{"id":4407,"date":"2015-08-28T09:55:54","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T15:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?p=4407"},"modified":"2015-08-31T10:01:47","modified_gmt":"2015-08-31T16:01:47","slug":"the-end-of-revenge-nonviolence-the-american-fascination-with-getting-even","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2015\/08\/the-end-of-revenge-nonviolence-the-american-fascination-with-getting-even.html","title":{"rendered":"The End of Revenge: Nonviolence & the American Fascination With Getting Even"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"bill.001\"<\/a>When\u00a0Vester Lee Flanagan left behind his attempts to explain the unexplainable\u2014the reason he shot two former colleagues in cold blood during a live broadcast\u2014the rationale he gave was simple revenge; revenge for the mass shooting at a church in Charleston; revenge for mistreatment by his formal employer. <\/span><\/p>\n

After reading the accounts of his work history and personal issues it seems obvious that Flanagan had some sort of serious personality disorder. So revenge is too simple to be a satisfactory\u00a0explanation, if one\u00a0is even possible.\u00a0But it\u2019s out there now, so we should talk about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

America is\u00a0a revenge culture: Revenge<\/em> the television series, revenge porn, revenge games in sports\u2026 vengeance is a mainstay of foreign policy and a thematic obsession for film, television, and female pop-musicians.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oscar winning director Quentin Tarantino has made a career of revenge. Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, these are all formulaic revenge films.<\/span><\/p>\n