January 6, 2011 · 5:07 am

Some thoughts on the roots/shoots of genocide


Been thinking about the topic of genocide lately due to a possible symposium talk in near future. If you are like me it is hard to wrap your mind around such a horrific human/group behavior. Just how does one get to the point of being willing to massacre 10 people much less 1,000? How does one become “okay” with mass killing?

I think most would like to believe it is something different from normal human behavior–something in a different category from the rest of humanity. Maybe it comforts us to think of it as a massive work of Satan (it likely is) or a secret political conspiracy that the general population knows nothing of til afterwards.

I suspect, however, that genocidal behavior develops out of some rather basic, even mundane, human tendencies. Here’s the recipe for mass murder, abuse of power, and even use of porn in the privacy of one’s bedroom while acting righteous in public. Duplicity, abuse of power, or any willful sin starts with,

  1. The seed of a perceived problem or threat/loss, and then
  2. Sprouts in the soil of self-focus and deafness or complacency to the needs of others, and then
  3. Bears fruit in warm glow of deception of self and other fertilized by propaganda

Here’s my question to you. What else might I be missing in this “recipe”?

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January 5, 2011 · 5:06 am

Additional information on the March 2011 sex trafficking and abuse conference at Biblical Seminary


I’ve mentioned the conference before here on this site. But here is additional information for those considering the conference in order to acquire either graduate academic or continuing education credit.

NOTE:

  • Conference dates: March 17-19
  • The conference is free for all attendees, only those who want CEs or grad credit will have to pay a fee
  • A PDF of the information below is available here: Please pass on to anyone who might be interested.

Continuing Education at Biblical Seminary

March 17-19, 2011

The Biblical Call: A Christian Response to Human Trafficking and Sexual Abuse[i]

Mental health professionals and clergy interested in attending this seminar may be able to acquire 10 contact hours of continuing education by attending this conference. Biblical Seminary is an accredited graduate institution and thus is qualified as a pre-approved provider of continuing education in the form of graduate coursework by Pennsylvania’s State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Professional Counselors (§47-49.36) and Pennsylvania’s State Board Of Psychology (§41.59). (Attendees who wish to receive academic credit should follow directions in the footnote below.)

While Biblical Seminary provides verification of attendance and a transcript showing completion of the CE course, attendees are responsible to verify acceptance of these hours by their particular licensing boards prior to registering and paying for CEU credits.

The following information may be used to apply for approval to your licensing body.

Speakers:

Diane Langberg, PhD; Bethany Hoang, MDiv; Pearl Kim, JD; Robert Morrison, MBA; Philip G. Monroe, PsyD

Seminar Overview:

This conference continues the “Conversations on Christianity and Culture” series focusing on sexual violence and injustices in a variety of contexts: domestic and international settings and sexual abuse in Christian communities. Attendees will explore these issues from biblical, psychological, legal, and sociological perspectives. The conference will conclude with a focus on practical intervention and prevention strategies.

COST:

The conference is free for all attendees. Register here. Those who wish to receive CE credits will be charged $20.00 per CE unit (0-9 credits) or $180.00 for all 10 CE units. Attendees will be billed following the conference and certificate of attendance will be held until payment is received.

Educational Objectives:

  1. Become familiar with the psychological and sociological data regarding domestic and international trafficking phenomena and also sexual violence within Christian settings
  2. Describe common community and individual consequences resulting from these sexual traumas
  3. Consider biblical and theological factors relating to sexual violence
  4. Identify effective and practical interventions as well as preventative actions to treat and stop sexual slavery and sexual violence

Tentative Schedule:

Thursday, March 17

Speaker Title Time length
B. Hoang Biblical Call: Response to Violence (obj. 3) 1:15
D. Langberg Biblical Call: Global Violence against Women and Children (obj. 1-3) 1:15

Friday, March 18

Speaker Title Time length
B. Hoang International Human Trafficking (obj. 1) 1:15
D. Langberg Domestic Human Trafficking (obj. 1) 1:15
Breakout Sessions (choose two as each session is repeated; total length: 2:30)
B. Hoang Follow up from morning session (obj. 3) 1:15
D. Langberg Follow up from morning session (obj. 1-3) 1:15
P. Kim Spiritual Warfare and Criminal Prosecution (obj. 3) 1:15
R. Morrison Mobilizing all Christians in Effective Action Against Human Trafficking (obj. 4) 1:15

Saturday March 19

Speaker Title Time length
D. Langberg Sexual Abuse in Christian Organizations (obj. 1-4) 1:00
Panel (all speakers) Panel Discussion (obj. 1-4) 1:30

[i] This course is also available for one (1) academic credit. Credit students will be required to complete additional readings and coursework after the seminar. Those interested should view the course syllabus on our school’s website and complete a brief, online non-degree application. Cost for a one credit course is $447.

