We hear a lot about the bible being the guidebook if christian living, yet christians treat it like it were food in a cafeterian ~ they pick and choose what they like and leave out the bits that might be too hard or bring discomfort. In order to do this, christians need some justification, and it is this self-justification that leads them to seriously contort thought and rationality processess, inevitably leading to the intellectual/mental dysfuntionality of the christian mind-set, the most prevalant being "denial" and 'cognitive dissonance." The “denial” reaction calls for the theological “now you see it-now you don't” mental sleight-of-hand learned through what is aptly called apologetics. A polite term for apologetics is mental gymnastics, but in essence it is sophistry (where the reasoner uses fallacy to help his case ~ ie lie) and prevarication (make evasive or misleading statements ~ ie lie or deceive). Apologetics is the fabricating of justifications for why God did or did not mean what the scripture said. The apologist tactics will be to accuse the skeptic of being misinformed or taking scripture out of context. The apologist will switch between literal and spiritual interpretations and redefine the meaning of words as needed. Suppose the same thought processes used in apologetics were used in business. Should men/women of the cloth and apologist christians be indicted for fraud? “Denial” of reality or at a minimum “denial” of valid counter arguments prevent objective thought. Fundamentalists and apologists are determined to accept only their version of truth. They say, “you have to have faith” as if faith is a sacrosanct virtue. Faith is not a virtue. Faith is a way of thinking which circumvents evidence, reason, and common sense. Fundamentalist faith says, “here is a Bible verse proving God's on my side.” This “I'm right, everybody else is wrong” mind-set exposes the divisiveness of fundamentalism and explains why fundamentalists cannot even agree among themselves on many issues Reality is difficult when identity, self-image, and peer acceptance is founded entirely upon the unproveable, and is therefore easily jeopardized. Thus the christian apologists must enter into a "pact with the devil" in order to maintain their shaky stance. The fundamentalist “state of denial” then engenders an acceptance of sophistry and prevarication. Thoughtlessly throwing a bible verse or dismissing the offending party as “of the devil,” “bigoted”, “closed-minded”, “anti-Christ”, is the usual response. The superficial use of a bible verse, label, or name-calling is more than just a convenient substitute for dealing with reality. This unthinking reactionary religious survival act steals the individual's ability to reason. They become imprisoned in their own state of “denial”. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar05/Salisbury0329.htm
Just as some pick and choose, there are also others who base their morals, lifestyle, etc on the Word.
I can't take the poll because I don't know what you mean: Are Christians in denial of what? Reality? We're all here and it's real. I believe in God. You don't, perhaps? So, because I'm Christian, I deny reality? Like I deny my own existence? What would happen if I denied that I existed? Maybe I would burst into flames or spontaneously combust. Wow man. I think I'll work on that. It'll be like a magic trick. Except I won't be in existence to see people's reactions.
i think he means christians in denial of the truth that would set them free of their silly ways, not reality...
Oh yes, all Christians do that. No, seriously, do you think I want to submit to someone??? -no- But the Bible says so, so I obey G-d's word...whether I agree with it or not. I argued with Him enough, time to submit to His will....:/ Seriously though, most Christians I know totally do what the Bible tells them to, no matter how uncomfortable they are with it...
Ok, well, I'm not a fundamentalist Christian, so the point is moot. You should correct the poll to say "Are fundamentalist Christians in denial?" and then specifiy in denial of what. I could put up a poll saying "Are men in denial?" Well, what kind of man? An old man? a Young man? A black man? an Asian man? A religious man? An atheist? Likewise, I'd have to say what the man was in denial of. I think that the fundamentalist strain of Christianity can be problematic and work against the causes of Christians like myself, which there are many of. You just don't see progressive Christians on tv because that's not what sells.
I don't know what that means. Is God the dog? And are the fleas the people who misrepresent God like fundamentalist Christians? Explain your esoteric metaphor please Mr Ree.
dear Molly ~ the metaphor is not esoteric by any stretch of the imagination, It is a well known metaphor which draws atention to the propensity of people to miss the whole point by focussing upon minute detail of little relevance to the issue being made. Such as you have done. Above and beyond the fact that "fundamentalists" are referred to in the link is the fact that it is a christian propensity to choose verses of the bible to defend or maintain their stance, all the while ignoring or even refuting biblical verses that contradict them. Someone a while ago in another post even said that certain OT books are no longer used by christians!! There are also certain NT verses that are not followed such as those pertaining to rules about the place of women to their husbands and church ~ being quiet, obedient, covering their heads etc ~ that are similarly picked and chosen to suit. So the point I'm making is that christian bible is composed of an OT and NT, out of which christians simply pick and choose what they will or will not accept as truth. Fact!
As a Christian, it's all truth for me in that it explains God and God's ways in the world, and the whole schema of events and characters working up to Christ, and redemption through Jesus Christ...then what happened after Christ's resurrection with the giving of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the picking and choosing you refer to is when fundamentalist Christians pick some things to follow and not others, which one must do if they take the Bible literally, (because the Bible has contradictions.) If you tried to take it literally, your entire faith would fall apart....because it would rest on the truth of every word of the Bible. This is why some Christians get real hung up about the Creation story. If that's not true, then the whole thing becomes untrue, The Bible is not literal truth. Some Christians say so perhaps. Whoever said that the OT is not part of the Christian Scripture is misunderstanding God's promise: Jesus Christ, the new covenant...a grace given to humankind for free...out of God's love.
