The Serenity Prayer God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.

Today’s Checklist Take up tendencies homework Seinfeld Steve Jobs Time to work on skits on the tendencies The Milgram Experiment introduction

Seven tendencies Which of the seven tendencies is shown in this clip from the Seinfeld finale? clip While waiting for the plane to be repaired, they a man getting carjacked at gunpoint. Instead of helping him, they crack jokes about his size while Kramer films it all on his camcorder, then proceed to walk away. The victim notices this and tells the reporting officer, who arrests them on a duty to rescue violation that requires bystanders to help out in such a situation.

O BEY THE L ORD So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love the LORD your God and to serve him will all your heart and with all your soul – then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. ~ Deuteronomy 11 : NIV

O BEDIENCE AND C ONSCIENCE Obedience Conscience Consider your everyday life How much of what you do is ruled by conscience, and how much by obedience?

W HAT DOES OBEDIENCE LOOK LIKE ?

O BEDIENCE Consider the importance and the dangers of obedience in today’s society In what contexts is obedience essential? In what contexts is it dangerous?

B ACKGROUND I NFORMATION Adolf Eichmann supervised the deportation of 6,000,000 Jews to Nazi gas chamber Was Eichmann an evil sadist or merely a cog in the wheel? During his imprisonment before his trial, the Israeli government sent no less than six psychologists to examine Eichmann Doctors found no trace of mental illness, no evidence of abnormal personality whatsoever One doctor remarked that his overall attitude towards other people, especially his family and friends, was "highly desirable“

His crimes were not preordained by any evident pathology or inbuilt racism He learned to hate, and to hate in a controlled and impersonal way Applied business methods to the handling of human beings who, once they had been dehumanised, could be treated no differently from cargoes of kerosene. No difference between setting up a petrol station or a death camp in his mind

B EFORE R EADING 1. Teacher The dupe 2. LearnerThe actor Voltsthe point at which we hear an agonized scream; how many “teachers” will inflict this punishment?

The Milgram Experiment The point of the experiment is to see how far a person will proceed in a concrete and measurable situation in which he is ordered to inflict increasing pain on a protesting victim... The Original Experiment

M ILGRAM ’ S 37 Peter Gabriel’s song “Milgram’s 37” speaks to the dangers of blind obedience We do what we're told we do what we're told we do what we're told told to do We do what we're told we do what we're told we do what we're told told to do One doubt One voice One war One truth One dream

O BEDIENCE AROUND THE WORLD Rwandan genocide Jim Jones, cult leader of The People’s Temple persuaded his followers to drink Kool-Aid containing cyanide 913 died, including >200 children poisoned by their parents Jones promised life “in a better place”

O BEDIENCE AND G OD Emphasis on obedience in the Old Testament Society was militaristic – people would understand this language Recall the Day of Pardon – abuse of the Church’s power to invoke obedience is one of the primary sins of the past We must remember – God gave us conscience