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January 4, 2011 · 5:59 am

Oxytocin and autism?


Anyone catch the oxytocin “news” item on NPR on Monday? If not, read/listen here.

The short of it is this: certain kinds of hormones are released during certain bodily functions: giving birth, breastfeeding, and orgasm. It seems that the hormone is involved in feelings of trust, connection, intimacy. Now comes a couple of small studies that indicate these feelings are increased when given a nasal spray version of the hormone. And the study talked about in the NPR story suggests that autistic individuals given the spray preformed as well as non-autistic individuals at recognizing (understanding?) emotional expressions on the faces of individuals in pictures.

Maybe autistic individuals have a deficit of oxytocin. Let’s hope this research helps discover how to raise the level of the hormone by natural means. However, do a Google search on the term and you will see a host of websites promoting the value of the hormone as if it is already well understood. Others seem to be selling a product. One in particular is trying to suggest that someone might use it to get the girl or close a sales deal (by increasing their trust). How? “Here, could I squirt this substance of your nose?”

Better to take a wait and see effort for now rather than get everyone’s hopes up just yet. Let the researchers do their work to find out just how this hormone works before hyping it yet.

 

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January 3, 2011 · 5:25 am

Edna Foa and prolonged exposure therapy


Happy New Year everyone!

Check out the Philly Inquirer today (Sunday) for a lengthy piece on Dr. Edna Foa and her creation of prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD victims. It gives nice background info on her and how she came to transition from work with children to adults with anxiety disorders. This is the treatment that is used at UPenn in their treatment of war vets. While this treatment won’t work for everyone, many with OCD and PTSD could be vastly helped with this treatment.

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December 31, 2010 · 6:04 pm

New information site for pastors and ministry leaders


I’m just beginning to build a new blog/info site for ministry leaders at: http://pastorrenewal.wordpress.com. While I am building the site, I am looking for others to provide me links and information we can post there. I want it to contain free stuff and links to services that might be helpful for those in ministry who are feeling burned out.

This blog (Musings) will still be my main focus but I want to have a site that will be more attractive to pastors, missionaries, and their families.

 

 

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December 25, 2010 · 10:03 pm

Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas to all of you who follow this blog. May your 2011 be filled with joy and an ever enlarging experience of God’s gracious watchcare over you.

For a brief look at the Monroe family, click the link to our family newsletter: http://www.mywebletter.com/letter.php?letter_code=e836d813fd184325132fca8edcdfb40e

See you in the New Year!

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December 21, 2010 · 4:02 pm

Christian anxieties?


In light of the holiday stresses and anxieties, I bring you a couple of thoughts regarding “Christian” anxiety.

Everyone faces anxiety at times in their life (unless you lost your amygdala) But some anxieties are unique to evangelical Christians:

1. What if I am out of God’s will? What if I make the wrong choice?

2. What if I committed the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

3. What if I am missing out on the blessing of God? What does it mean if I don’t feel thankful?

4. What if God wants me to stay in this awful situation? What if my situation is God’s punishment for previous sins?

5. What if I’m not sure I believe? Am saved? Have faith?

6. Is God holding out on me because I have weak faith?

I’m sure there are more you could list (feel free to add to this!) that are unique to Christians.

When working with someone struggling with these kinds of intrusive spiritual fears (aren’t all fears intrusive?), I have noted that they often

  • struggle with frequent guilt
  • are comforted by voices around them telling them that they are okay…but the comfort doesn’t last very long as cognitive efforts to convince them they are wrong fail
  • work very hard to do Christian service–sometimes to the point of compulsion

If you or someone you love struggles with these fears consider the following recommendations

1. Listen for the deepest concern. What if’s are almost always present in anxiety. What if I’m not saved? What if God isn’t going to give me my desires? Instead of responding to the surface fear, listen between the lines for deeper concerns (without debating them). For example, fears about not being sure about faith may really be a deep sensation of guilt and or failure to be perfect.

