The resources below are examples of evil done by one person to another in an interpersonal way. They are also examples of the need to believe in good and evil as larger moral categories.

For example, two women found out they were dating the same man, who had deceived them. One recalled, “He was super big on the fact that good and evil don’t exist,” she said. “And when things happen, it just is; it’s not bad, it’s not good. Now when I look at that, I’m like, oh my God, he’s trying to justify dating two women at the same time.” Reported by Avery Kleinman, They Learned They Were Dating the Same Man. They Dumped Him, Took a Vacation Together. Washington Post, Sep 30, 2022 (italics ours).

Examples like this illustrate our needs. We need a loving God to heal human nature in a loving way that has interpersonal integrity. We also need a loving God to tell us what loving boundaries, responsibilities, and responses are.

The following clips are from our 2019 Conference: Healing Atonement. The first highlights the importance of stories where good triumphs over evil, and what they reveal about us. The second highlights what Jesus has done with human nature to retell and heal our stories.

These are the images used in artistic physical displays. They are survey questions and conversation starters that are topically and thematically organized. They demonstrate how Jesus is relevant to each topic or theme. You can also just view the images on your device. If you would like, see all our Conversation Stations; below are the ones that relate to the topic of Evil Between Us.

Whose Justice? (and instructions and Christian Restorative Justice Study Guide)

Whose Justice? for Harvard Law School

What Can We Do About Evil? (and instructions and conversation tree) and smaller version and brochure version

Que Podemos Hacer Sobre La Maldad? for the Asociacion Dominicana de Estudiantes Evangelico, 2014

Is a Good Friend Hard to Find? (and instructions and conversation tree)

What Story Do You Live In? (and associated message)

Does the Good Outweigh the Bad? (and instructions)

Race What's the Problem? (and instructions) and brochure version

Find Your Heart's Desire? (and instructions and theological essay)

God, Peace, and Violence (and instructions) 

Is God a Liberator or an Oppressor? (and instructions) 

What Made Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa So Heroic — And His Vision for Wakanda’s Gift

This is part 4 of our series on our video series The Theology of Marvel’s Black Panther. The video looks at T'Challa, who was heroic -- but why? Was it because he honored women? Because he honored tradition and the ancestors? Because he challenged his ancestors? Because he sought to include others and the concerns of others? Because he rejected both the imperialistic and isolationist options for Wakanda? Because he allowed himself to be influenced by Nakia and Killmonger? We look at T'Challa's heroism as rooted in his willingness to suffer for others, to descend again and again, which then invites us to compare T'Challa's arc to Jesus' arc.

To see our four part video series (with one more for Wakanda Forever), see our Arts and Theology page, or our YouTube channel, where we put brief descriptions of each video. It’s a great way to engage people who have an appreciation for the movies. Each video has questions for group discussion and/or personal reflection.

On the King’s Errand

Read devotional reflections on Matthew’s Gospel, especially Matthew 5 - 7. To get acquainted with Jesus and his movement, learn how to follow him, as presented by the Gospel of Matthew, see Jesus' Kingdom of God Movement for more written messages, notes, short reflections, and papers on the Gospel of Matthew. Of particular relevance here are the reflection and discussion notes for Matthew 5:21 - 26 Heart Transformation for Reconciliation and A Practical Framework for Reconciliation.

Images of God in a Broken World

The following three messages were given at a weekend retreat. Images of God in a Broken World is the first; it explains why, in a broken world, we get the impression that if there is a “god,” that “god” is evil, at least partially. Jesus is the Image of God is the second; it is an explanation of Colossians 1:15 - 20, how Jesus is the accurate and perfect image of God despite our broken world, because he healed human nature in himself via his life, death, and resurrection. In Jesus, We Are God’s Image Bearers is the third; it is from Colossians 3:5 - 4:6, about how Jesus renews the image of God in us by his Spirit, to share God's goodness in a broken world.

God as the Foundation of Human Rights

Text of a message on Genesis 1 - 11, which was aware of other Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean creation stories, and argued against them, as shown by literary analysis.  Topics of disagreement include:  the value of every human being; the relations of humans and God/gods; the reason for catastrophes like the Flood; the resolution or movement.  

