Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

VIOLENCE ON EARTH   or   PEACE ON EARTH Imagine greeting people with a blessing of “Violence” as in, “Violence to you and your family.” Of course violence has been a part of life for millennia. And we often hear that peace is fragile in some part of the world. But we hope for peace. And some of us work for peace. In the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, peace follows justice. That makes sense. We hear news stories of violent protests following a legal decision that seems unjust. Peace follows justice. Injustice disrupts peace. Future peace is predicated on evidence that the offended people will be treated justly. The image of peace created by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah strikes us as strange. What kind of world would it be if a wolf and a lamb could eat together without the latter being the meal? A wise lamb would flee from the presence of a wolf. In the Bible, many texts admonish people to live righteously and justly. True, biblical notions of justice involve ...

5-4 MORALITY, MENTAL DISORDERS, AND IQ   The 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on 27 May 2014 challenged the basis for Florida’s decision ( Hall v. Florida ). Matters of life and death are matters of morality. And the moral judgments of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices make it clear that they do not know the right answer—5 ruled one way, 4 another. Moral judgments are not easy. How do parents decide to punish? Parents are pretty quick to decide when to let their children off the hook for dropping their Sippy cups, throwing a toy, or pulling another child’s hair. Some parents laugh, some yell, some swat, and some use time out. Some do it all in an unpredictable pattern. Parents seem to have some built in sense of when a child knows better . Knowing better is the basis for holding people accountable. Kids will still go to time out for breaking a rule so they’ll learn. But serious penalties are usually reserved for intentional rule breaking th...

Forgive us for    the ways we have wronged you, just as we also forgive      those who have wronged us.                                             Matthew 6:12 CEB One of the things I love about the weekends is the time to take a walk. The cross in the picture is at the Wesleyan church I often pass on my walk to another nearby church. It is fitting that there are seats surrounding the cross. We can sit together at the foot of the cross. The Lord’s prayer is not personal. It is a community prayer. It is a disciple’s prayer. The prayer is about US and WE and what WE have done. WE have wronged. And WE must also forgive. I am reminded that we live and work in community. When relationships are broken by savage words and deeds, forgiveness is the way to repair the damage. We are in this life project together. Our forgiveness is bound ...

INDEPENDENCE DAY JUSTICE IMMIGRATION The people of Boston bore witness to violence. In the late 1760s, things heated up. People were divided in their support for the British government. Troops arrived to manage the conflict. Then it happened. Fighting began. Shots were fired. Bostonians were killed on 5 March, 1770. The troops were arrested. John Adams defended the British Captain and later the troops. The Captain was acquitted. Two soldiers received the death penalty but were freed with a brand of murder based on a special plea. You can read materials related to the trial online . In the midst of conflict, people wanted justice. Both sides wanted a fair trial—perhaps for different reasons. Justice prevailed. My parents and I emigrated from England and arrived in the USA just a couple of weeks before the 4th of July. It seemed awkward for British citizens to celebrate independence from Britain. There were plenty of jokes about the redcoats and strange Eng...