Library EventAuthor Event: To Loose the Bonds of Injustice: The Plight of the Mentally Ill & What the Church Can Do

Presenter: Marcia A. Murphy

Marcia A. Murphy will speak about her new book "To Loose the Bonds of Injustice: The Plight of the Mentally Ill & What the Church Can Do". Followed by a community-wide discussion on mental health. This new book is the first to address the living conditions of the mentally ill from the standpoint of social justice. It is the first for religion to partner with the psychiatric field from a spiritual vantage point to improve the lives of those afflicted with medical, social, and spiritual maladies. It is written by someone who has lived with the challenges of a marginalized human being, someone who has insights that no one in the mainstream has experienced. Professionals often write from the viewpoint of someone observing their patients from the outside. Instead, Ms. Murphy tells what it feels like from the inside, to be afflicted with emotional, physical, and social challenges that hinder development and success. This project offers solutions on many levels, unique by virtue of who and what the author is: someone that has been in the darkest depths of severe distress and who found that Christ is the only hope for the mentally afflicted; and the church as Christ’s body, though imperfect, has a vital role in healing and restoration.

This event is cosponsored by Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church and the Iowa City Public Library.