Category Archives: News and politics

April 9, 2007 · 5:05 am

Good jokes versus racial slurs


Okay, I admit I sometimes listen to Don Imus’ radio show in the morning on my way to work. He has a good list of politicians and authors on that have interesting points of view. He also has a comedian on who regularly impersonates various people like Dr. Phil, President Clinton, and other celebs. Sometimes he’s funny. Many times he’s cranky, overbearing with the green cleaning stuff, and offensive. Last week, he made some serious racial slurs against the Rutgers women’s basketball team. I didn’t hear them but because I have listened to him off and on, I’m not surprised. In fact, I’m surprised he hasn’t been kicked off the air before. He calls Arabs, “towel heads”, I’ve heard racial stereotypes about the Chinese, gay people, and his sidekicks are worse than he is.

But, what’s the difference between good fun at another’s expense and a slur? Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under Cultural Anthropology, News and politics

March 20, 2007 · 12:08 pm

Levels of Depravity and the American consciousness of evil


I listened to and interview with NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman (author of best-selling, The World is Flat) on the way to work this morning. He was discussing the dire problems in Iraq. During the interview he was grieving the losses that 9/11 brought to the sense of safety we Americans used to have. He talked about no longer being able to travel the world as an American without any worries as to safety. He mentioned how in DC one has to produce an ID to go into public buildings now. To underline these day/night changes in the last few years, he compared his experiences covering 5 years of the Lebanese civil war to what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. From his perspective, even in the atrocities of the Lebanese civil war, there were still lines of civility not crossed by the combatants. But now, there is no sense of “sanctuary”. Everyone is a target. A hospital to treat Muslims was blown up on the day it was being opened, a mosque was blown up during a funeral, school girls blown up during a test.

His comments made me pause. Is the world reaching some deeper level of depravity not seen before? Continue reading →

4 Comments

Filed under News and politics, sin, suffering, Uncategorized

March 7, 2007 · 5:15 am

Righteous indignation: Why we love it and why it endangers the soul


The last few days I have been listening to the various pundits discuss the debacle at Walter Reed Military Hospital. If you haven’t been following it, this link will help. In short, Building 18 at the hospital complex is rat and roach infested AND those wounded soldiers living in it are swamped with bureaucratic barriers and are unable to get the proper treatment they need.

Enter righteous indignation. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under anger, Cognitive biases, News and politics

February 8, 2007 · 10:44 am

What does Ted Haggard really think?


As most have probably seen, Rev. Haggard is in the news again. For fun, go type his name into the news section of google.com. You’ll find all sorts of news stories and satire. And of course everyone is picking up on the claim made that he is completely heterosexual, that his prior behaviors were only acting out and not evidence that he was gay–something he discovered during an intensive 3 week psychological treatment. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under Christianity: Leaders and Leadership, Evangelicals, News and politics

January 26, 2007 · 6:17 am

No hope for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine


I apologize for the delay in posting on the next chapter of Volf’s End of Memory. I’ve put it down briefly and am doing quick reads on two other books on the topic of division between people groups (Israel/Palestine; American Blacks/Whites). Volf has been exploring the matter of dealing with painful memories of past abuse. But what if the offenses continue, not just in the memory but in real life? How does one ever stop the cycle of hurt, hate, protectionism?

Carter’s new book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid (Simon and Schuster), explores his involvement with trying to broker peace from the 70’s til more recently. If you are looking for a detailed historical analysis, look elsewhere, But if you have a good understanding the parties, he does have some interesting info and perspective and inside stories. I’ve read the first 4 chapters. However, he has a throw-away line in chapter one (p. 15) that really sticks in my craw, It has always b een clear that the antagonists cannot be expected to take the initiative to resolve their own differences. Hatred and distrust in the Middle East are too ingrained and pride is too great for any of the disputing parties to offer invitations or concessions that they know will almost inevitably be rejected.

While I agree that what he says has been true. The most progress has been made when the US has brokered and shuttled between the two and almost no progress has been made when outside pressures have been released. And yet, it is a sad day to say that a people group (or their leaders) are so unwilling to put aside pride and demands for autonomy/safety for the greater good of the world.

Seems true in Iraq today as well. Shia and Sunni leaders seem hellbent on giving up nothing for a greater good. There is no trust. So, the real question is how does one build/risk trust when there has been almost no space for it to the present. Does South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation project have any capacity to teach us that victims give up rights and offenders give up silence and any pretense of being righteous?

I’m looking to see what Carter will suggest as the solution and whether he lays much blame at Israel’s feet. That’s the third rail of politics… 

Leave a comment

Filed under conflicts, Cultural Anthropology, Forgiveness, News and politics

January 11, 2007 · 9:58 am

Was the devil we knew better?


