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This morning, while visiting the blog of Joe Gerstandt (@jerstandt), I came across a video that showed a re-creation of Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience to authority. The video (broken into 3 parts) are worth taking the time to watch and will explain themselves. After watching them, scroll down for some further thoughts:
While watching these events unfold, I could not help but feel a degree of anger and judgment in respect to the “teachers” who inflicted the pain. I could argue that, in my commitment to non-violence, I would have not participated in the experiment at all. Though this is true, it fails to see the underlying lesson this experiment teaches us: Each of us is significantly prone to allow external factors or persons justify actions that cause harm to others.
It is easier for us to look at such an explicit example and say that we are above such actions. However, the reality is that most of us participate in this scenario every day. How often do we participate in systems- be they economic, governmental, ecclesial, etc.- that ultimately produce benefits for us that cost others dearly? By stating that we are participating in systems set up and governed by other authorities, we can rationalize away our own culpability by either blindly “trusting” those in authority or helplessly claiming that “We live in the world and the world is thus”.
Further, we do not have to look to far outside ourselves to justify our actions and inaction. Our passionate ideologies and strong convictions give us a moral high ground to stand on, even though few of us actually live up to the standards we so nobly espouse. We may take occasional action, but too often it is token, like those who imitate the protests and marches seen in clips of Martin Luther King, Jr. or Gandhi, as though their authority stemmed from a public speech or protest march, not long lives of brutal sacrifice and uncertainty.
The fact the a small percentage of the group refused to continue is not anomalous. This stands as true in our lives and churches as it does in this experiment. And beyond the refusal to do harm, how many of us actively pursue the alternative, living radically different lives- doing justice and loving mercy in our humble pursuit of Christ-likeness? I know I am too often guilty of taking the easy out.
Being like Christ is the path of most resistance. It is the lifestyle requires more of us than any other. It requires us to consistently examine ourselves and our world. It requires the sacrifice of the good in order to embrace the best. It requires a daily discipline of putting God and others first, even to the point of loving those who hate and hurt us. In short, it requires the Cross.
God, have mercy on me a sinner…
wow.
Hey Crystal. I know. Wow, indeed. Care to share anymore? Curious as to your thoughts.
Peace,
Jamie
It’s disheartening to see people forge ahead so blithely despite the recorded protests. This experiment was troubling when it was first done in the 60s and is troubling now. Same results: 61-66% of the participants are willing to inflict fatal voltage, regardless of where the test was being done. What’s more, at least in the original experiments, not one of the objectors insisted that the experiment be terminated, nor did they leave the room to check on the victim. Intellectually interesting, if troubling.
But then there’s the business about “Love thy enemy.” It’s hard to understand just want that means until you have the experience of truly having an enemy, with ongoing, bitter pain inflicted at your enemies’ hands. We can, most of us, easily imagine kindness shown upon some stock figure belonging to some group entity that is “the enemy.” Kindness to a particular nazi, for example. It’s very cinematic, and dramatic, and it’s something we can buy into, especially if this particular person isn’t known to you, or some amount of time has past. But what about someone who constantly brings pain and emotional sickness to your entire family, time and time again? It’s harder to see one’s self rise to the role of martyr-savior with this circumstance. And yet, “love thy enemy.”
P.S. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
Hey Christopher,
It is, indeed, troubling. More so when we consider that the stats are so high in situation where the implications of their decisions are so explicit and immediate. How much more are we capable of allowing/causing due to our failure to consider the implicit consequences to our choices? And if people are that compliant to science, how much more are we compliant, as Christians, to our “Christian culture”?
As for loving our enemy, it is as though the experiment were reversed, finding ourselves in the chair being shocked. While we wouldn’t idly let ourselves be abused needlessly, our response to the abuser must necessarily be different. To love them must include at least trying to get them to see the consequences of their actions, without resorting to their tactics. Very, very tough indeed. Thanks for the great comment and the link.
Peace,
Jamie
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Our passionate ideologies and strong convictions give us a moral high ground to stand on
Over and over again, I’m convinced that our ideals — whether they be as selfish as self preservation or selfless as “social justice” — can easily lead to violence. Ideals let us idolize ideas. These idols give us a hierarchy that we can work with: they allow us to classify other people as less important than our ideals.
In Milgram’s experiment, evidently “science” is the idol and many teachers were willing to sacrifice the students to it.
Thanks Marks.
Peace,
Jamie