June 9

Hello Tablers.  I’ve had a very interesting and emotionally mixed week. Don’t we all, sometimes? This one has combined the joy of connecting with a variety of people from our community – people that have inspired me with their insight, their warm and caring hearts, their thoughtful approach to relationships and life in general – and a series of news items that have been about the “other side” of human nature.

 

The most memorable encounter with the dark side of humanity has been brought to me this week courtesy of an interview I heard with James Dawes. Dawes is the director the Program in Human Rights at Macalester College, and the author of the newly published “Evil Men” (Harvard University Press, 2013). In his book he documents his conversations with convicted Japanese war criminals – men that helped to unleash terror on China during the 1930s and 40s. To shorten a longish story, he concludes that although some people seem destined to be evil regardless of circumstances, most “monsters” are made, not born. He documents the steps to making a monster with a kind of lucidity that is both intriguing and disturbing.

 

If he stopped there, it would be a formula for despair. But he doesn’t. He goes on to talk about how the same steps used for creating monsters can also be used to stop monstrosity – you just need to reverse the steps.  And (not remarkably) the path he outlines has a deep kinship with the way of life that Jesus lived, demonstrated and taught.sa Fascinating stuff…

 

This week, we will be exploring the “unmaking of monsters”. We will gather at 10:30 a.m. at 318 Ross (The Frame Arts Warehouse).  Next week we will switch to Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. We’ll remind you…

 

See you on Sunday!

 

Peace,

 

Tim