"The Internet destroys religion" may be one extreme tabloid interpretation of an recent study on the topic: "How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion" The decrease in religious affiliation is found to strongly correlate with a decrease in the chance of religious affiliation. There are lots of possible explanations, but I would like to offer one option here: People are scared of conclusions to troublesome questions, and any answer that gives a comfortable escape is gratefully adopted. We see this in climate change denialism ... where the slightest alternative explanation is leaped upon. We see it in conspiracy theories, where remote possible theories are adopted as fact. Both happen because they fuel an inner desire for a specific outcome, and both are fed by exposure to the Internet. Couple this with an increase in education (theoretically) which feeds the arrogance that knowledge is wisdom, and the outcome is not surprising. Yet these examples merely display an unconcious, and not-unnatural fear of facing conclusions that, from an external perspective, greatly disturb our comfort zones of ego and self-aspiration. God appears threatening to one who doesn't know him personally; the perception is that freedom will be removed, joy destroyed, and self-will replaced by rules (see planned freedom). To get through this misconception requires courage and intellectual honesty. No wonder CS Lewis called himself one of the most reluctant converts in history, yet afterwards peppered all his writings with the effusive knowledge of Joy.
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Required Name
7/4/2014 01:37:21 pm
"People are scared of conclusions to troublesome questions, and any answer that gives a comfortable escape is gratefully adopted."
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Hadassah
8/4/2014 06:51:18 am
Thanks ... you might be surprised to know I agree ... if by religion you mean the familiarity of mystical rituals encapsulated in institutionalized structures.
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Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
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