Wednesday, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

This week we remember two infamous stories from the world of crime and politics that became sensations in media and popular culture. It was on this week in 1972 that a team of screwball operatives broke into the Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington to gather intelligence (hah!) to use in the Presidential election. They were caught and set in motion the unraveling of Richard Nixon’s Presidency.

This week in 1994 also saw the start of the unraveling of another celebrity, football hero O.J. Simpson who failed to report to the police for questioning in the vicious murder of his wife and an acquaintance, opting instead to attempt an escape. Like the Watergate morons, Simpson reminded America that he was no brain surgeon by refusing to stop his vehicle and leading the police on a now famous “slow speed chase” watched by the country for several hours.

The event began a new lunacy in media, where millions of ordinary citizens stopped doing everything else in their life and hung on a sick soap opera that dragged on for years. America was focused on Simpson and the actors in his trial, ignoring the murdered victims. All day long television coverage fed the debased appetite of viewers reveling in the antics of a cartoon judge and showboating lawyers making fools of themselves at the expense of the victims.

It is very uncomfortable to accept the fact that, despite our most diligent efforts to be creatures of social competence and civility, human beings struggle with our periodic eruptions of impulses of cruelty and depravity. Even when we abide by the discipline of civilized behavior - resisting those impulses - they are there and can be felt, even if controlled. Mostly they emerge in our fascination and riveted curiosity watching illustrations and depictions of human depravity. Whether films, television or YouTube videos, we can’t seem to turn away.

It is important to understand these impulses and bear in mind that social behavior depends on acknowledging them and exercising vigilance for ourselves and,especially our children. Giving into this side of our psycho-biology is dangerous and the cause of most acts of heinous violence. In the end, and despite the cynicism of many, this is the critical social role that faith communities and religious practice have played in civilization. Repression of these impulses depends on NOT repression the recognition that they are there. Have a peaceful day!