Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

Reproduction IVF 2025 Who Has the Right to Control Reproduction? A New Order Stimulates Ethical Discussions The expensive IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedure made news as the president issued an order that could increase the availability and lower the cost. Some have expressed concern over the declining birthrates in the US. As lawmakers and courts make decisions about human reproduction, the question remains: Who controls women’s bodies? https://amzn.to/3XG5Kmr https://www.axios.com/2025/02/19/trump-ivf-order-birth-rate-costs ***** Not all of the politicians are on board with IVF.  Why would anyone oppose the procedure that gives hope to so many? It is well-known that substantial numbers of evangelical Christians supported the president in his campaign during the last election (Pew 2024) and vote for  Republican party politicians but, in some Conservative Christian worldviews, human life begins when a human egg is fertilized. Currently, the IVF procedure creates more ferti...

Soon the U.S. Supreme Court will review an abortion case. As an  npr broadcast  informs us, this is the week, 47 years ago, that the court made the Roe v. Wade decision. The Disestablishment of Christianity in America Like others, I think the 1973 decision was the “Wake-up call” for American Evangelicals who could see a trend toward a more secular American society. I suggest the recent beginning of the trend was the 25 June 1962 decision by the Supreme Court that judged a New York prayer as a violation of the establishment clause in the U.S. Constitution ( See Engel v. Vitale ). The next year, 1963, the court ruled against Abington school district’s practice of saying the Lord’s Prayer and reading the Bible ( See Abington School District v. Schempp) . A Tough Yet Sweet Pill to Swallow The small pill that started a revolution. I’m exaggerating of course. But it’s hard to ignore the contribution of the birth control pill to undoing the power of sexual pu...

I used Autofocus to capture this tiger in India News reports documenting the killing of children tug deeply at our most basic impulse to care for the young and vulnerable. Many of us identify unfair treatment and at least give a nod of support to those who seek to remedy injustice. It is no secret that people disagree about the right way to solve social problems. Matters of right and wrong are the stuff of morality. And matters of right and wrong often connect people with similar religious and political beliefs. I have drawn upon the research of Jonathan Haidt and his colleagues when writing about moral perspectives as formulated in moral foundations theory. The six moral foundations provide a useful way to consider various social-moral issues. In this post, I review the six moral foundations. In A House Divided , I applied these six foundations to show how different tribes of Christians argue about such divisive issues as birth control, abortion, and sex education. ...

ONE QUESTION ABOUT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE I noticed conservative friends posting 40 Questions challenging Christians about their support for same-sex marriage. It did not take long for a counter response. So there are at least 80 questions available for you. It's no surprise that the authors advance a point of view by asking a question, which assumes a premise that has not been established. I come at the questions from the perspective of a psychological scientist and former university professor--so I love to encourage people to think. And if I were teaching a relevant course, I'd probably ask students to think about the 80-questions. I'll include the links so you can see what the two authors are asking. Christians come at the same-sex issue from many perspectives as I wrote about last week . I think for those Christians who have a spiritual struggle, the key question is about sin. There is only one question for fundamentalist Christians to ...

GAY MARRIAGE WHY ARE MOST CHRISTIANS SO OPPOSED? Why? The why question is complex because Christians give different answers. I’ll not wax too philosophical here. But I think it important to keep in mind that Christians have different beliefs about a lot of things. Here’s a few common answers to the why question. Bible Answers 1. Genesis marriage answer . Most Christians refer to the creation narratives in the Hebrew Bible. Genesis describes God’s creation of the first couple—Adam and Eve—a male and a female. And Christians point out the blessing on sex to fill the earth—some think the purpose of sex is to have children. And they point out the importance of a male and female to reproduction. ( Example: Catholic teaching on marriage .) Christians also point out there are no scriptures affirming same-sex relationships or marriages. 2. S inful sex answer . Same-sex activity is explicitly banned in the Bible. Most don’t think about same-sex couples li...

Slavery, Women’s Rights, and Same-Sex Marriage:  Is There a Connection? Recent news stories continue to highlight struggles of African Americans, women, and LGBT persons.  One event garnered a lot of press as strong emotions were evoked and the recent troubles in Missouri were featured. The Blaze . Franklin Graham caused a stir over comments calling for obedience and listing “Blacks” in his list of ethnic groups. Sojourners posted an open letter of response . Universities have taken steps to deal with ongoing sexual assaults of women on their campuses. ABC news . The Presbyterians joined other mainline Christian groups supporting same-sex marriage. Huffington Post   Franklin Graham condemned the act. Gospel Herald . Bob Jones III apologizes for comments suggesting homosexuals should be stoned. CNN  This week marks the one-year anniversary of the World Vision decision to hire Christians in Same-Sex marriages and their quick reversal. Christianity T...

Christian Therapist – Christian Client Matching:  Is it important? Answer #1: Yes. Matching is probably important. Seven reasons why matching Christian clients to Christian therapists might be important. (Gleanings from Stegman and colleagues, 2013). 1. Psychotherapists know little about religion and spirituality. 2. A large number of Psychotherapists associated with Christian counseling professional groups graduated from non-Christian programs. 3. The spiritual beliefs of Christians can seem like psychopathology to non-Christian clinicians. This is especially true when the beliefs are different from the typical beliefs in a culture. 4. Christian clients consider religious and spiritual issues important to psychotherapy and many wish to talk about these matters. 5. Conservative Christian clients expect their beliefs to be a part of psychotherapy. 6. Not addressing Christian beliefs can lead to early termination. 7. There is a general c...