Human Dignity: Does Every Individual Matter?

An essay on how science, philosophy, existentialism, other religions, and double-predestination based theologies mean that some human beings do not matter. Only a fully Trinitarian theology with a medical substitutionary atonement can provide an adequate foundation for the dignity of each human person.

The Role of Jesus in Revolution and the Pursuit of Justice

Text of a message giving examples of twentieth century non-violent resistance movements and how they were influenced or led outright by Christians; explores why that is significant in the era of nation-state-building.

The Impact of Jesus

Text and slides of a message about the role Christian faith played in history, bringing about hospitals, abolition of slavery, education, science and technology, beauty and the arts.

Christian Restorative Justice: Introduction and Application to Mass Incarceration and the New Jim Crow

A 65 minute podcast recording of a message given by Mako to a church called Reality San Francisco, highlighting how secular thought cannot organize four different principles of justice (meritocratic-retributive; distributive; libertarian; restorative). The second half of the presentation also brings Christian restorative justice in to address what Michelle Alexander identified as “The New Jim Crow.” See also ppts. This shorter version also introduces people to the problem of American mass incarceration and the contrast between restorative vs. retributive justice; examines key passages from the Bible, especially Old Testament passages.

The Kingdom You No Longer Want 

Text and slides of a message on Luke 13:17 - 21 given at Neighborhood Church of Dorchester on August 13, 2017, the day after the white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

The Best of Both Worlds

Reflections on parenting, faith, and cultures after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

Does the Bible Have Evidence of Supernatural Design? A Sociological Approach

A series of case study comparisons. Why does the Bible begin with monogamy as an ideal, when other traditions begin with polygamy? Why does Genesis 2 indicate that marriage must take priority over family of origin in terms of relational priorities, contrary to every other ancient culture? How did the Bible come to stop kidnapping and promote enormous debt-relief, when the leading cause of people falling into enslavement was debt, then and now? The relational vision expressed by the Bible is unexplainable on naturalistic grounds, and is an argument that a good divine Mind was involved in its composition.

Slavery: How the Early Church Got It Right

Presentation given October 2, 2021 to the Reconstruction class. Explores early Christian emancipation and abolition. While Christians did not eliminate all forms of servitude, since servitude for civic penalties, indebtedness, war captivity, and self-indenture persisted, Christians eventually did eliminate what we know as chattel slavery. The presentation examines Old Testament institution of the Hebrew ebed servant, and the New Testament approach to Greco-Roman modes of servitude. We glance at how colonialism and Trans-Atlantic slavery deformed traditional Christian teaching, mindful that more slavery exists today across the globe than every before, and that in the U.S., indebtedness and incarceration show that we have greatly exaggerated the claims that the U.S. has done better than the Bible on “slavery” and its constellation of challenges. The following video is taken from our 2022 class, Reconstruction: The Deep Roots of Early Christian Theology.

Women in the Early Church

A presentation given May 7, 2022 to the 2022 Reconstruction class, accompanying the video. Greek and Roman views of the inferiority of women began with Plato and Aristotle (4th century BC). But Pulcheria was a Christian woman who became Roman augusta in 414 AD and presided over the Third and Fourth Ecumenical Councils. Empress Theodora was very influential in the 500s. And Irene became Emperor of the Romans by 800 AD. How did this happen? This presentation explores vocation as the main category by which Christians empowered women in roles distinct from family, examining the Catacombs of Priscilla, Irenaeus of Lyons, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, Montanism and the orthodox reaction to it, Melania the Elder, Paula of Rome, Nino of Georgia, Brigit of Ireland. The presentation also discusses the disagreements between Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen about how to interpret women in 1 Corinthians 11. This presentation and the video are the second of the 2022 Reconstruction class topics on the early church. See also our YouTube channel Reconstruction playlist for all the videos.

If you would like examples of interpersonal evil playing out between people, see the examples below. They are organized in order of publication. Warning: This could make you sad or angry.

