(July 27, 2015 at 11:03 am)TubbyTubby Wrote: I brought this subject up on a christian site once, suggesting that their 'chosen' religion was a direct result of their birthplace (mainly southern US I think) and parental belief system. I suggested that, if they had been in Yemen, Saudi et al, they would likely be Muslim. Without exception, they refuted this citing cases of christians in those countries as proof they too would have found the 'one true faith'. The cognitive dissonance can be a powerful force as we know.
It requires the theist to apply some introspection that would lead to questions that would lead to doubt and they avoid that at all costs.
I've run into that dodge too. The funny thing about it is that they are basically saying that the missionary/apologetics efforts taking place in those countries are so good that they -- the Western Christians who never had to overcome such strong cultural conditioning -- would inevitably succumb to the arguments in favor of Christianity (or receive the Holy Spirit
) . . . even as their own missionary/apologetics efforts on online sites in Christian-friendly countries fall laughably flat.You're right. It's simply a defense against having to think about how contingent their beliefs really are.
