Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

THE GOD DELUSION    By Richard Dawkins Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton I heard cries and screams coming from a group of young women down the hall from my office. When I got up to take a look, a colleague explained they were praying for a woman possessed by a demon. Over the years, I have consulted on cases of people who reported being Jesus Christ or having personal encounters with supernatural beings. Often individuals and their families were in deep despair. And we live in an age when religious people destroy in the name of their faith. Supernatural experiences appear to impair rather than enhance well-being in some people. As a clinical psychologist, I approach reports of supernatural phenomena from a somewhat different perspective than does biologist, Richard Dawkins. I'm less concerned about a logical refutation than I am about the destructive power of faith-wielding combatants. ********** In The God Delusion , Dawkins leads an attac...

SEX GOD EXPLORING THE ENDLESS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SEXUALITY AND SPIRITUALITY     By Rob Bell Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton What Rob Bell Says about Sexuality and Christian Spirituality  When I was writing A House Divided , I read Bell’s book, Sex God , as part of my quest to see what various evangelical Christians have said on the subject. Bell, a graduate of Wheaton College and Fuller Theological Seminary, founded the evangelical Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. His bestselling books have sometimes promoted controversy within Christian cultures because of his nontraditional views on classic teachings about such doctrines as salvation. He has been associated with the emerging church movement. In my book, I cite Bell as an example of the views of progressive Christians in contrast to those of conservative Christians. As with most of Bell’s writings, Sex God is an easy-to-read poetry-like collection of essays aimed...

ONE NATION UNDER THERAPY HOW THE HELPING CULTURE IS  ERODING SELF-RELIANCE By Christina Hoff Sommers  & Sally Satel Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton I like to return to New York City on occasion to remember my arrival in the United States. On one visit after 911, we stopped in a Barnes & Noble bookstore and I came across this interesting book, “One Nation Under Therapy.” I’ve been a psychotherapist for years. And like many clinicians, I’ve seen people with a broad range of symptom severity. Some of course struggled so much they required 24-hour care. Others were quite healthy but wanted a confidential sounding board-- nothing wrong with that. But the authors of One Nation Under Therapy have a point-- some in our culture are probably too dependent on outside assistance and have not learned the skills needed to independently manage the rough and tumble of daily life. As I look back on what I wrote, I think this depende...

Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind    by   Daniel C. Dennett &    Linda LaScola Reviewed by      Geoffrey W. Sutton I recently spoke with a seminary student who mentioned his interest in deconversion. Having studied Psychology of Religion for decades, I'm familiar with the topic both as a clinician and scientist. The conversation reminded me of a book I reviewed a few years ago. It turns out the review was accepted for publication but I cannot find evidence that it appeared in print so here's the review with the removal of some text that would have been for the academic publication. ******** Have you ever listened to someone disclose their deep spiritual doubts? In Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Faith Behind , Daniel Dennett and Linda LaScola systematically disclose and analyze the deconversion experiences of 35 clergy and seminary interviewees who participated in their qualitative study. Encouraged by a pilot study in...

Liberty Bell stamp ON LIBERTY By John Stuart Mill    Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton My occasion for re-reading On Liberty was the mention of Mill and Rawls by professor Brian Leiter in his lecture, “Why Tolerate Religion,” which he presented at Drury University. My joint interest in philosophy and psychology began during my undergraduate years. Mill’s book On Liberty is one I kept since taking a graduate course on Political Philosophy at the University of Missouri, where my psychology professors graciously allowed me to count philosophy courses toward my doctoral requirements. Philosophers have of course contributed much to an understanding of human nature, which is why I continue to read philosophy. As I look back at Mill’s writings, I see a man on the cusp of philosophy and science guiding thinkers toward empiricism whilst maintaining an eminently pragmatic stance. In a sense, I see him contributing hypotheses to social psychol...

UNCHRISTIAN : WHAT A NEW GENERATION REALLY THINKS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY    ...AND  WHY IT MATTERS By   David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton “Christianity has an image problem.” (p. 11). The book, UNChristian , summarizes Kinnaman and Lyon's research into the views of Christians and non-Christians about many social issues. And they find that young Christians hold some negative attitudes toward Christianity—Christians are anti-gay and judgmental, to name two. This is one of the books I read as I was writing about beliefs and values in  A House Divided . A telling statistic is the finding that only 20% of “outsiders” strongly agree with an important characteristic of Christians: “Christian churches accept and love people unconditionally, regardless of how people look or what they do.” (p. 185) Although this book was written a few years ago, the contemporary situation in the United States suggests t...