Friday, July 15, 2011

Stanley Milgram, Psychology, Going Viral and Free Books


It is difficult to resist immoral authority. Christian parents teach their children to obey authority. Stanley Milgram demonstrated in the psychology lab what we learn from Daniel 6:10 – 21; it is difficult to resist immoral authority.

This fall, thousands of Christian students will fill classrooms on campuses everywhere for their first taste of Psychology 101. The authority in the room will be the professor, who may share beliefs like those of the late philosopher and professor Richard Rorty who wrote:

“I, like most Americans who teach in colleges and universities, try to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own ...”

“... when we American college teachers encounter religious fundamentalists, we do not consider the possibility of reformulating our own practices so as to give more weight to the authority of the Christian scriptures. Instead, we do our best to convince these students of the benefits of secularization.”

“So we are going to go right on trying to discredit (your beliefs) in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable. We are not so inclusivist as to tolerate intolerance such as yours.”

Prepare them for what’s ahead.

You’ve probably heard that 70 -75% of Christian students walk away from their faith after the first year in college. If that statistic is accurate, and if it has anything to do with the teaching in college, I believe it’s because of the worldview challenges embedded in psychology’s theories and schools-of-thought. I know it was true for me. My professor ridiculed the Christian faith, and 30 years ago, I was not well-prepared to defend my faith, much less to recognize the worldview challenges in the first place.

We need to approach psychology like biology. We use biology texts with a Christian perspective and we deal with evolution, before our kids take Biology 101. I wrote Psychology: A Christian Perspective to equip parents and teachers to get in front of this problem. This book helps students to recognize psychology-specific worldview issues, and to introduce them to the study of the wonders of God’s greatest creation; the human mind.

You know someone who needs to read my book. Or, you know someone who knows someone who needs to read it.

As I begin to spread the word, I am going to give away 100 copies of Psychology: A Christian Perspective.

If you would like a copy to give away on your blog or if you would write a review, let me know. If you will re-post, tweet, toot, like, recommend, +1, or otherwise help, I will give you my book.

As I begin this journey, I am eager to hear from you. Please send me your thoughts, questions, and especially your invitation to come talk with you and your group in person.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Tim,

    I'd be glad to give you a hand with book promotion by reading it and writing a review on my blog. I can take digital copies :).

    jennifer at quiverfullfamily dot com

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  2. Hi Tim, I'd be happy to review your book. One of my favorite classes in high school was Psychology. I would be fascinated to read about it from a Christian perspective. Taunya

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  3. I would love the opportunity to review this blog. Feel free to let me know how to participate if you still need reviewers.
    Malia Russell of www.homemaking911.com

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  4. Hi Tim,

    I'd be very interested in reviewing your book on my blog, Growing for Christ (www.homeschoolblogger.com/ohiosarah). My children are little still but having worked in the mental health field, my husband working in the MR/DD field I have an interest in this area. You can email me at SeekingHim at gmail dot com

    I've also +1 you and my reviews will post to Facebook, Twitter, and I'll post on Goodreads and Amazon as well.

    God bless,
    Sarah Bailey

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  5. Blessings Tim
    I would like the opportunity to read/review that book. My family is a part of a homeschool group comprised of 50+ families, many with high school age children (including mine). Last year I taught a class of about 18, on public speaking and media discernment, and will be teaching classic literature this year. With nearly 30 years in higher education (at a major University) I think that a course in Psych from a Christian perspective would be an excellent opportunity for our children.

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  6. I'd love to review your book. I took Psych 101 and 102 in college and noticed that much of what was in the text was just plain common sense with new jargon attached to it. I also noticed many of the ideas had a Biblical basis and even wrote Bible refernces in the margins of my textbooks when appropriate. Still, there was much in these texts that I thought was definitely not Bibical so would be very interested to hear what you have to say on the subject. I have a blog, but not many followers. However, I'd be happy to post a review at CBD.com in addition to my blog. (Not sure why my name says Unknown - I put a user name in the box and I don't know how to edit that now.)

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  7. Thanks everybody. If you haven't heard from me yet, it is because I do not know how to extract email address from your comments.

    Please contact me at tim@homeschoolpsych.com so I can get you your book.

    Thanks again.

    Tim Rice

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  8. Hey, Tim - It's Kelly Ling with Homeschool-Articles.com request a copy of your book. When I return from the Chicago Homeschool Expo and have some time before we start school, I'll post about your book in several places. :-D Thanks again, sending you an email.

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  9. This is a great idea. My DD wanted a HS psych course and I would have loved to have such a resource from a Christian perspective. I will also read and blog a review this for you on my blogs/yahoo groups - do you do the donation for cancer research (great idea BTW) if you give me the book to review? I will email you my contact info at the posted addie.

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  10. Hi Tim, I am preparing to teach HighSchool Psychology to the kids in our co-op. We are using your other book, Homeshool Psych and I would love to read your newest book, Psychology: A Christian Perspective. We have a very large Christian homeschool community and I would love to review your book.

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  11. Hi. I have used Homeschool Psych with our children, and would love to read and review your new book. Thank you!

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  12. Would love to be able to read and review your new book Psychology: A Christian Perspective. Will post review on my blog and facebook.

    Thank you!

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  13. I hope it's not too late to get a copy of your book! Just yesterday, I expressed my desire to teach a high school Psychology class to the founder/leader of our homeschool co-op/tutorial. Then, last night, I found your website and book!! It seems like the perfect text for our new class!!

    I would be thrilled if I could get a copy and review it...if it's all I expect it to be I would definitely recommend it as the required text for the tutorial class!

    My college degree is Psychology and I understand the hesitation of Christian parents to expose their high schoolers to Psychology. But, you are absolutely correct that we should be the ones to expose our children so we can instruct them in how to "stand firm" in their faith even in the midst of a Psychology class!

    Hoping it's not too late to get a copy for review...

    Thank you!

    I will email my contact info.)

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