Word: sinfully
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Oedipus, schmoedipus. Scientists have found "a significant correlation between the presence of the short gene and... neurosis" [BEHAVIOR, Dec. 9]. Are they talking about a life of dread-filled consternation, apprehension, psychic tension, imagined sin, constant self-recrimination and a fear-based view of life? All this is the result of the short gene's inability to promote an adequate amount of "the molecules that facilitate serotonin reabsorption"? After years of psychotherapy, ingesting the serotonin-producing drug Prozac and beating up on myself for being so "weak," I now learn that science is suggesting I am perhaps no more responsible...
...Roberto Alomar He didn't say it, he sprayed it. The Baltimore Oriole second baseman spit on umpire John Hirschbeck after an argument in Toronto toward the end of the regular season, then compounded his sin by saying Hirschbeck hasn't been the same since his son died of a neurological disease. After Alomar was given an absurdly lenient suspension (five games next season rather than in the postseason), he became the chew toy in a dogfight among the players, umpires and baseball executives. The real damage, though, was done to Alomar's name. He may never shake his spitting...
...essay "Science and Original Sin," Robert Wright puts forth as scientific fact a genetically based theory of psychological egoism. It is a weird piece of dogma. Although no sane person would deny that we humans harbor some pretty horrible tendencies and that these have some genetic basis, it does not follow that we are biologically driven to commit the seven deadly sins or that when moved by compassion, "we are in some Darwinian sense 'misusing' our equipment of reciprocal altruism ... into (unconsciously) thinking that the victims of famine are right next door and might someday reciprocate." I believe that there...
...claims that "as a story of creation, the book of Genesis long, long ago crumbled under the weight of science," writer Robert Wright displays a puzzling selectivity in then declaring that "the Christian doctrine of original sin makes more sense as evolutionary psychologists learn more about why people do bad things." If Genesis has even a smidgen of relevance in helping us grasp the concept of original sin, why are the scientifically enlightened so adamant that Genesis' assertions regarding origins in general are unreliable? TIM CALLAWAY Calgary, Canada...
That's not meant as criticism of this film. Its major sin--a certain ineluctable improbability--is pretty much offset by the moments of winsome humanity Gibson finds for his freebooter; by the rich, nicely tuned portrayals of the other actors; and by director Ron Howard's smoothly professional mastery of yet another genre that is new to him. Nevertheless, as a matter of social policy, limits should probably be set on our intake of Tom Mullens clones. His real-life models don't need any more good publicity. And they are rarely as cute as Mel Gibson...