How to believe “impossible things� – Practice

[Zzyzx]

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How to believe “impossible things� – Practice, practice, practice

“‘There’s no use trying,’ [Alice] said: ’one can’t believe impossible things.’ 
�’I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ’When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’� — Lewis Carroll, “Through the Looking Glass.�

The process is best started in childhood; the earlier the better. Practice believing that monsters live under the bed, that invisible friends are real, that the tooth fairy leaves money and Santa leaves presents.

Then graduate to believing that donkeys and serpents can speak human language, that people can live for three days inside a fish (or whale) and emerge preaching, that the Earth can stop rotating (‘sun stood still’), a haircut can reduce strength, the Earth can flood ‘to the tops of mountains’, people lived hundreds of years, etc. Steadfastly maintain that all those things are possible (assume a supernatural influence / invisible friend). There is no need to continue claiming that the Sun revolves around the Earth – that battle was lost a couple centuries ago.

Reinforce beliefs with weekly meetings and occasional ‘revivals’, ‘retreats’ or ‘camps’. Encourage frequent personal ‘devotional’ time and reading of approved tales (particularly the ‘good parts’). Discourage critical / analytical thinking (or ‘too much education’), and asking of difficult questions. Concentrate on promises of rewards for belief and punishment for disbelief (both supposedly collectible after you die).

Use social pressure to gain conformity. Demonize non-believers to insulate believers from alternative thinking that might expose flaws in the party line. Emphasize ‘us vs. them’ attitudes. Exile non-believers from the believing community (including their family and former friends).

Glorify believing on ‘faith’ in the absence of verifiable supporting evidence. Attack sources of contradictory information. Discredit and demean competing gods and religions – repeat “My god is bigger and better than your god: or “My god is real and yours is fake.�

[Divine Insight]

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Exile non-believers from the believing community (including their family and former friends).

As far as I'm concerned this is why theology should not qualify as a valid academic subject. At least not unless it's treated entirely as fiction such as in the studies of mythologies, etc.

Why?

Because as soon as a person realizes that theology cannot be true and takes the position of a "non-believer", they are basically exiled from the theological community as no longer being valid "Theologians".

In other words, theology basically requires belief. If non-believers were allowed to be recognized as valid "theologians" then we would have tons of professional theologians pointing out why these ancient fables cannot possibly be true.

So academia needs to step up to the plate here and renounce theology as a valid academic subject, unless it's acknowledged to have no more credibility than mythology. We can certainly study ancient theologies as mythologies, that's valid history. But trying to maintain them as a valid academic study to be taken seriously is a practice that is long overdue serious reassessment.

It's basically a social hang-over from days when belief in these things was almost socially mandatory. Non-believers were treated as "heathens" who blaspheme against the "Word of God", etc.

This is especially true of these Abraham religions that are founded on this very principle of discrediting anyone who refuses to climb on board with these theologies.

Academia really needs to wake-up and reassess this entire situation. At the very least they need to encourage non-believers to become valid "Theologians" who point out why these theologies cannot be true. The field of theology would soon become a "house divided against itself" once non-believing "theologians" were recognized as being academically valid authorities on the subject. At least just as valid as the believing theologians.

As an academic discipline it would die a quick death if non-believers were recognized as having just as valid input as the believers.

Otherwise, "Theology" basically remains not much more than "Bible Study Class" for believers, where non-believers are exiled for not believing.

[JJ50]

Religion forces impossible garbage on the gullible, imo.