Adam, I’m so glad you challenged the idea that we and our desires are solid and impermeable as billiard balls. That idea is so ingrained in our culture of hyper-individualism that even Ira Glass, the host who brought us the tale of the Kiss Cam kiss, drew a completely unsupportable conclusion from his own story! He couldn’t grasp how it was possible that the accumulated gaze of 50,000 people could cause a b ...

Hey, Adam – Have you ever wondered what possesses people to do embarrassing things on camera? I heard a story on the radio this weekend about a guy doing something he swore he’d never do, all because of a Kiss Cam. I think this guy’s apparent self-betrayal is crying for mimetic analysis and I’d love to discuss it with you. Here’s the story that appeared on NPR’s This American Life with Ira Glass: Bill Langw ...

The question is: Who is our ultimate model of authority? Rob wants us to consciously choose Jesus as our model of authority. When the church chooses Jesus, then it becomes the body of Christ, empowered not with the authority of coercive power, but empowered by the Holy Spirit to follow Christ in service and love. ...

Many people in our modern culture are quick to denounce ancient literature, such as the Bible, for being backwards and dehumanizing to women. You want to see literature that’s backwards and dehumanizing to women? Then go to the magazine rack at the checkout stand of any American supermarket. ...

Something positively mimetic happened at a Billy Joel concert at Vanderbilt University last January. After Billy Joel played a concert for the students, he did a little Q & A session. During the session, freshman Michael Pollack raised his hand. When his fellow students pointed at him, Billy Joel followed their finger pointing (in good mimetic fashion!) and called on Michael. Michael nervously said, My ...

Thursday, February 7, 2013 Raven Founder Suzanne Ross shifted from the role of radio producer to guest on Voices of Peace Talk Radio. She joined hosts Adam Ericksen and Bob Koehler, and special guest Don Ross, to discuss her book, The Wicked Truth About Love: The Tangles of Desire. Using research from experts in psychology, anthropology, sociology, theology, brain physiology and philosophy, Suzanne untangle ...

Among the ancient myths that Mary Zimmerman weaves together in her play Metamorphoses, beautifully revived at Lookingglass Theater for autumn 2013, is the story of Eros, the god of love, and Psyche, his wife. Narrated as a dialogue between two unnamed speakers, we are told that Psyche loves Eros without ever having seen him. Eros has forbidden her to look upon him so he comes to her in the dark of night for ...

Human beings learn everything, including our desires, through imitation. ...

The funniest thing any late night comedian can do is point to the truth of being human. That’s what Jimmy Kimmel did in this piece. The target of Kimmel’s humor was not a specific person, but something intrinsic to being human: Desire. Human desire is based on imitation. As René Girard puts it, “we desire according to the desire of another.” This formula sounds strange at first. We generally think our desir ...

Seriously. An elephant wearing shades. That shirt exudes awesomeness. What five year old boy wouldn’t want to wear it? My five year old Boy. During the last two weeks the Boy, the Wife, and I have developed a morning ritual. The Wife picks out clothes for the Boy. Then She leaves for work. I proceed to get the Children dressed, at which point the Boy refuses to put on his awesome-elephant-with-shades-t-shir ...