What a curious article over at Big Think! The gist of it is that there is a psychological component to physical cleanliness.

The examples are rather curious. Including one where as part of a study participants were asked to recall a personal immoral experience; as part of the session some were offered a cleansing wipe and the reason that it was part of the protocol for using the public computer, others were given nothing. Those that were given nothing volunteered to do yet more experiments/sessions; while those offered the wipe generally did not. If I’m “getting” the message right – the suggestion here is that those who recieved the wipes felt somehow “absolved” or “cleansed” from the immoral experience they were asked to recall.

Hmm . . .

When I come home after being out for the day the first thing I want to do is shower; or at least wash my hands. Why? Well for one thing it feels good. Ok, fine but lets set that “obvious” reason aside for the moment – why have I developed this . . . . “custom”? Not wanting to put too much meaning into it I find that it does shift my thinking – from “outside” things to “inside” or “home” things. I feel much more relaxed and ready to do new things at home once I’ve come in, had a shower and changed clothes. Thus, the shower or hand washing makes an almost unconscious break or dividing line between the two activities . . . Oh and it feels good!

So what does all this have to do with theology?

Well for starters reading the article made me start to think about baptism – and our perceptions about the nature and value of baptism. Obviously the studies point to ideas about washing and our sense of self, as well as our sense of – as they put it – morality and immorality.

That physical cleanliness (or filthiness) is closely linked to our perceptions of the moral, and the immoral. Thus when participants are shown an image of a dirty toilet – researchers found that they judged others more harshly than those who saw a clean room. This has me thinking about how we perceive and judge others simply by virtue of their physical appearance, or the appearance of their personal space. How this seemingly unconscious perception has a negative impact on how we relate to others.

I think therein lies the key – it is “unconscious” so being more conscious or aware of its negative impace on our thinking and perceptions might enable us to be more objective in our assessments?