Mechanics of killing and genocide
Killing, Genocide, and the Brain
Short Intro: Our minds are powerful, but they are also vulnerable. As I’ve been reading David Eagleman’s book The Brain: The Story of You, I’ve been struck by how easily the brain can shift between logic and emotion—and how that shift affects the way we see human life, human worth, and even God’s coming kingdom.
The Trolley Problem and the Human Brain
Eagleman describes two well‑known experiments.
Scenario 1: You stand beside a railroad switch. Four workers are on the track the train is heading toward. One worker is on the other track. If you pull the switch, one dies and four live. Most people say they would pull the switch.
Scenario 2: You stand on a water tower beside a very large man. The same runaway train is coming, and it will kill four workers unless the man falls onto the track. If you push him, he dies and four live. Almost no one says they would push him.
Both choices kill one to save four. Why do people choose differently?
In the first scenario, the brain activates regions used for solving math or logic problems. In the second, emotional regions activate—because pushing someone with your own hands feels morally wrong.
I believe these emotional regions are directly connected to the heart. (See: The Mystery of the Heart — Unity Series)
Distance Turns Killing Into Logic
When something stands between us and the person who dies—distance, machinery, technology—the brain stays in logic mode. Our emotions stay quiet.
This is why leaders who send others to war, or operators who push a button from far away, can make decisions without feeling the weight of the lives affected.
Eagleman quotes one suggestion: “The button to launch nuclear missiles should be implanted in the chest of the President’s best friend.”
In other words, bring the heart back into the decision.
Genocide and the Ingroup/Outgroup Divide
Eagleman also writes about genocide. He asks how ordinary people can suddenly commit acts that would normally feel unthinkable.
“It would normally feel unconscionable to murder your neighbor. So what suddenly allows hundreds or thousands of people to do exactly that?”
The answer lies in how the brain divides people into an ingroup (us) and an outgroup (them). We empathize with those in our ingroup. We dehumanize those in our outgroup. Propaganda and fear widen the divide until killing becomes a logic problem instead of a moral one.
Why I’m Bringing This Up
Understanding how the brain works helps us understand how God heals us. I believe hell at judgment is not a place but a form of shame—truth revealed. All people will be in God’s new kingdom, and there is no more death. No escape. Only truth.
For those who have killed, how will it feel to meet the ones they harmed? Jesus said judgment will be more tolerable for some than others. Not because God punishes differently, but because the truth lands differently on each heart.
Jesus on Judgment
Luke 10:10–16 (CEB)
10 Whenever you enter a city and the people don’t welcome you, go out into the streets and say, 11 “As a complaint against you, we brush off the dust of your city that has collected on our feet. But know this: God’s kingdom has come to you.” 12 I assure you that Sodom will be better off on Judgment Day than that city.
13 “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin. How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida. If the miracles done among you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed their hearts and lives long ago. 14 But Tyre and Sidon will be better off at the judgment than you. 15 And you, Capernaum… 16 Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me.”
Hebrews 10:19–24 (CEB)
19 Brothers and sisters, we have confidence that we can enter the holy of holies by means of Jesus’ blood… 22 Let’s draw near with a genuine heart… 23 Let’s hold on to the confession of our hope… 24 And let us consider each other carefully for the purpose of sparking love and good deeds.
Closing Prayer
Father, open our hearts and minds. Heal the places where logic has replaced compassion. Restore our ability to see every person as someone made in Your image. Cleanse our conscience, soften our hearts, and guide us into Your kingdom of peace. Amen.
