Byrd's Chicks

Reflection on Preventing Evil

"We all like to think that the line between good and evil is impermeable"

Philip Zimbardo
http://www.everydayheroism.org/pubs/banality_of_heroism.pdf

I was surfing the news today, and stumbled across an article about Stanley Milgram's experiment on obedience:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/19/milgram.experiment.obedience/index.html

It caught my eye for a number of reasons. First, I remember studying his experiment in Psych 101 many years ago, and next, I have a personal need to understand how perfectly ordinary people can do horrifically evil things, particularly in groups. Analogously, I am deeply interested in the flip side of the coin - what cause perfectly ordinary people to do heroic things in the face of immense adversity.

Angry Asuras, or Attention, Walmart Shoppers

Just when I thought there were no demons in the world..... something like the incident at the Long Island Walmart (where an employee died) happens.

http://tinyurl.com/56qgb7
http://tinyurl.com/5opfv3

Wow. Someone's Christmas toy became, for the space of a few moments, worth more than a human life.

DESPITE BEING LESS THAN WELCOME, THEY BELIEVE IN SGI by Jean Anker

Spent time with a friend and fellow SGI member who I have known for over 20 years. Because my friend has the stature, strength of character and temperament of a warrior, I will refer to her as Diana for the ancient Greek goddess. Diana is a natural leader who rose quickly through the ranks of SGI, but she flew a little too close to the sun and was burned. To sum it up, she has gone from the upper echelons of SGI leadership to becoming persona non grata at district meetings; and is only permitted by the powers who be, providing she keeps her mouth shut, to attend 2 meetings a month, Kosen Rufu Gongyo and the screening of President Ikeda's monthly video. Her crime? Failing to denounce another senior leader and even worse, openly defending this other outcast.