Musing on the terrible situation in Iraq during the president’s speech last night. Despite many, many bad things, Iraq used to be a predictable society. Now it is filled with utter chaos. Saddam had complete power and control because he eliminated dissenting voices through torture and murder. Freedom of speech and independent thinking were minimal if present at all. And yet, families could educate their kids, go to the market, and work without fear of being blown up. Which is worse, a tyrannical, evil overlord or anarchy that allows for no predictability in life? Of course, a third and better option is what we are looking for.

In some ways, Hussein’s reign of terror may have controlled an “eye for an eye” mentality. Or maybe it didn’t and we just didn’t hear or care about it before.  Humanly speaking, there’s little hope that leaders will rise up and take a stand for peace. But pray for it we must.

2 Comments

Filed under News and politics

January 2, 2007 · 10:34 am

2006: The end of a haircutting era


After getting back in town late Friday night, I took my boys to Sebastian’s, our usual barber, for much needed haircuts Saturday morning. Sebastian, aka Sam, Braccia has been cutting hair in Roslyn for a long time. He is a fine Christian man who loves to garden and does a great job on our hair. I look forward to going. I’ll learn something about gardening, we’ll discuss what to plant first in our greenhouses, the boys will get a lollipop… Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under News and politics, Uncategorized

December 26, 2006 · 6:32 am

Should we embed psychologists in the military?


A few days ago NPR ran a story on a California national guard unit embedding psychologists into their unit. (Listen to the story here). The program is an experiment to see if they can break the stigma of getting help from mental health professionals when they experience PTSD and other traumas. I would assume they are trying to do more than just break the stigma. They’d like to prevent problems or treat before things get too bad.

Near the end of the story, they talk to 2 soldiers about the program. Both are highly negative and list two problems: (a) they feel that the psychologists are unable to really understand their experiences since they weren’t there in the battle, and (b) they feel the counselors are intrusive–“always trying to get in our heads…” They don’t want to keep thinking about events or to talk about their feelings.

Seems like a good idea on paper. Give soldiers a place to address the traumas of war before becoming full-blown. And contrary to one of the soldiers, good therapists can understand soldier experiences without having faced the exact same situation. But there may be better ways to spend the money and get the same results. Training chaplains to address these issues may provide a less stigmatizing and more accepted form of uncovering fears, struggles, etc. Training actual soldiers to provide various forms of debriefing or assessments may also be useful. One other problem is that psychology often finds a good thing (debriefing) and then tries to foist it on everyone–something that we now know is not helpful and can be harmful. Until we have a better sense of helping a variety of at-risk folk deal with the traumas of war, these kinds of programs aren’t going to be that helpful.  I’m all for helping our soldiers and I do think we psychologists have something to offer. However, we have to avoid thinking we already know everything and spend a fair amount of time listening and learning first.

Leave a comment

Filed under counseling science, News and politics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Psychology

December 22, 2006 · 6:11 am

Euphemisms: Using language to hide evil


I want to share some lines from a statement purportedly made (dated 12/15/06) by the outgoing Ambassador John R. Miller, Director of the  Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. These lines are an excellent example of how the use of names/euphemisms cover up the reality of grotesque evil. [NOTE: I received a pdf document with Miller’s signature from a reputable source but I can’t validate it by finding it on the U.S. Department of State website. If someone locates this statement, let me know.]
It is my belief that we image God when we follow in Adam’s footsteps naming things as we see fit (Gen. 2:19-20). But unlike Adam (at the time of naming the animals), we are fallen creatures–prone to distorting names and calling things that are evil by flowery or neutral names. In fact, that is exactly what the Serpent does to Adam and Eve. He calls eating the forbidden fruit “seeking wisdom” when it is really a coup d’etat.

Enter Ambassador Miller’s statments. Here are some excerpts: Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Abuse, Cognitive biases, Great Quotes, News and politics, self-deception, suffering

November 7, 2006 · 1:37 pm

Good riddance to negative ads


Ahhh. No more negative political ads on TV. Actually, its redundant to say negative and political in the same sentence. Back to the car, beer, and drugs ads. When one of my sons was 3, he saw a few ads where two NJ senators were taking tremendous shots at each other. After watching one, he turned to me and said, “That Forrester guy is the bad guy right? Because he never smiles.” (the picture of Forrester on his opponent’s ad was quite unattractive). That’s when I realized that political ads are meant to play to the 3 year old in us all. “There are good guys and bad guys and I’m the good guy.” Why do we let them get away with it? Does that V Chip thingy block unwanted political junk?

Leave a comment

Filed under News and politics