Not My Fault

For those of you old enough to remember Mel Brook's movie Young Frankenstein, there is a scene where Igor goes to fetch a brain for Dr. Frankenstein to place in the man he is creating.  Igor is given strict instructions to bring back a specific brain, but drops the container on the laboratory floor, shattering it.  He then selects a container with a brain that says, "Do Not Use This Brain! Abnormal."

 

 

Of course, the abnormal brain is implanted and the Frankenstein creature is deranged from the moment he wakes up.  When Igor is later questioned about which brain he brought back from the laboratory, he says, "Abby someone." Dr. Frankenstein asks, "Abby someone.  Abby who?"  And Igor replies, "Abby...normal."

One of the debates that has raged for centuries is what leads to certain behaviors.  Many of you are familiar with the "nature versus nurture" arguments.  On the one hand, some claim that people are born with genetic predispositions to act in a particular way.  We could refine this description further to look at not only the actual genes that might be responsible for a person's character or behavior, but also the environment in the womb.  For instance, in the case of Down's Syndrome the mental deficiency is related to an extra chromosome 21, but in other cases, there may be malnutrition or oxygen deprivation in the womb leading to brain damage. 

However, some behavior is related to the environment in which one is raised.  It is understood that children raised in a home with violent behavior or sexual abuse are more likely to engage in such behaviors themselves once grown.  There have been decades of studies looking at social factors and the role of society in promoting antisocial behavior.  A prime culprit is assumed to be poverty, and one of the justifications given for the government to solve the poverty problem is that it will correct all manner of social ills as well.

There are many behaviors that are proclaimed to be the result of genes.  Two that immediately come to mind are alcoholism and homosexuality.  As one of my two undergraduate degrees was in psychology, we studied criminal behavior and its supposed genetic origins.  There was a great deal of effort to study people with an extra "Y" chromosome, the so-called "47,XYY Syndrome."  Men with this genetic type are usually taller than others, often have severe acne, and learning disorders.  When I was in college, it was also thought that these men were much more prone to criminal behavior, with the extra "Y" male chromosome making them "supermales" with increased aggression and hostility.  This relationship seems far from certain today.

So, is behavior related to genes, the environment in the womb, the home in which one is raised, or from parents or peers?

An article recently published looked at the results of research using PET scans of normal people and killers.  Here is an example of a normal person's brain PET scan:

 



 This can be compared to that of a murderer's brain PET scan:

 

 

 You can see a dramatic difference.  In fact, there was a convicted murderer who was spared the death penalty because the jury was shown these scans and felt like the killer was not fully responsible for his acts because of his abnormal brain. 

 

So, when someone engages in a behavior, what is their own personal responsibility for this?  According to either the nature or nurture view, it is not their fault.  It is either the fault of the traits with which they were born, or the fault of the environment in which they were raised.  Both arguments are advanced by groups that seek to absolve those individuals of responsibility.  If you can absolve individuals of the responsibility for their behavior, you can then remove stigma associated with the behavior, any consequences for that behavior, and if the behavior cannot be tolerated (as in the case of crime) you can insist on marshaling societal resources (taxpayers' dollars) to correct the societal ills.  Being gay is a normal inherited variant, being an alcoholic or drug addict is an inherited illness that must be treated, and being a violent criminal is either a social problem requiring correction or an inherited brain abnormality over which the criminal has no control. 

 

I could be wrong on this, but after a careful review of the Bible I am unable to find where sin is not coupled with responsibility.  The Commandments and the penalties laid out in the Old Testament don't have qualifying clauses.  Murderers were not to be set free because they had abnormal brain PET scans or abusive parents.  Thieves were not forgiven their theft because they were born poor.  We encounter many instances in the New Testament where Jesus shows compassion on sinners, offers forgiveness of sins, and in the case of the woman who was about to be stoned for adultery, told her, "go and sin no more" (John 8:11).  He didn't say, "It's not your fault." 

 

We read last week of the release of the three women from a decade of captivity and abuse in Cleveland.  Details will emerge in the ensuing weeks about their trials and torments, and I am sure that the graphic descriptions of their bondage will sicken us.  The kidnapper claims to have been abused as a child and sexually abused by a relative as well.  In fact, he places the blame on his kidnapped victims: "They are here against their will because they made a mistake of getting in a car with a total stranger."

 

The Word of God gives him no excuse, no extenuating circumstances, no way to explain his behavior. Regardless of what genes he carries, what his PET scan shows, the environment in his mother's womb, the upbringing he had as child, or the societal circumstances that surrounded him, he is responsible for what he did.  God's definition of sin does not allow for either the nature or nurture excuse.  When we stand before Him, we will not be able to plead either of these arguments.  God does not want our excuses, He wants our repentance.  For He who knew you in the womb also knows your genes, and you do not need to remind him of your childhood or your parents.

 

We might as well blame Adam and Eve for bringing sin into the world, for if it were not for them everything would still be perfect and there would be no sin.  Few of us had perfect childhoods or perfect parents, and almost all of us, myself included, have "Abby...normal brains".  God does not expect us to be sinless, but He does expect us to claim responsibility for our sin.  He does not forgive us of our sin because of our excuses, but because of the work His Son did on the cross.  To deny our responsibility for our sin, to blame our nature or our nurture, is to deny true repentance.  Making an excuse to God is trying to tell Him something you don't think He already knows.  How many things about you do you think He doesn't know already?