Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct
by Michael McCullough
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael McCulloughEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-11
ISBN: 078797756X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Book Reviews of Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct
Book Review: A Pious Sounding Attempt To Be Non-Pious
Summary: 2 Stars
Are there valuable insights on forgiveness to be found outside of Christianity? This overtly humanistic resource aims to provide just that by using evolutionary social science and statistical research across a variety of cultures. The introduction states the goal to "bypass all of the pious sounding statements about the power of forgiveness, and all the fruitless sermonizing about the destructiveness of revenge." Perhaps that proposed idea alone could cause Christians to be on their guard.
McCullough tries to demonstrate how "natural" forgiveness and revenge are to humans, citing that the former doesn't require supernatural faith and the latter isn't to be objectively vilified. From his vantage point, both are "age old solutions" to social problems in that each helps people adapt when they are harmed "significantly and intentionally by another." While forgiveness allows one to move on in freedom, revenge can be used to set a boundary so that a hurt person isn't hurt again.
If you can suspend any prejudice of faith as you enter into this reading, there are some insightful thoughts to glean from the narrative shared. Still, no balanced solution is offered except to propose that there is no "us versus them" - a we're-all-in-this-together ideology. There are also several belittlements of Christianity's view of grace and hell, citing that the human Jesus created them "to attract new converts and keep the converts [He'd] already won." Those pages alone might cause a new Christian to stumble in this read, thus reserving its "usefulness" to those who wouldn't find their faith rocked by someone throwing stones - and perhaps calling it justifiable "revenge."
Summary of Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct
Why is revenge such a pervasive and destructive problem? How can we create a future in which revenge is less common and forgiveness is more common? Psychologist Michael McCullough argues that the key to a more forgiving, less vengeful world is to understand the evolutionary forces that gave rise to these intimately human instincts and the social forces that activate them in human minds today. Drawing on exciting breakthroughs from the social and biological sciences, McCullough dispenses surprising and practical advice for making the world a more forgiving place.Michael E. McCullough (Miami, Florida), an internationally recognized expert on forgiveness and revenge, is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, where he directs the Laboratory for Social and Clinical Psychology.
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