Paul didn't describe the Galatians as being heretics or teaching bad theology. Rather, he accused them of having gone out of their minds and of being under a spell. Paul didn't maintain that the Galatians had misused their minds but lost their minds; they had been brainwashed. This seems to be the case today. For instance, the "pro-choice" arguments justifying abortion are so illogical and unscientific that only a generation of mindless people could take them seriously. Moreover, in our secularized culture, people claim they have the right to sin by committing homosexual acts, pandering pornography, killing themselves, sterilizing the poor, and starving the seriously sick. However, neither an individual nor two "consenting adults" have the right to pollute and pervert our society. How is this even a possibility unless most people have lost their minds?

How can we lose our minds? How can we be brainwashed? We lose our minds by indulging our carnal desires (see 1 Pt 2:11). Our minds deteriorate "through illusion and desire" (Eph 4:22). If we do not crucify our "flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24), our carnal desires will crucify our minds. We will no longer think Biblically, morally, and logically. Because the devil wants to brainwash us, we either are taking on the mind of Christ (see 1 Cor 2:16) or becoming mindless. Therefore, "do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rm 12:2).

Rescript:  †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, May 1, 2008

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