Not long ago, I made a new e-mail friend in Germany. One of the e-mails I received from her was sent after she'd read another section of my site wherein I first put down my atheistic views, before the Attic was even the glimmer of an idea in my head.
The one thing that she asked me that I think many people might wonder, is why exactly do I feel the need to put these thoughts out on the Web? It's not like I'm going to change the minds of believers, right? Doubters might find some food for thought, she admitted, but beyond that, there doesn't seem to be much reason for the existence of this forum.
I thought about that and responded accordingly. But afterward, I thought about it more, and realized I hadn't fully understood myself why I was doing this. It's more than just providing grist for the mills of those who aren't sure of their beliefs. It's actually a challenge to the believers. And it all comes down to something I learned about while studying psychology in college.
It's easy enough for me, or most of the visitors to this site, to look at the edicts of religion and see them as the absurd, contradictory things that they are. But we all know true believers out there who see no absurdities, no contradictions. Why don't they see them? Because of their reactions to what's known as "cognitive dissonance."
Basically, this is what we experience when we encounter two thoughts or feelings, ideas or opinions, that are conflicting. For example, let's say you buy a Rolex watch. You paid a bundle for it, and man, is it nice! So you have it a while, and you get the vague idea that it may not keep time quite as well as your old Timex. Nor is it as comfortable on your wrist. Cognitive dissonance emerges here, because you are of the opinion that the Rolex is in all ways superior, yet your memory tells you that you enjoyed the feel of the cheaper Timex better, and had to adjust the time on it less frequently.
Sometimes, we can't justify acknowledging the truth, which in this case is that the Timex is the better watch. So we rationalize. We tell ourselves that no, we must have re-set the Timex just as often. And we say we'll get used to the feel of the Rolex, much as we must surely have done with the other watch.
In other words, we deceive ourselves.
And sometimes we realize we're doing this, all by ourselves. In the case of religion, this often causes us to become agnostics or atheists. But sometimes it takes someone else pointing out to us, "You sure do have to adjust the time on that thing a lot, don't you?" Only then can we pull the wool from over our eyes and see the truth.
So I guess that's why I do this. To dispel the rationalizations that some believers have as a result of the cognitive dissonance they're experiencing. It's not accurate to believe that nothing can get through to the very religious. I've known very religious people who've turned away from it.
I wasn't "very" religious, as a youth, but it was the cognitive dissonance that caused me to change. To change, you need to you realize that the religion you're espousing is, in fact, contradictory… that it doesn't, in fact, live up to its own hype.
And if it takes the words of someone else to help you see these things, that's fine. I'll be glad to help.
