(January 5, 2016 at 3:51 pm)robvalue Wrote: It has been something of a journey for me to convince myself that believers really do believe the stuff they say. I went through a period of denial about it at first, but I've come to realize I have been viewing it all wrong.
I still think their beliefs are unjustified, but I now accept that they don't think that they are. I've become aware of the power of indoctrination, and being immersed in mythology even for those not indoctrinated.
Many really do believe. And when you're indoctrinated young to believe that 1) the Bible is the literal word of God and 2) if you question any part of it, God will send you to hell for eternity - - - you have this filter over how you see the world and other people, coupled with a lot of fear that you probably aren't admitting. I listen to bible readings every week now, and wonder HOW . . . how???!!! . . . I could have thought that this was the message from a loving deity. How I listened to these passages for decades, and did not even stop to think about what I was hearing. I - just - accepted - it . . . as something more than truth. It's brainwashing.
Now, there are xtians out there who reject the idea of hell, and don't think that the bible is inerrant. Jesus was a guide and teacher. That's much more humane, in my humble little opinion, but it's also certainly VERY different from my parent's christianity.
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
