chalilavchas, this is not blaming. If someone sincerely believes he is a god and we diagnose him with schizophrenia, we don’t “blame” him; we’re saying that it’s NOT avodah zorah or kefirah but a mental illness. (If they knew what we know now in Shabsai tzvi’s times, they’d hospitalize him and medicate him. He clearly had Manic Depressive or schizo.) I’m saying your relative’s problem is not a weak emunah; it’s Anxiety, a mild, treatable emotional disorder. How is this blaming? It’s not his fault he has anxiety; it will be his fault if instead of taking care of his anxiety he ch”v uses it as an excuse to go OTD. Shabsai tzvi’s sin was not his hallucinations; it was his gaavah, his audacity to change the torah, his lack of humility when all gedolim said he was wrong. If your guy thinks he’s smarter than rambam, rashi, r’ Yonoson Eibeshutz, the Vilna Gaon and innumerous other incredibly smart people, he has a lack of midos. He should be able to realize that if he thinks differently than so many of those who are older and smarter than him, it’s probably (at least possibly) his problem and he has to look for a solution, or cure. In my experience, chances are his problem is anxiety.
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