Geoff W. Sutton Blog

Understanding Rapists What can  religious organizations do? Earlier this month, January, 2014, major news sources told of a  gang rape  of a young Hindu Indian woman who violated village norms by having an affair with a married Muslim man and did not pay her portion of the fine.  President Obama called . Recently, newly elected  problem of predatory priests  within the worldwide Catholic church, which of course is not alone among religious groups dealing with the problem of predatory clergy. The U.S.  high rate of rape  within the U.S. military. Laws against rape are close to universal. But rape happens. And rape happens often. LOVE, RAPE, AND THE BIBLE The Bible contains classic tales of romantic love as in the story of Isaac who was smitten with love for Rebekah whom he met at the local watering hole ( Genesis 24 ). But there are also horrific stories of rape and laws about rape. I’ll reference one story as evidence....

OPTIMISM &  MARRIAGE Can optimism lead to a better marriage? A recent study suggests that one type of optimism is helpful and another type is not so helpful. In their review of research, Lisa Neff of the University of Texas at Austin and Andrew Geers of the University of Toledo, reported an emerging belief that optimistic expectations would promote better relationships because people should be motivated to overcome difficulties. In a previous post I reviewed some research on optimism and spirituality. Most religions strongly support marriage. In this post I look at a study about optimism in a marriage. When there is conflict, optimists are more constructive and they ending up feeling more satisfied with the outcome of the conflict. Also, the relationship has a better chance of survival. In a 2-year study, optimists had fewer drops in satisfaction than did pessimists. So what’s not to like about optimism? Some research suggests that expecting g...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister as were his father and grandfather. He was born 15 January, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. According to biography.com , Martin Luther King Jr. was influenced by theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. Following the arrest of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. met with other leaders to plan a bus boycott. In 1959, Martin Luther King Jr. visited Gandhi’s birthplace in India.  The experience influenced his focus on nonviolent activism. AMERICAN CHURCHES STILL LACK DIVERSITY American religion is as clear as black and white. For centuries, religious groups were divided by color. As recently as 1998, nearly 50% of U.S. congregations were primarily made up of one racial group. In 2013, LifeWay Research conducted a phone survey of Protestant Pastors between September 4-19. Most (86 percent) say their congregation is predominately one racial or ethnic group. American Religion and Prejudice Against African Americans Deborah Hal...

A CULTURE  OF LIFE Life and Death  in 2013 The world’s largest religions generally promote a prolife position. Life is valuable from the moment of conception until death. In many countries, people of faith are outspoken about some aspect of life and death. Overall, the world is a less violent place ( Pinker, 2011 ), although it may not seem like it to those in war torn areas or to those who pay attention to news reports without an historical context. In Western Democracies, prolife has often been thought of in terms of a moral position against abortion. But in the view of many, including my own, prolife describes a culture that values life rather than death. In this summary, the reports offer brief quantitative information with links to sources for those interested in details. What’s missing from many reports is a careful look at the quality of life. This post is a look at the current state of a culture of life around the world. I am also on the lookout f...

OPTIMISM & FAITH When I go to the gym today (or maybe tomorrow), I expect the parking lot to be full. This time of year, a lot of people resolve to improve their lives. We want to get healthy and get rid of bad habits. Unfortunately, within a few weeks or months optimism wanes. And many fall back into old ways. FROM DEPRESSION TO OPTIMISM Years ago, Martin Seligman studied depression in animals. His research seemed to suggest that animals “gave up” as if they learned to be helpless. When Seligman and others examined how people thought about circumstances, they detected pessimistic thinking. And in contrast, researchers found positive thinking in others. Seligman has been instrumental in the development of positive psychology and has become well known for his work on learned optimism. SEVEN FINDINGS ABOUT OPTIMISM What do we know about learned optimism and life? Here’s a summary from Snyder, Lopez, and Pedrotti’s book on Positive Psychology . People wh...