Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

  9/11 and Religious Fundamentalism Thoughts on the Legacy of 9/11   As is our custom in the United States, national tragedies become the focus of a wide ranging study. Such was the case with the attacks 20 years ago on 11 September 2001 known now as 9/11.   In this post I look at the powerful role of religion in framing the transnational narrative for select Muslims in their war to rid their world of American culture. In the United States, where there is a shifting and porous wall between Christianity and governance, we see a visible rise in the influence of fundamentalist Christian values controlling the narrative of judges and lawmakers. Under threat, people become conservative and many turn to their faith. This phenomenon is well-documented in studies of Terror Management Theory . The attacks of 9/11 and subsequent war on terror triggered an intensity in faith for many who were not already highly devoted. As long as people have been spiritual or religious, a...

THE FLAMING RHETORIC OF RIGHTS How many similarities do you need to link one rights movement with another? Freedom for U.S. slaves was a lengthy process and even after they were emancipated, civil rights were not codified in law until a century later. A key word here is law because attitudes are slow to change even when laws set limits on behavior. The battle against racism continues. Leaders supporting and opposing same-sex marriage and other rights and protections for sexual minorities have referred to the civil rights movement. Some assert similarities. Others point to differences. The statements are often intensified by emotional rhetoric shrunken to bite-sized statements suitable for T-shirts and video clips. The civil rights arguments are not just academic because the reasons come with powerful emotions attached. One can easily imagine students being asked to write an essay about the subject. And I can imagine some professors having a difficult time gradin...