Robert Hanley, Donor Apologized to Sister for Seduction of Husband. New York Times, Jan 13, 2005. re: Charles Kushner, who hired a prostitute to seduce his sister’s husband, video recording it, and sending it to her, because he was cooperating in a federal investigation against Kushner

Alice Park, College Students Short on Empathy. Time, May 28, 2010.

Martin Spice, Ugly Side of the Human Ego. The Star Online, Aug 5, 2011.

Paul Vale, Zimbabwe: Man Collapses After Ordering Prostitute, Only To Be Met By His Daughter.  Huffington Post UK, Nov 30, 2011.

Cary Tennis, My Narcissistic Wife is Ruining My Life. Salon, Jan 25, 2012.

Bianca Bosker, Life as an OKCupid Moderator. Huffington Post, Oct 21, 2012. The ugly and awkward things people do.

Megan Gannon, What Kind of Men Go to Prostitutes? Live Science, Mar 25, 2013.  “When the Kinsey report on male sexual behavior was published in 1948, it revealed among its then-scandalous findings that up to 69 percent of American men had paid for sex at some point in their lives.”

Vinita Mehta, Why Are Mean People So Successful? Psychology Today, Oct 9, 2013.

Paul Resnikoff, I’m Charlotte Church. And This Is How Women Are Routinely Demoralized by the Music Industry. Digital Music News, Oct 15, 2013.

Natalie KSL, 20 Signs You Really Hate People. Natalie KSL blog, Oct 20, 2013.

Amanda Marcotte, "Men's Rights" and "Revenge Porn" Sites Seethe With Anger Over Women's Autonomy. Truthout, Dec 18, 2013.

Rebekah Campbell, The Surprisingly Large Cost of Telling Small Lies. New York Times, Mar 11, 2014.

Huffington Post, Two-Thirds of Cheaters Would Have an Affair With a Boss If This Was At Stake. Huffington Post, Mar 26, 2014.

Zachary Fine, My So-Called Opinion. New York Times, Apr 6, 2014.

Julie Suratt, The Terrifyingly Nasty, Backstabbing, and Altogether Miserable World of the Suburban Mom. Boston Magazine, Apr 2014.

Lauren Wolfe, Abuse of Power: Sexualized Violence Against Girls is Going Unchecked in Schools Around the World. Foreign Policy, Apr 14, 2014.

Eric Jaffe, Eight Depressing Bike Theft Statistics Show Just How Bad the Problem Is. The Atlantic Cities, Apr 16, 2014.

Taryn Hillin, 9 Breakup Texts That Just Might Test Your Faith in Humanity. Huffington Post, Apr 16, 2014.

Danielle Kurtzleben, People Who Think They're Attractive Tend to be More Comfortable With Economic Inequality. Vox, Apr 17, 2014.

David Moye, Sandy Hook 'Truther' Tells Victim's Mother Her Daughter Never Existed. Huffington Post, May 14, 2014.

Anneli Rufus, Low Self-Esteem is Good for You!  We've Been Too Successful at Making People Feel Good. Salon, May 24, 2014.

Danika Fears, Indian Women Invent Anti-Rape Jeans to Battle Attack Epidemic. New York Post, Jun 26, 2014.

Shaunti Feldhahn, Dancing Into Disaster. Patheos blog, Jul 7, 2014.

Nuala Calvi, I Was Sold By Mum and Dad To Make Images of Child Abuse. The Guardian, Oct 4, 2013.

John Tierney, A Cold War Fought by Women. New York Times, Nov 18, 2013.

A Moore, 8 Successful and Aspiring Black Communities Destroyed by White Neighbors. Atlanta Blackstar, Dec 4, 2013.

Amanda Hess, Why Women Aren't Welcome on the Internet. Pacific Standard, Jan 6, 2014.

Michelle Goldberg, Feminism's Toxic Twitter Wars. The Nation, Jan 29, 2014.

Mark Molloy, Awkward: Italian Man Hires Escort … Turn Out to Be Son’s Girlfriend.  Metro UK, Mar 7, 2014.   

Amanda Hess, The Pick-Up Artist Community’s Predictable, Horrible Response to a Mass Murder. Slate, May 24, 2014.

Patrick May and Heather Somerville, Use of Illicit Drugs Becomes Part of Silicon Valley's Work Culture. San Jose Mercury News, Jul 25, 2014.

