines and victim-blaming those who suffer from clinical depression. 

It is not holy or righteous to spread false information about things pertaining to public health. The proper Christian thing to do is to follow sound medical advice. Several saints have said that obstinately not following sound medical advice or not making sure people's physical health is addressed counts as murder if someone dies from failing to make sure they receive medical attention or obstinately putting them at risk. In fact, Christians should protect the common good without having to be told to do so by human authorities. Protecting the health and lives of others and yourself is part of loving your neighbor and yourself. If someone dies as a result of your failure to make sure they receive  medical attention or because you obstinately put them at risk, their blood will be on your hands and unless you go to confession, you will answer to God for the murder of a fellow human being after you die. 

P.S. It was tough to write the portions of the cited passages containing Dr. Richmond's suggestions for curing depression because of how nuts they are. I have no regrets about subjecting you to just the material related to Eisenbath's testimony and no more. I've tormented you enough, and there is no need to torment you any further with the material on unconscious sin and the COVID vaccines. 

"Hence My Eyes Are Turned toward You," Pages 26-29, Mike Eisenbath, 2009