Humanize Me

Bart Campolo thinks his kids are the best in the world. Well, not objectively speaking, right? Well, sort of! I mean, he really prefers his kids to your kids. But he hopes you do too. Is that right? Is that okay? And is there any problem with that sort of 'us-them' mentality? On this episode, Bart and Humanize Me producer John Wright attempt to answer a question from listener Daniel, who's concerned that in-group/out-group thinking could have a dark side: "A common critique I hear about religion is that it fosters an us-them mentality. Humanize Me, the episode with Charles Vogl in particular but in general also, says that 'us-thems' are not only fine but good. We should have 'us' groups, we just shouldn't mistreat our 'thems'. Where it gets sticky for me is, at what point does a preference for one group of people become mistreatment of another? And to me that begins when we say that not only do we prefer a certain group but it's right for us to prefer this group. When Bart talks about his instinct to treat