Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

Precious lives  Children  & Death  & Religion A woman cradles a baby and breathes life into his mouth. On Wednesday 19 February, 2014 Miami traffic halted on a busy highway. Pamela Rauseo held her 5-month old nephew and cried for help. He had stopped breathing. She performed CPR as many travelers sprang into action. The baby lives thanks to Pamela’s quick response and all those good neighbors described in the Miami Herald report . WGNtv.com news linked the event to a Christian text in their headline: “Good Samaritan performs CPR, saves infant’s life on busy highway.” Others spoke of the miracle . Religious language comes easy in American culture—especially when an infant is saved from the clutches of death. ***** Also on Wednesday, a Pennsylvania couple faced prison because they did not seek medical care for their 8-month old son. They come from a Pentecostal heritage. USA Today quotes their beliefs: We believe in divine healing, th...

Premarital     Counseling Boom Good news . People still fall in love and want to marry. Couples want their marriages to last. And many are willing to invest in premarital counseling. Bad news . Marriage rates are at an all-time low and recent divorce rates remain high. And the research on the possible benefits of premarital counseling is not impressive. See post about marriage in 2013 . Breaking news (almost). According to a Fox News story published 21 January 2014, “The Colorado Marriage Education Act would require potential spouses to complete 10 hours of pre-wedding marriage education. Twenty hours would be required for second marriages and 30 hours for third marriages, KDVR.com reported Monday.” Why Do People Think Premarital Counseling Helps? 1. Engaged couples feel satisfied with the programs they attended. Some even think premarital counseling is fun . But some complain about the negativity when programs discuss pitfalls. 2. One ...

Valentine's Day Dance Love   And    Romance 1 “I love you” Who says it first?  Men do but people think women do. Marissa Harrison and Jennifer Shortall (2011) reported that women and men think women fall in love and say “I Love you” first. But men in relationships reported they were the first to say “I love you.” 2 Do young people view interracial dating similarly ? In the U.S., slavery and laws prohibiting relationships between Black and White Americans provide a negative context for relationships between people who appear different based on skin color. There are of course scientific problems with the definition of race and appropriate terms to use. A recent look at mixed race dating showed that young people use the terms Black and White to refer to their own group and members of the other group. In his qualitative study, Todd Schoepflin found the most favorable attitudes toward interracial dating were expressed by black men and white women compa...

Understanding Rapists What can  religious organizations do? Earlier this month, January, 2014, major news sources told of a  gang rape  of a young Hindu Indian woman who violated village norms by having an affair with a married Muslim man and did not pay her portion of the fine.  President Obama called . Recently, newly elected  problem of predatory priests  within the worldwide Catholic church, which of course is not alone among religious groups dealing with the problem of predatory clergy. The U.S.  high rate of rape  within the U.S. military. Laws against rape are close to universal. But rape happens. And rape happens often. LOVE, RAPE, AND THE BIBLE The Bible contains classic tales of romantic love as in the story of Isaac who was smitten with love for Rebekah whom he met at the local watering hole ( Genesis 24 ). But there are also horrific stories of rape and laws about rape. I’ll reference one story as evidence....

OPTIMISM &  MARRIAGE Can optimism lead to a better marriage? A recent study suggests that one type of optimism is helpful and another type is not so helpful. In their review of research, Lisa Neff of the University of Texas at Austin and Andrew Geers of the University of Toledo, reported an emerging belief that optimistic expectations would promote better relationships because people should be motivated to overcome difficulties. In a previous post I reviewed some research on optimism and spirituality. Most religions strongly support marriage. In this post I look at a study about optimism in a marriage. When there is conflict, optimists are more constructive and they ending up feeling more satisfied with the outcome of the conflict. Also, the relationship has a better chance of survival. In a 2-year study, optimists had fewer drops in satisfaction than did pessimists. So what’s not to like about optimism? Some research suggests that expecting g...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister as were his father and grandfather. He was born 15 January, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. According to biography.com , Martin Luther King Jr. was influenced by theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. Following the arrest of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. met with other leaders to plan a bus boycott. In 1959, Martin Luther King Jr. visited Gandhi’s birthplace in India.  The experience influenced his focus on nonviolent activism. AMERICAN CHURCHES STILL LACK DIVERSITY American religion is as clear as black and white. For centuries, religious groups were divided by color. As recently as 1998, nearly 50% of U.S. congregations were primarily made up of one racial group. In 2013, LifeWay Research conducted a phone survey of Protestant Pastors between September 4-19. Most (86 percent) say their congregation is predominately one racial or ethnic group. American Religion and Prejudice Against African Americans Deborah Hal...