tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post7051630876040581626..comments2024-02-13T11:11:28.246+00:00Comments on Bishop Alan’s Blog: Time to pull up the Drawbridge?Bishop Alan Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13879516755776951638noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-57944788428151250972011-06-06T09:17:05.958+01:002011-06-06T09:17:05.958+01:00I wonder if, in our churches, it's actually qu...I wonder if, in our churches, it's actually quite hard to 'put out all the flames'. <br /><br />Suppose we teach that people must love each other, and give examples of including (say) those from minority ethnic groups. We can teach that group to accept those individuals, but then find they might still hate another minority group...so we can teach them to accept them...and find that they are still ostracising yet another minority group or individual because of difference. <br /><br />Do we count success when we just move the problem rather than manage to get them to love absolutely everyone?<br /><br />Having lived through scapegoating because of difference a number of times in my life, and helping many others to survive it, I've seen how powerful it is. And how much a group of even the most otherwise gentle people can truly want to dehumanise, exclude and/or blame someone, somewhere, somehow, no matter how illogical that might be. Scary stuff. <br /><br />The need for really good leadership, that makes it totally clear that God's love is for everyone, is absolutely vital, it seems.Ann Memmottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-26707578671897645232011-06-05T13:12:02.936+01:002011-06-05T13:12:02.936+01:00And, interestingly enough, we have exactly the sam...And, interestingly enough, we have exactly the same problem in South Africa. Police recently deterred a mob from burning down the shops of Somali traders (most Somalis are at least nominal Muslims) for similar reasons. The repile brain seems to rule most areas of the planet.Steve Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11283123400540587033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-39410516118094395292011-06-05T09:39:07.570+01:002011-06-05T09:39:07.570+01:00I see the problem, Andrew. Margot Hodson has very ...I see the problem, Andrew. Margot Hodson has very helpfully (on the FB end of this thread, if there be such a thing) commended Oxford's Forced Migration Review (http://www.fmreview.org/) which is free and informative on one aspect of this subject — the refugee end.<br /><br />Putting your thought together with René Girard, Ann, I can see the perniciousness and universality of the phenomenon we both want to change. Many thanks for the info... Beyond the ad hominem lie the facts, and real solutions need to take both fields into account.Bishop Alan Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13879516755776951638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-60192313086863676832011-06-05T09:30:58.937+01:002011-06-05T09:30:58.937+01:00Useful research recently in New Scientist magazine...Useful research recently in New Scientist magazine showing that for extreme prejudice to occur, it only needs groups of 50 people or less, with vague leadership. In the absence of totally clear guidance on what is acceptable, a group of even the most gentle people will find that they were (e.g. in this experiment) more likely to endorse torture or exclusion and hate of anyone that is perceived not to belong in that group. <br />Generalising, the group invents its own mini-society and its own unspoken social rules, and (without realising it) dehumanises anyone not matching their idea of who belongs. Shocked the proverbial life out of the scientists. <br /><br />But it explains a lot about how intelligent ordinary people can end up hating someone that God loves, for apparently no reason at all. 'Scapegoating'. It's built into the brain and has to be trained out of people, it seems.Ann Memmottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-69747876534155510402011-06-05T07:57:49.789+01:002011-06-05T07:57:49.789+01:00Yes, yes, but it's knocked down from £125 ... ...Yes, yes, but it's knocked down from £125 ... Seriously: that kind of price for academic publishing does help to explain why the facts are so little known and understood. My reptile brain is most of the time more frightened of being broke than swamped. <br /><br />AndrewAndrew Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18142758246789852557noreply@blogger.com