(January 24, 2018 at 7:17 pm)Rhondazvous Wrote: It boggles my mind that theists put so much energy into the idea that human love and empathy aren't good enough. Then they defeat their own purpose by presenting that gruesome, bloodthirsty god as the source of what they think is love.
If I catalogued the unloving acts of god recorded in the bible, these theists will defend such acts. In so doing, they betray the fact that they don't have the slightest idea of what love is.
Yes. Exactly. Good point, Rhonda. I've been mulling over this a bit lately.It's a bit of a derailment of the thread, but this points to why I think that fundamentalism is detrimental to humanity. Fundamentalists have their entire world-view based upon a set of beliefs, the stories in an old book, and the support of like-minded individuals. It's tribal. There is security in that insular group. But when someone questions that world-view it doesn't simply elicit cognitive dissonance - it is perceived as an outright attack. THEY are right. Anyone who is not part of their tribe is evil and not even considered human.
-- Now -- while I'm skeptical of all religion, not just fundamentalism, I have to note that I know Christians who are wonderful people, they don't preach, they try to treat everyone with love and respect. But when they do talk about "god is love and loves everybody and wants the best for all and there are many paths to god" I have to bite my tongue so I don't ask them if they have actually read their Bible.
Dan Mager wrote an article that touches on this in Psychology Today, and said: "For someone who is emotionally attached to the need to be right, all divergent perspectives, ideas, suggestions, and actions must be “wrong.” The need to be right convinces him or her of the correctness of his or her approach, while attachment to this end serves to justify the means used to facilitate it. When this dynamic is acted out it creates suffering for those caught in its wake—most often, partners and family members, including children."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/som...r-be-happy
It reminds me of some memes about Trump supporters - they list a huge list of crimes he could be caught committing, and his supporters would still defend him. Why? Their preachers tell them that they voted the right way. Their biases tell them they voted the right way. It's not remotely possible that they were wrong.
Things went down the same way over slavery . . .
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