James Estrin, A Graphic Photo Spurs Reflection: Indian Women Raped and Hanged. New York Times, Jul 24, 2014.

Scott Alexander, Meditations on Moloch. Slate Star Codex, Jul 30, 2014. “Moloch is introduced as the answer to a question – C. S. Lewis’ question in Hierarchy Of Philosophers – what does it? Earth could be fair, and all men glad and wise. Instead we have prisons, smokestacks, asylums. What sphinx of cement and aluminum breaks open their skulls and eats up their imagination? And Ginsberg answers: Moloch does it. There’s a passage in the Principia Discordia where Malaclypse complains to the Goddess about the evils of human society. “Everyone is hurting each other, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war.””

Ruzwana Bashir, The Untold Story of How a Culture of Shame Perpetuates Abuse. I Know, I Was a Victim. The Guardian, Aug 29, 2014.

Ivan T., Allegory of the Long Spoons. Ivan T., Sep 1, 2014. a short video

Preston Ni, 10 Signs That You're in a Relationship with a Narcissist. Psychology Today, Sep 14, 2014.

Liam O'Ceallaigh, When You Kill Ten Million Africans You Aren't Called 'Hitler'. Films for Action, Sep 15, 2014.

Robert Emmet Meagher, Killing from the Inside Out: Moral Injury and Just War. Amazon page, Sep 15, 2014.

Renee Jacques, 'Texts From Your Ex' Perfectly Maps Out The Awkward Phases Of Your Breakup. Huffington Post, Oct 3, 2014.

Brittany Wong, If You've Ever Received An Unwanted Sext, This Is For You. Huffington Post, Oct 3, 2014.

Melissa Dahl, Emotional Abuse Can Be As Damaging As Sexual Abuse. New Yorker Magazine, Oct 8, 2014.

ABC News, California Mother Catches Bad Nanny on Camera. ABC News, Oct 15, 2014.

ABC News, Undercover for Alleged Underage Prostitution Raid at Colombia Villa. ABC News, Oct 15, 2014.

Rheana Murray, The Scary Ways Online Dating Can Go Wrong. ABC News, Oct 20, 2014.

Whitney Fleming, 5 BS Excuses Parents Make for Mean Girls. Huffington Post, Oct 23, 2014.

Primo Levi, Heartbreaking, Heroic Answers to the Most Common Questions He Was Asked About "Survival in Auschwitz". New Republic, Oct 23, 2014.

Rebecca Leber, For Women, the Internet Can Be a Scary Place. New Republic, Oct 24, 2014.

Rafia Zakaria, Polygamy and Child Wives: Women's Rights Are Going in the Wrong Direction in Pakistan. New Republic, Oct 24, 2014.

Nina Bahadur, 'Bye Felipe' Beautifully Calls Out Online Dating's Worst Guys. Huffington Post, Oct 30, 2014.

Tara Fowler, Woman Finds Husband 9 Years After He Disappeared - Married to Another Woman. People, Nov 10, 2014.

Brittany Wong, These 13 Stories About Discovering an Affair Are Heartbreaking. Huffington Post, Nov 24, 2014.

Nick Baumann, Jenna McLaughlin, Patrick Caldwell, & Mariah Blake, "Rectal Feeding," Threats to Children, and More: 16 Awful Abuses From the CIA Torture Report. Mother Jones, Dec 9, 2014.

Michael Brendan Dougherty, The Rape Culture Everyone Ignores. The Week, Dec 9, 2014.

Lindy West, What Happened When I Confronted My Cruellest Troll. The Guardian, Feb 2, 2015.

Charlotte Laite, I Was the Maid of Honor For a Girl I Bullied Mercilessly. Time, Feb 2, 2015.

Mary Stanton, From Selma to Sorrow. Southern Studies website, Mar 9, 2015. about the only white woman martyred whose name is on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL

Chris Mooney, The Science of Protecting People's Feelings: Why We Pretend All Opinions Are Equal. Washington Post, Mar 10, 2015.

