Free ebook "The Authoritarians"

by drew sagan 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  drew sagan

  I'm sure some of the right wingers won't take well to this book. But what the heck, its a fun read!

  http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

  One great example from the book. Described is a research project in which individuals were presented with Bible texts that contradicted one another. The results are discussed:

  I then offered each subject space to explain her position on the Bible under various headings. The first possibility was “There are, in fact, no contradictions or inconsistencies in the four accounts.” Other possibilities attributed the contradictions and inconsistencies to human error in translation, etcetera, or to some of the evangelists getting details wrong, or to the whole thing being a myth.
  
  Most of the fundamentalists stuck by their guns and insisted no contradictions or inconsistencies existed in the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection, no matter what one might point out. I call that dogmatism. Furthermore a curious analogy kept popping up in their defense of this seemingly indefensible stand. Many of them said the evangelists were like witnesses to an automobile accident, each of whom saw the event from a different place, and therefore gave a slightly different account of what had happened. I’m ready to bet they picked up this “analysis-by-analogy” in Sunday school, or some such place. Like the arguments against evolution, you can tell they just swallowed this “explanation” without thinking because it is, in fact, an admission that contradictions and inconsistencies do exist. The “different angles”story just explains how the contradictions got there.
  
  Ultimately the true believers were saying, “I believe so strongly that the Bible is perfect that there’s nothing, not even the Bible itself, that can change my mind.” If that seems like an enormous self-contradiction, put it on the list. We are dealing with very compartmentalized minds. They’re not really interested in coming to grips with what’s actually in the Bible so much as mounting a defense of what they want to believe about the Bible--come Hell or Noah’s high water. 20
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  Satanus

  A kind of insanity.

  S
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  drew sagan

  No takers eh? Oh well
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  BurnTheShips

  Jut curious. I haven't read the book, so I am addressing your comment. How would "right wingerism" cause one to take this book badly? From your cite, it addresses fundamentalist theology, not "right wingerism". The title seems to address authoritarianism, which is just as present on the other side of the political aisle...unless we are using the original (French) meanings for the terms "right wing" versus "left wing."

  BTS
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  drew sagan

  Bts,

  His research delves heavily into the beliefs and worldview of "authoritarian followers". The criteria for these individuals is laid out in his book, as well as the survey tools used to collect data on them. He came up with a lot of interesting ways to collect his data.

  Why did I say "right wingers" might not like it? Here is one (of many) examples from the book:

  To pick a more current example, authoritarian followers believed, more than most people did, President George W. Bush’s false claims that Saddam Hussein had extensive links to al-Qaida, and that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. And they supported the invasion of Iraq, whereas less authoritarian Americans tended to doubt the wisdom of that war from the start13