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.