Monica Lewinsky, The Price of Shame. TED talk, Mar 20, 2015.  Re: cyber-bullying

Moment of Truth, Girl Ruins Her Marriage on Game Show. video, Mar 30, 2015.

Dr. Phil, How a Social Media Post Led a Teen Into Sex Trafficking. Huffington Post, Apr 10, 2015.

NBC News, Florida Sheriff: Beach Gang Rape Video is Disgusting, Sickening. NBC News, Apr 12, 2015.

Martha C. White, Airplane Seat Swapping Turns Rough and Tumble. New York Times, Apr 13, 2015.

Laurence Weinbaum, Confronting Chilling Truths About Poland's Wartime History. Washington Post, Apr 21, 2015.

Ira Glass, Same Bed, Different Dreams. NPR, May 5, 2015.  Re: feuding airlines stewardesses

Donald Miller, How Do So Many Good People Get Away With Bad Things? Storyline blog, May 11, 2015.

Maureen Callahan, Inside the Bizarre Life of an Upper East Side Housewife. New York Post, May 24, 2015.

Yvonne Abraham, Internet Has Driven Sex Industry Deeper Into Shadows. Boston Globe, Jul 15, 2015.

Krebs On Security, Online Cheating Site AshleyMadison Hacked. Krebs On Security blog, Jul 15, 2015.

Maya Rhodan, Study Finds That Men Who Attack Women Online Are, Literally, Losers. Time, Jul 21, 2015.

Heidi Priebe, Why Good People Ghost: The Rise Of A Dishonest Dating Culture. Thought Catalog, Aug 12, 2015.

Ariana Eunjung Cha, In Graphic Detail, Medical Journal Describes 'Heavy Overtones' of Sexual Assault in Operating Room. Washington Post, Aug 18, 2015.

Jose Pagliery, The Ashley-Madison Hack Ruined My Life. CNN, Aug 21, 2015.

Tyler Kingkade, We Know One Way To Stop Sexual Assault, But Students Aren’t Doing It. Huffington Post, Sep 23, 2015. on bystanders who do nothing

Yanan Wang, A Female Violinist Exposes 10 Years of Lewd, Fetishizing Messages from Men Online. Washington Post, Oct 21, 2015.

Emily V. Gordon, Why Women Compete With Each Other. New York Times, Oct 31, 2015.

Glynn Custred, Turning Anthropology from Science into Political Activism. John William Pope Center, Feb 17, 2016.

Shahida Arabi, The Secret Language of Narcissists: How Abusers Manipulate their Victims. Elephant Journal, Mar 9, 2016.

Annie Holmquist, Bonhoeffer on the ‘Stupidity’ That Led to Hitler’s Rise. Intellectual Takeout, Apr 8, 2016. “Americans today might do well to heed Bonhoeffer’s warning.”

Gay Talese, The Voyeur's Motel. New Yorker, Apr 11, 2016. A man who bought a motel and filmed guests

Diane Langberg, Narcissism and the Systems It Breeds.  Forum of Christian Leaders Online, May 5, 2016. 

Claudia Lauer, Arkansas Judge Resigns After Nude Photos Of Defendants Found On Computer. Talking Points Memo, May 10, 2016.

Michael Barbaro and Megan Twohey, Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved with Women in Private. New York Times, May 14, 2016.

Natasha Lennard and Adrian Parr, Our Crime Against the Planet, and Ourselves. New York Times, May 18, 2016.

Hilary Hanson, How 3 Badass Women Stopped an Alleged Rape Attempt. Huffington Post, May 28, 2016.

Adam Grant, Unless You're Oprah, 'Be Yourself' is Terrible Advice. New York Times, Jun 4, 2016.

Sean Illing, Persuasive Proof That America Is Full of Racist and Selfish People. Vox, Jun 13, 2017.

Shahida Arabi, 20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths and Psychopaths Use to Silence You. Thought Catalog, Jun 30, 2016.

Brad Evans and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, When Law Is Not Justice. New York Times, Jul 13, 2016.

Paul Barnwell, Students' Broken Moral Compasses. The Atlantic, Jul 25, 2016.

