Geoff W. Sutton Blog

  Exploring the Problem of Sexual Self-Control and the Suffering of their Victims   I Googled Ravi Z and before I typed his surname, 2,930,000 results appeared. The first two dealt with his problems of sexual self-control. His organization made a public statement following an investigation. In paragraph four they wrote:   To be victimized by unwanted sexual contact, advances, and behavior is horrendous. It is diametrically opposed to everything we believe about the value and dignity of every single person. We believe not only the women who made their allegations public but also additional women who had not previously made public allegations against Ravi but whose identities and stories were uncovered during the investigation. Tragically, witnesses described encounters including sexting, unwanted touching, spiritual abuse, and rape. We are devastated by what the investigation has shown and are filled with sorrow for the women who were hurt by this terrible abuse....

  I smile when I see movies portraying savvy detectives revered for their ability to separate truth from lies in a suspect’s story. And I cringe when people believe the lies of politicians and other leaders despite evidence from their own behaviour—including recordings of their statements.  Sadly, interviewers are easily deceived. And despite my experience in clinical forensic work, I too have been deceived. We have a vested interest in detecting the truth—especially when we stand to lose or gain from information. So, I am going to draw on some research summarized by Aldert Vrij to make a few points in this post. 1. Eye-contact: Liars do not look away more than truth-tellers. Liars are focused on overcoming the well-known avoidance belief. 2. Squirm effect : Liars do not fidget or move around more than truth-tellers. It takes mental effort to deceive someone. Liars move less. 3. Nonverbal cue mystique : Interviewers (including new counsellors) are often told to pa...

  Oral Roberts University/Google images On a hot and humid 1950s Sunday afternoon, I sat amongst the crowd of white-shirted, perspiration-soaked men and paper-fan waving Sunday-hat-covered women at a tent crusade in Southeastern Pennsylvania. After preaching salvation, the dark suit jacket came off. Holy hands touched one after another. I watched a line of broken people approach a healing stage and leave with a testimony. Everywhere, white and black hands reached upward as organ tones bolstered songs of praise. (Sutton, 2021, p. 79)   As I was writing Counseling and Psychotherapy with Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians , I was struck by the transitional figure of Oral Roberts who blended faith healing and a nascent Pentecostal theology, which eventually led to a grand attempt to integrate medical science and faith.   Oral Roberts   Oral Roberts was born 24 January 1918. The next month, four waves of a flu pandemic killed off about as many as died i...