Posts tagged "Australia"
Fear and Loathing (and Forgiveness) in Australia
Forgiveness / News / Psychology

Fear and Loathing (and Forgiveness) in Australia

by Blair on Jun 21, 2012 • 2 Comments

Last week, an Australian coroner declared the infamous August 17, 1980, death of Azaria Chamberlain to be the result of a dingo attack, finally putting an end to any lingering speculation about the possible involvement of Azaria’s mother, Lindy Chamberlain. An incredibly reality-check-esque op-ed by Julia Baird in last week’s NYT, encourages us, who scoffed at the audacity of Lindy’s claim that a dingo killed her baby, to take a much-needed look in the mirror.

Why did it take three decades, tens of millions of dollars, a criminal case appealed in Australia’s highest court, a royal commission and four inquests to…

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The Science of Atonement
Science / Suffering / Theology

The Science of Atonement

by David Zahl on Feb 7, 2011 • 6 Comments

A revealing and undoubtedly controversial report in this week’s Economist, “Purification By Pain: The Mascochism Tango,” looking at the relationship between guilt and pain. Turns out there is one! Go figure:

The idea that experiencing pain reduces feelings of guilt has never been put to a proper scientific test. To try to correct that, Brock Bastian of the University of Queensland, in Australia, recruited a group of undergraduates for what he told them was a study of mental acuity.
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Dr Bastian reports in Psychological Science that those who wrote about immoral behaviour exposed themselves to the ice for…

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