Eve Tushnet, There is No Cure for Vice. The American Conservative, Jul 29, 2016. media portrayals of anti-heroes

Neil Swidey, These Wealthy Neighbors Have Been At War for Nearly 25 Years. Boston Globe, Aug 10, 2016.

Nora Caplan-Bricker, Flight Risk: Airlines Are Surprisingly Ill-Equipped to Handle Accusations of Sexual Assault on Their Planes. Slate, Aug 31, 2016.

Gabriel Sherman, The Revenge of Roger’s Angels. New York Magazine, Sep 2, 2016.

Brad Evans and Simona Forti, Who Is ‘Evil,’ and Who Is the Victim? New York Times, Sep 16, 2016.

Kayleigh Roberts, The Psychology of Victim-Blaming. The Atlantic, Oct 5, 2016. people want to believe the world is just, and bad things won't happen to them

Lauren Varela, Brooke Dickens, Alika Keene, Haley Washburn, Emily Mosbacher, A Letter from the Harvard Women’s Soccer Team. New York Times, Nov 7, 2016.

Sara Peters, Ex- Neo Nazis And Skinheads Share The Moment They Realized They Were Horribly Wrong. Knowable, Nov 16, 2016.

Alan Mozes, Sexism Could Harm Men's Health: Study. US News & World Report, Nov 21, 2016.

Rick Noack, 27% of Europeans Think Rape May Be Acceptable in Some Circumstances. Washington Post, Nov 29, 2016.

PBS News Hour, How a Georgia County Became a Site of Racial Cleansing. PBS, Jan 16, 2017. “In 1912, news of a violent sexual assault enraged the residents of Georgia's Forsyth County and led to a lynching and the execution of two African American teens, as well as a campaign of terror to drive out the entire black community. Special correspondent Duarte Geraldino talks with Patrick Phillips, author of “Blood at the Root,” about healing from a history of racial cleansing.”

Stephanie Sarkis, Gaslighting: Know It and Identify It to Protect Yourself. Psychology Today, Jan 22, 2017.

Power of Positivity, 7 Signs Someone Is Trying to Psychologically Manipulate You. Power of Positivity.

Mallory Ortberg, The Simplex Truth. Slate, Mar 6, 2017. a woman lied about a herpes test to get her boyfriend to confess infidelity

Rod Dreher, Everyone Knows, But No One Will Say. The American Conservative, May 10, 2017.

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, Why We Lie: The Science Behind Our Deceptive Ways. National Geographic, Jun 2017.

Conor Friedersdorf, The Highest Form of Disagreement. The Atlantic, Jun 26, 2017. Illustrates laziness and coalition building rather than real dialogue

Olga Khazan, Why Do Women Bully Each Other at Work? The Atlantic, Sep 2017.

Jeff Maysh, A Catfishing Story With a Happy Ending. The Atlantic, Oct 19, 2017.

Esther Perel, Why Happy People Cheat: A Good Marriage Is No Guarantee Against Infidelity. The Atlantic, Oct 2017.

Sabrina Siddiqui, Sessions Says He Knew of Ex-Trump Aide's Russia Ties, Despite Testimony. The Guardian, Nov 14, 2017.

Mark Townsend, Harvey Weinstein Had Secret Hitlist of Names to Quash Scandal. The Guardian, Nov 18, 2017.

Sean Illing, Why Humans Are Cruel. Vox, Jan 16, 2018.

Jon Schwarz, Washington Breaks Out the "Just Following Orders" Nazi Defense for CIA Director-Designate Gina Haspel. The Intercept, Mar 15, 2018.

Julia Carrie Wong, YouTube Shooting: Apparent Motive Highlights Tension with Video ‘Creators’. The Guardian, Apr 4, 2018. “Shooting suspect appears to be a frustrated YouTuber who claimed the site censored her views through its ‘monetization’ policies”

David Moskowitz, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf Scientist? New York Times, Jul 5, 2018. shows how human machismo and retributive impulses to kill alpha wolves wind up making wolf predation worse

Troy Wolverton, The Memoir by Steve Jobs' Daughter Makes Clear He Was a Truly Rotten Person Whose Bad Behavior Was Repeatedly Enabled by Those Around Him. Business Insider, Aug 26, 2018. 