2. Validate AND encourage re-evaluation of the meaning of the fears. Always begin with validation—communicating that (a) it is clear the counselee has a real problem that needs attention, (b) such concerns are painful, BUT—and this is important—, (c) it might be possible that they have mis-identified their spiritual problem. Fear tends to deceive the mind and misdirect attention away from more important matters (e.g., a worry about germs focuses attention on cleanliness but away from underlying fears of being out of control).

3. Counter fear with STOP and MEDITATE techniques. Most people have their self-soothing techniques. Unfortunately, some of these can add to the anxiety. For example, repetitive “Lord save me” prayers will only lead to more belief that you may not be saved. Look for these repeated responses to fear and try to stop them–even if they seem rather religious in nature. Instead, look to meditate on some other part of the bible or of the character of God–something completely out of the orbit of the fear.

4. Develop alternate goals. Most anxious people would like not to be so. Who can blame them? But eliminating anxious spiritual thoughts may not be a good goal. And, the efforts to do so may only increase the spiritual angst. Yes, medication and preceding efforts may reduce anxiety, often the fears remain active in the background. An alternate goal might include (a) resisting the old dialog that engages the fear as important, (b) choosing to use the stimulus of the fear to focus on a specific person in need (a shut-in who needs a call, praying for someone else, etc.). These alternate tasks will reduce the anxious person’s thoughts about self…and thus reduce their anxiety.

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December 20, 2010 · 1:43 pm

Consider a gift for your pastor: A retreat!


Want to bless your pastor family this year? Consider giving the gift of a renewal retreat. If you can’t afford to cover the whole costs (see below), consider going in on the gift together with some of your friends.

Here’s what I’m talking about. A group of like-minded individuals meet on a regular basis to consider how to promote pastor renewal. Last year, we developed and ran a pastoral renewal retreat for pastors and spouses. It was successful and so we are planning a second retreat for April 26-28, 2011 (the week after Easter). The retreat runs 3 days and 2 nights in the Poconos  at the Haft. During the retreat couples will meet together, alone with a ministry mentor, and have time alone as they consider how to grow spiritually in the face of ministry challenges. We will cover issues such as discouragers, marriage enrichment, and renewal practices.

The cost to the ministry couple is $250. for room, board, and retreat. We’ll be posting registration materials but if you know think this is something you want to do or you know some couples who are interested, email me [pmonroeATbiblicalDOTedu] to get on a first ask list. There are only 7 couple slots available.

 

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December 16, 2010 · 4:01 pm

What does it mean to be truly human?


Okay, so this is one of those philosophical questions that popped into my head. I’m curious what things you would say to someone who asked this question.

A knee jerk reaction by me:

  1. To love, to relate to others
  2. To work and play
  3. To accept limits
  4. To be real, not plastic
  5. To age without trying to pretend the clock isn’t ticking
  6. To live in ambiguity while acting
  7. To sleep and rest
  8. To emote
  9. To desire
  10. To worship

I’m sure I’m missing some key things here…what would you say?

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December 12, 2010 · 7:52 pm

Registration now open for sexual abuse and human trafficking conference (FREE)


If you are interested in our March 17-19 2011 conference on the topics of sexual abuse in the christian community and the problem of human trafficking, please register now here. It is FREE.*

Main speakers will be

  • Diane Langberg
  • Bethany Hoang (IJM)
  • Pearl Kim (ADA of Delaware County)
  • Bob Morrison (founder of F.R.E.E., a grass roots org fighting trafficking in Reading area).

I’ll be overseeing a panel discussion at the end of the conference. Conference will be held at BranchCreek Community Church located in Harleysville, PA.

We expect this conference to fill up very quickly so if you are thinking of coming, do sign up now.

*Attending the 3 day conference at NO COST for all who sign up. However, if you are a PA professional counselor or psychologist, you can accrue CEUs for a VERY nominal fee. If you want 1 credit of graduate, academic, credit, our usual tuition fees apply.

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