Peter Kirby

What is the fundamental irrational trait shared by most Xians, and why do they have it, if there is one?

Please give a scientific answer.

best,
Peter Kirby

Seeker196

EDIT: there cannot be a 'scientific' answer to this question because 'Christian' is an imprecise term and encompasses many people whose views are 'compartmentalized' or fragmented, i.e. the Christian hell-believerwho goes on about his daily life as normal, as if thousands of his friends and relatives are not in danger of eternal severe torture.

But here is the subjective answer:

Fear.

Fear leads to the need for and love of 'capital letter' Authority.

It leads one to not be able to accept the that you are a finite being who will one day cease to exist, in fact even friends and loved ones are.

Fear of chaos and lack of order. There is no plan.

Fear of uncertainty.

Fear of the Unknown. In the Christian worldview, there is an explanation for everything.

Free of freedom. True freedom is scary, because it implies total responsiblity for ones actions.

DBT

That is also the way I see it,and summed up nicely by T.S Elliot-
'Humanity cannot bear much reality'

Peter Kirby

Good answers, but do they tell us just about xianity but how much about you as well? How would I know?

Do they apply in the same way to non-xian religion?

best,
Peter Kirby

Clutch

Peter, I don' think there's any one fundamental irrationality to Christians. The mechanisms that prop up their beliefs are the same ones that prop up unwarranted beliefs of very different kinds -- beliefs in everything from the predictive utility of quarterback ratings to the efficacy of spanking children for discipline. There are many such mechanisms, with none of them obviously more fundamental so far as I can see, nor even specific to religion.

The scientific answers underlying my answer are supplied predominately by cognitive and social psychology. A useful, accessible, and independently interesting source is Thomas Gilovich's How We Know What Isn't So.

sensate

I think the uifying irrationality among many Christians is that ideas which are appealing and they think should be true must be true. A loving god seems like a good idea so it must be so.

Therefore things that aren't appealing aren't true. Evolving from some "lower" animal or lifeform doesn't sound so good so it must be false. Special creation sounds better so it must be true.

RED DAVE

For me, it seems to come down to their faith.

My experience with xtians is that, deep down inside, there is a reliance on faith as a reality-testing method, which they apply selectively. Amore rational xtain applies the faith criterion to religion only. The crazier ones use it for everything; hence, their paranoid approach to collective behavior.

RED DAVE

bleubird

For me, and i can only assume for most ,it is cultural.As I was raised catholic and that is just the way it was. Did not question it
much untill I left home.


bleubird

Sensei Meela

In general, I offer that it comes down to the willingness to accept what one is told (particularly if by respected acquaintances) with little or no further examination. Especially if it is something one wants to hear.

Heh, that's partly how a show like "Joe Millionare" operates.

Not very scientific, I know, but I don't see the question as being implicitly correct anyways (as if there were one single 'trait' of God belief that all the faithful have in common). And yes, I see this as something at work in non-chrisitian religions and even non-religious beliefs as well (ie gossip/rumor).

Madkins007

Hmmm... with the studies that seem to hint that a belief if God is somehow hardwired in the brain (very tentative, I know, and very open to debate), maybe it is not the theists that have a fundamental irrationality?