R. Brian Ferguson, War Is Not Part of Human Nature. Scientific American, Sep 1, 2018. Ferguson argues that collective killing depends on cultural and political conditions of large societies that emerged 12,000 years ago. Intriguing, but might diminish the significance of individual murders or homicides.

Olga Khazan, Why Men Sexually Harass Women. The Atlantic, Oct 5, 2018. Khazan makes an argument from culture.

George Scialabba, Did Capital Punishment Create Morality? The New Yorker, Feb 13, 2019. "A new book argues that violence—specifically, the killing of alpha males—laid the foundation for virtue" - this is a review of Richard Wrangham, The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution. Amazon page, Jan 29, 2019., which is a variation on Nietzsche

Valerie Strauss, He’s Known in Silicon Valley for ‘Ethical Investing’ - Read What He’s Charged With Doing in the College Admissions Scandal. Washington Post, Mar 13, 2019.

Vicky Baker, The Preachers Getting Rich from Poor Americans. BBC, May 29, 2019.

Hannah Knowles, A Father Jumped in Front of a Train Holding His 5-year-old. Commuters Pulled Her Out Alive. Washington Post, Sep 24, 2019.  Note, “Someone stole his bag as he helped the girl to safety, he said.”

Associated Press, Arrested Japanese Stalker Used Pupil Image Reflections. Associated Press, Oct 11, 2019. to find out where she lived

Sloane Ryan, I’m a 37-Year-Old Mom & I Spent Seven Days Online as an 11-Year-Old Girl. Here’s What I Learned. Medium, Dec 13, 2019.

Amy Grappell, Two Couples Tried a Group Marriage. It Didn’t Work. The Atlantic, Feb 13, 2020. “In the end, ego trumped idealism, and the relationships unraveled.”

Filup Molina and Tommy Bechtold, The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 7 Reaction! Chapter 15.  The New Rockstars, Dec 11, 2020. explores the question, “Are we sure we’re the good guys?” The Believer, the title of this episode, is the character Mayfield, who comes to believe that the Empire is not the same as the Republic, that not all forms of order are the same, which is what he believed before. Filup Molina and Tommy Bechtold do a great job exploring color, costume, etc. in the Star Wars universe to substantiate their point. The Believer is also Mando Din Djarin, who is coming to believe in another variation of the Way of the Mandalore, and the way of the Force. See also James Hunt, Who Is The Believer? The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 7 Title Explained. Screen Rant, Dec 11, 2020. “The Mandalorian season 2, episode 7 is called "Chapter 15: The Believer," and the title applies to several characters in the installment.” This points to the personal investment we have to believe we are on the side of “the good guys” in the end. Something in us wants to believe it. That something, in Christian theology, is the image of God.

Matt Petrillo, Northeast Philadelphia Woman Admits To Posing As Fake Immigration Attorney, Scamming Immigrants Out Of $11,000. CBS Philly, Jan 21, 2020.

Sarah Viren, The Accusations Were Lies. But Could We Prove It? New York Times Magazine, Mar 18, 2020. “When the university told my wife about the sexual-harassment complaints against her, we knew they weren’t true. We had no idea how strange the truth really was.”

Charlie Tyson, Why Are We So Spiteful?. The Atlantic, May 13, 2021. “Our culture is pettily vindictive in part because it is unequal. But we cannot punish our way to a more just society.”

Ryan Arey, Loki: Tragedy of a Hero Born to Lose, Over and Over and Over and Over | Marvel Character Breakdown. Screen Crush, Jun 4, 2021. Ryan Arey explores Loki’s character arc as trapped in a loop, because of self-protection. Only through his relationship with Thor, his brother, was he able to reach acceptance and break the loop. This is a helpful example of how in Scripture, sin sets a person into a loop, from which we need to break free.

Sprouts, Bonhoeffer‘s Theory of Stupidity. Sprouts, Oct 15, 2021. features nationalist and ethno-fascist jingoism

A. Powlowski, When a Medical Crisis Strikes, Divorce Can Follow — Especially if the Wife is Sick. Today, Apr 14, 2022. “But a marriage falling apart is far more common when the wife is the patient, researchers have found. A woman is six times more likely to be separated or divorced soon after a diagnosis of cancer or multiple sclerosis than if a man in the relationship is the patient, researchers at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance reported in the journal Cancer.”

