Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

How Sex and Death Anxiety Link to Christianity How would you feel if you learned a friend or close relative decided to have sex to help with expenses? Earlier today, a headline news story reported on the low rates Greek women get for sex-- some just get enough to buy a meal.  Christians often show an interest in rescuing people from sex trafficking. But not all sex workers are trafficked. And not all sex work is illegal. But sex work has a long history of condemnation and in many places sex workers are at high risk of harm. Sex work is just one example of the sex-linked issues confronting Christians who want to show compassion but may be put off by some aspects of the lives of the people they wish to help. For many Christians, sex evokes disgust. The leaders of a group I attend on Sundays decided to study Richard Beck ’s book, Unclean . Beck takes readers on a journey through the psychology of disgust and shows how we emotionally respond to disgusting experie...

Raphael, Eusebius of Cremona raising Three Men from the Dead  with Saint Jerome's Cloak (c 1502-3) SPIRIT OF HALLOWEEN LEADS TO FEAR OR FUN Seven Scary Themes 1. Surprise! That delightful toddler experience on being found or finding a hiding grandparent; The squeal of faux fright when a family member pops up unexpectedly; The ability to hide within a dinosaur costume or some scary character and get a reaction from play-along adults.      I’m lost! This is a closely related childhood fear of distress when a child can’t find his or her parents. Especially for a child alone in a mall or who wandered off in a large store. Now this fright is available in a corn maze or the darkened halls of a haunted house. 2. I’m scared! What fun to trot out the usual fear-inducing spiders and snakes, create faux thunderstorms, or move people into an enclosed space. Fun, unless you are one of the 27,000,000 Americans that have a specific phobia. ...