The Bentness of Human Nature

Mon, Mar. 29 2010
By Chuck Colson
Christian Post Guest Columnist

In 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram devised a now-infamous series of experiments. The goal was to understand why seemingly ordinary men carried out the demonic orders of the Third Reich.

In Milgram’s experiments, a volunteer was told to administer electric shocks to another “volunteer” when he answered a question incorrectly. The victim was an actor-there was no electricity. But with each failure, a more powerful the shock was ordered.

When volunteers hesitated, an authority figure prodded them, starting with “please continue” and escalating to “you have no other choice, you must go on.”

These words were enough for two-thirds of the volunteers to administer what they believed was a fatal shock. the rest