Ted Van Green, Growing Share of Americans Say Their Side in Politics Has Been Losing More Often Than Winning.  Pew Research Trust, Oct 3, 2022. 

Jeffrey Kaplan, Peter Singer -- Ordinary People Are Evil.  Jeffrey Kaplan, Jan 20, 2023.

Paula Span, For Older Americans, the Pandemic Is Not Over.  New York Times, Feb 11, 2023.  Seniors are increasingly left to protect themselves as the rest of the country abandons precautions: “Americans do not agree about the duty to protect others.

Lise LeBlanc, 12 Favorite Phrases of Female Covert Narcissists. Lise LeBlanc, Mar 20, 2023.

Cold Fusion, How This 31 Year Old Woman Scammed JP Morgan. Cold Fusion, May 12, 2023. “In this episode, we take a look at the story of Charlie Javice. A young entrepreneur who lied her way into a deal with the largest bank in America, JP Morgan. The bank quickly found out about the fraud and she could now be facing 100 years in jail.”

Jake Tapper, Tapper Compares Cassidy Hutchinson Leaving Trump Administration to 'Leaving a Cult'.  CNN, Oct 2, 2023.  Cassidy Hutchinson, at the end of this interview, talks about accepting complicity and narrates a conversation in which she is challenged by the framework of “human becoming.”  Very important.

Tim Miller, Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell.  Harper | Amazon page, June 2022.  Miller and others used the word “evil” -- that is not a projection or moral judgment from outside.  “From ruminations on the mental jujitsu that allowed him as a gay man to justify becoming a hitman for homophobes, to astonishingly raw interviews with former colleagues who jumped on the Trump Train, Miller diagrams the flattering and delusional stories GOP operatives tell themselves so they can sleep at night. With a humorous touch he reveals Reince Priebus' neediness, Sean Spicer's desperation, Elise Stefanik and Chris Christie’s raw ambition, and his close friends’ submission to a MAGA psychosis.”  See interview by Walter Isaacson, Why We Did It: Former RNC Spokesman on GOP’s Descent Into Trumpism.  Amanpour and Company, July 12, 2022.  As more is revealed about the inner workings of Trump’s White House, our next guest lifts the lid on the moral divisions within the Republican Party. In his new book, "Why We Did It," Tim Miller details his involvement with the GOP and how political staffers were able to justify the new brand of politics, as he explains to Walter Isaacson.

Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland, Krystal Ball Shreds RFK's Israel Propaganda.  The Majority Report, Dec 20, 2023.  RFK Jr.’s proclivity towards conspiratorial thinking is influencing his perception of the Hamas-Israel war, and his process of moral reasoning.  This is evidence about the danger of self-deception:  Self-deception will lead to the attempt to deceive others. 

Richard Beck, The Incoherence of Post-Christian Morality. Experimental Theology | Substack, Mar 19, 2024. On the lack of moral absolutes and metanarrative, yet moralism and judgmentalism especially from “the progressive left.”

Bill Adair, Beyond the Big Lie: The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy. Atria Books | Amazon page, Oct 2024. See interview with Tim Miller, How the Lying Got Out of Control in Politics. The Bulwark, Oct 22, 2024. Bill Adair, founder of Politifact, discusses his new book, and why Republicans lie more than Democrats. Tim explains why he admitted in 2012 for Mitt Romney's campaign, and why truth will always prevail. Bill Adair says the Republican Party was influenced by Newt Gingrich, who started an “everything goes” politics.

Jeff Jacoby, For Many Leading Conservatives, ‘Never Trump’ Didn’t Mean Never. Boston Globe, Nov 10, 2024. In the end, abandoning their principles was good for business.

Angelique Chrisafis, ‘A Rapist Can Be in the Family’: How Dominique Pelicot Became One of the Worst Sexual Predators in History. The Guardian UK, Dec 11, 2024. How he might have been caught earlier. How men cooperated.