Today in theological reflection we discussed The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout, who contends that 1 in 20 people are simply born without a conscience. We reflected on a couple of chapters from this book, and considered the implications for liberal theology in the face of a population—albeit a small one—which could be considered “evil” and unchangeably so. What does our assumption that people have inherent worth and dignity, or that, given the proper nurture, everyone has the capacity for good do with the existence of people who are “outlandish and gratuitously mean” (77)? In TR, no matter what topic we start with—civil liberties, war, racism—we always come around to the question of evil, and we rarely, if ever, have any idea what to do with it...
I’m beginning to think that this may just be a “stuckness” or a tension that we’re going to have to live with, for now. And as much as I’m not sure I like that, I realize also that liberal theology was never about easy answers.
Note: This post originally appeared on Elizabeth's blog, No One Shall Compel Them.
