Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct by Michael McCullough
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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."
Book Review: Come.....Let Us Reason Together
Summary: 1 Stars
Dear Reader, are you bold enough to reason clearly with me, to courageously follow the argument wherever it leads? Even if you do not like the conclusion? The author claims to have discovered a deeper meaning of forgiveness by placing it for analysis into an evolutionary framework. There is a considerable difference between the scientific study of evolution and "evolutionism." The latter term, which I first encountered in the writing of Christoph Sch?nborn, refers, not to the scientific study of life forms, but instead to using Darwin's theory as a template to explain anything and everything human. Sch?nborn's concern is that such a move turns the quest for science into an ideology, one that is too often, and unnecessarily, unfriendly to faith. Sch?nborn is clear that reason can and should be part of both science and faith. In fact, reason can be a bridge between the two because science does not contradict faith and, despite the howls from those who "believe" in evolutionism, faith does not contradict science. As I will argue below, sound reasoning is not a hallmark of this work.
I will focus this review only on chapter 10, Divine Forgiveness and Righteous Revenge. This will give the discerning reader a peek into the window of the author's reasoning. Three points (among many others) are worthy of note in this chapter: 1) The author asserts (without scientific evidence) that religion evolved biologically in man for socially-adaptive purposes. Religion in all of its forms is not about God finding man but the reverse. Here is the key quotation: "...religion emerged as a natural [read the word "materialist" here] outcome of the mind's basic cognitive architecture..." (p. 207) at a particular and unspecified point in evolutionary time. The usefulness of religion, the author contends, may have had survival value in its original state, but may not have that value now. My central question, intended to focus on reason itself, is this: What is the scientific evidence for the claim that religion's origin is a natural ("materialist") thought form, emerging at an undetermined time, rather than a discovery of something (or Someone) external to the brain? If there is no scientific evidence, then why pretend that the claim has a scientific basis simply because the author is using as his ideological template a scientific model of evolution? That the author borrows this template does not make his conjectures any more scientific than the proclamation that moral virtues are given to us by God;
2) The author contends that Jesus' ulterior motive for bringing in the marginalized (tax collectors and prostitutes) was to quickly build a power base. The more people whom a leader brings into the group, then the more power he or she has. What is the scientific basis for this reasoning? Is it any more credible than the reasoning that Jesus's philosophy is one of love and he brought the unloved into the group to show them love? This reasoning is actually more consistent with the historical record as brought out in Biblical texts and the preserved Christian writings of the first century after Christ;
3) The author disparages the crucifixion narrative in Matthew as a fictional ploy to "one-up" Jewish groups. For example, he reasons that a Jewish group would never have assembled around the time of Passover. It would be like the U.S. Congress assembling on Christmas Eve. This form of reasoning can be countered in three ways: a) Similes never prove anything; b) Did not a group pay Judas to deliver Jesus over to them? Would that not be motivation enough to assemble once he was captured?; c) At the feast each year, the governor was accustomed to releasing one prisoner "for the crowd" (Matthew 27:15). It appears that assembly at that time was a tradition. My point: The author does not appear to be aware of these three challenges to his interpretation of the crucifixion narrative but instead marches on with his evolutionism. In the final analysis, this book does not represent good evolutionary science. It does not represent sound reasoning as reasoned above. Forgiveness is distorted into an amoral power play.
Book Review: Evolution of Forgiveness
Summary: 4 Stars
The "Nature" versus "Nurture" debate is a perennial topic. In Beyond Revenge, McCullough suggests that both revenge and forgiveness are hard-wired into us as social primates. In doing so, he manages to distinguish his claims that such human behaviors are natural from fatalistic conclusions, because "natural" does not connotate a justification for vengeful actions, nor does it suggest that natural behaviors are unavoidable.
It's a compelling argument that McCullough makes, and a difficult task to balance a presentation of the science with readability for reaching a broad audience. That is, his descriptions of behavioral studies in humans, primates, and game theory modeling seem to lose their potency in the course of the storytelling. Large parts of it come across as just what McCullough seeks to avoid: adaptationalist "just-so" stories. His argument is well-written and persuasive nonetheless.
