Cognitive Dissonance for dummies

[Silver]

We are pulling for you !!

Pull a little harder.

[RozKek]

#75 Jesus encourages giving to the poor but what he actually means is give all your money to RozKek... thanks.. i mean, listen to Jesus he's our dad or something.

[chimp3]

#83: You can be really, really evil all your life and get to heaven if you say your sorry and ask Jesus for forgiveness. Even if you are really good, if your a Hindu or a Catholic you will burn in hell for eternity. That's just the way it is because God is a loving and merciful God.

[ignoramus]

#100: And finally kids, remember!
Remember how lucky you are that you just happen to be born into the one true religion who worships the one true God! Praise Jaysus!




Yeah, that right kids.
You are the chosen ones!

[drfuzzy]

#100: And finally kids, remember!
Remember how lucky you are that you just happen to be born into the one true religion who worships the one true God! Praise Jaysus!




Yeah, that right kids.
You are the chosen ones!

I think I remember being LITERALLY told that.  How lucky I was to be born into a family that worships the one and only god, and how Jesus loved me even before I was born . . .                     

[robvalue]

Jesus was entirely human. He was also entirely a god. He was also his own son. And his own father. And he's some other spirit thing as well. But there's only one of him.

Shut up and don't ask questions. We have a place for people who ask questions.

[bennyboy]

It's about what theists believe as adults but what they tell the young about how the real world works. They do know the difference, hence the dissonance.

That's not what cognitive dissonance is.

Cognitive dissonance is about the mind's struggle to reconcile one's worldview with reality, or one idea with another which contradicts it.  It is about the person's discomfort or fatigue.  Just saying somebody has a bullshit idea, or teaches something different to his kids, doesn't represent cognitive dissonance.  It's very much about how the person is feeling and functioning.

An example of cognitive dissonance in religion might occur in a young Christian as he goes through science and philosophy classes, and starts to realize how untenable the God idea is.  Then he'll go through a high level of stress, of guilt, of avoiding the family, etc. until finally something snaps-- he might have a nervous breakdown, or he might just tell his family that he has to walk away from the God idea, because it's doing him more harm than good.

[The Grand Nudger]

-or he might start repeating the mantra "just a theory".

[Silver]

Shut up and don't ask questions. We have a place for people who ask questions.

Oh, really? I hope it's a place where you do nasty things to me.

[bennyboy]

-or he might start repeating the mantra "just a theory".

Yep.  Ignoring reality is a good way not to have conflict between your world view and reality.

However, sometimes reality just will NOT be ignored.  Then those fuckers are in serious trouble.