Monthly Archives: July 2011

September 11, 2001, was a historic watershed for America. Hate created the murders. Hate swept America in response. This paper’s three parts look at what happened; why it happened; how Muslims, like Osama bin Ladin came to hate America; how American foreign policies contributed to that hate; how Americans have their own deep, multi-generational hates here at home; and how mere retaliation and war do not get at the deeper understandings of the drivers and dynamics of hate in large groups. Part II looks at human aggression and violent personalities, genetics, psychopathology, the uses of religious texts by sick minds, and the adverse effects of technological society on healthy emotions and human bonding. Part III is a Christian address to other Christians to abandon past habits of easy recourse to violence, and to embrace Jesus’ teachings, example, and empathy for suffering people, in a nation and world needing more love than ever, not more religious retaliation waving nationalistic flags.

Part I is addressed to Christian readers from a Christian perspective. Part II is a general discussion of how aggressive and violent personalities are formed, and how religion can be used as a framework by violent personalities. Continue reading →