I thought this was an interesting insight. It's not the whole answer, but it gets at why they willfully ignore the reality in front of them.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/evangelical-christians-covid-19-pandemic_n_5f5b9875c5b6b48507ffc791

"With more praying and chatting with people late into the night, they realized what could be blocking me from receiving the gift of tongues: I’d graduated from college.

Later, a leader in the group raised his hand to the sky and commanded the “demon of intellectualism” out of me. I cried. I wanted that, too. I was thinking too much, I’d been told. I was putting God in a box by trying to figure him out with logic. And it was holding me back from him blessing me."

As another poster said, uhmuhgad.

You can't fix this kind of willful ignorance.

dagny Wrote:
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> As another poster said, uhmuhgad.
>
> You can't fix this kind of willful ignorance.
Also you can't cure stupid!!!

I read that today also. It was a major relief, because finally mainstream news outlets are starting to wake up to the visceral hold that religion has on a great many Americans. And it shows the uselessness of "fair and balanced reporting" when it comes to understanding today's political landscape.

Agree.
It needs to become obvious and mainstream that the reason religion suppresses and wants to control religion is that education is the antidote for recognizing the compartmentalization religion requires.

The USA is falling behind as a leader in science due to having to mollycoddle religion and biased narratives.

An attempt at explaining the mind of a true believer:

Do you hear that whooshing sound? Thats the wind blowing in one ear and out the other as it passes through the empty space between them.

They are trying to bring you down to their level.

Here's another important quote from the article:

"Christianity is based on one singular belief: Jesus raised from the dead. Once you believe in one miracle, the pathway is paved to believe in the next. Not all branches of faith go as far as handling snakes, but they’re all rooted in the one miracle that overrides our intellect. That’s why, as a young, idealistic Christian who only wanted to grow in my faith, I was prayed over to sever me from my intellectual and rational thinking."

Reminds me of a story in the book "A world lit only by fire". Great read too.

Story goes something like this and we're talking dark ages here..... a black cat was seen wandering through the village. People know black cats are evil. Someone kicks the cat and it runs from the village. People know that an old witchy type woman lives just out side the village. They go there and inspect the woman's body and find she has a bruise. People know that witchy types can turn into cats. The cat was kicked, the woman is bruised, case closed....burn her!

Once you accept that people can turn into cats, the rest makes perfect sense.

Roy G Biv Wrote:
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> Once you accept that people can turn into cats,
> the rest makes perfect sense.

Profound insight!

Gave me a good laugh.

From one of the most insightful books I've read.

Always remember that true believers are not just to be found in the halls of religion. The world is full of them these days. They stick their fingers on their ears, avoid any kind of debate, and if you present a divergent opinion it is bwcause the Devils are in you.

Quite true.

Give examples

Racists. Anit-maskers. Fascists.

I'm not sure Silver Hatchet would agree with your examples. He may be Canadian.

LOL. I've known some really fine Canadians. But our resident sock puppet isn't one of them.

+Silver Hatchet:
"Always remember that true believers are not just to be found in the halls of religion. The world is full of them these days. They stick their fingers on their ears, avoid any kind of debate, and if you present a divergent opinion it is because the Devils are in you."

==Precisely, what ware you talking about?
Opinions about what?

~~~~iceman9090

I imagine that Jesus was born to a jewish family some 2000 y ago. Of course, he is going to pick up the religion of his parents. I'm sure he had no idea that his sect was going to become popular in Europe, no idea that it was going to lead to hate and racism, no idea that it would spin off islam, no idea that it would lead to witch hunts, multiple crusades, the holocaust and much much more.

If he is really a god, then was all this intentional on his part?

~~~~iceman9090

In the spirit of "INDULGENCES" I say that full tithe qualifies you for the temple. DOuble tithe forgives fornication between members. Triple tithe forgives adultery with non members.

There are so many ways to grift profits. :)

The writer says:

"Christianity is based on one singular belief: Jesus raised from the dead. Once you believe in one miracle, the pathway is paved to believe in the next."

"Not all branches of faith go as far as handling snakes, but they’re all rooted in the one miracle that overrides our intellect."

----

The writer is saying that all branches of faith (I am assuming she is referring to only or mainly Christianity with her example) are "rooted in the one miracle [resurrection of Jesus] that overrides our intellect".

That is quite a statement, even from a former Christian, in my (limited) experience - that the resurrection is a belief that overrides intellect. I know the concept is obvious, if you think about it in an unbiased way (as far as that is possible for a Christian to do once they've accepted the premise).

All righty then.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2020 03:24PM by Nightingale.

Miracles only occur if you believe in them. If true believers experienced miracles, it would be hard to convince them they didn’t. They were there.

It could be that the historical Jesus is a story, but it facilitates a real mind hack. Belief as a way of being has its benefits if you can swing it.