For instance, his description of Robert Axelrod's work on game theory modeling and cooperation is extremely insightful and resounding proof that natural selection actually leads to a *nicer* world in the long run. Primate studies, as he describes them, also suggest that the standard response - and healthy - mechanism of closure to an act of aggression is forgiveness and reconciliation. Human psychology studies back this up, and identify the components of apologies that elicit forgiveness the best.
And in the next-to-last chapter, he debunks the notion that religion is the shortcut to forgiveness and compassion. True, as McCullough notes, religious individuals often forgive more readily - *if* the offender is part of the same social network, and particularly if the offender is part of the same religion. Moveover, devoutly religious individuals are more likely to exhibit more intolerant and vengeful attitudes towards offenders who are outsiders, on the margins of society, etc.
The last interesting item that struck me, reading Beyond Revenge, was something that I don't think McCullough stressed enough considering his argument that revenge and forgiveness are natural behaviors. That is, the differences between revenge and retaliation - revenge requires planning and forethought as provided by the pre-frontal cortex (something that our primate relatives lack compared to us). A similar difference exists for forgiveness and reconciliation, which McCullough mentions but does not elaborate on. These concept pairs are related though, and despite the role of our mighty pre-frontal cortex, are all part of our primitive emotional drives.
So I liked the book. In a world of suicide bombers and pre-emptive invasions, it is an important book. We can influence the cycle of retaliation that exists in a harsh world by considering the psychological factors that activate "the forgiveness instinct."
Book Review: A call to compassion and caring, a better world
Summary: 5 Stars
Revenge and forgiveness are two behaviors that get lots of attention in modern society. On one end, popular movies and books (at least from Western cultures) glorify vengeful behavior. Protagonists succeed by using violence that is morally justifiable. On the other hand, there is much public interest in forgiving others and living the good life. This is a common topic in the realm of talk shows and self-help books. The fact that humans are fundamentally social animals makes these behaviors critical to understand for the sake of our survival. Yet, the cultural dialogue on these behaviors is limited and unable to go beyond this simple dichotomy of prescribing revenge to correct for injustices and forgiveness to nurture your health and soul. McCullough's book is refreshing because it elevates our understanding of these two behaviors and illustrates a way to bring about a more forgiving and healthy world, all while it entertains and captivates.
"Beyond Revenge" effortlessly weaves together examples from recent news and history with evidence from such fields as psychology, anthropology, criminal justice, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology to describe the unique social functions that revenge and forgiveness serve for humans but also for other social species. There are not only references to many societal challenges, like violence in the schools and inner cities to the warring factions in Iraq, but there are also many keen observations sprinkled throughout based on the thoughts of prominent writers and philosophers. This masterful work will make you think seriously about -- maybe even rethink -- how friends, family members, communities, and even nations can build peace and lasting well-being. With each chapter, McCullough takes the reader on a journey through both ordinary and extraordinary cases of vengeance and forgiveness with an eye toward bringing scientific insight to bear on the greater social forces at play. By the end, the reader is surprised to learn that, no matter how great differences and conflicts get between people, humans have an amazing capacity that has not been fully utilized. True to the title, the challenge set forth in this book is for society to harness the will and creativity to bring social conditions in line with our ability to be constructive and caring beings. McCullough has provided a compelling plan for putting this capacity into action.
Book Review: A deep and penetrating analysis of the roots of forgiveness
Summary: 5 Stars
There is a surface structure to forgiveness and a deep structure. The surface structure approach emphasizes the importance of practicing forgiveness and suggests strategies for its cultivation. The deep structure approach attempts a comprehensive understanding of the roots of forgiveness and the personal and cultural conditions that either enable or obstruct it. This profound book is of the latter variety. Geared toward the intellectually curious, McCullough analyzes and elaborates on three basic scientifically revealed truths: (1) The desire for revenge is built in to the human species; (2) The capacity for forgiveness is similarly hard-wired; and (3) Modifying social environments will facilitate less revenge and more forgiveness. McCullough wants us to understand where the capacity for forgiveness and the propensity for revenge come from and what the implications are for improving our lot in life. As you are reading, McCullough's insights will cause you to pause, reflect, and say to yourself "I've never thought of that before." We owe him significant gratitude for causing us to think more deeply about the nature of forgiveness and its vicissitudes.
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