Each religion has what can be called an immune system, a set of teachings and practices that guard against other beliefs or loss of belief. Cognitive dissonance theory and confirmation bias help us to understand how beliefs can remain unchanged in the face of devastating failures of prophecy or moral failings of leaders.
If I were in a situation where I could stop a child rapist, I would, that’s the difference between me and your God.
~ Tracie Harris
Read article and watch video here . . .
h/t: Kenny in Pacific Grove, CA
h/t: AlterNet.org
Interesting studies. Whenever I argue with a conservative, I always end up saying in frustration, “But it’s not that simple!” It appears that for some people, their inability to reason out complex ideas is what makes them conservatives, and not their hatred of the human race (although there may be some overlap there)!
[…]
In the four studies conducted by Scott Eidelman, Christian S. Crandall, Jeffrey A. Goodman, and John C. Blanchar published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc, they concluded, “(P)olitical conservatism is promoted when people rely on low-effort thinking.
[…]
We think that compassion and empathy are a fundamental part of liberal values, and we note at times that it takes being in that specific situation for conservatives to grasp why, for example, liberals support universal healthcare for all. There are many studies that address that take on things, but this study is specifically addressing whether or not having low-effort thinking will produce conservative thinking initially, and they showed that it does.
h/t: Planet Atheism
h/t: TheThinkingAtheist
h/t: The Atheism News Magazine
Always Question Authority 