Cognitive Dissonance related thought, your input please.

by notjustyet 2 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  notjustyet

  I was going over the term cognitive dissonance at wikipedia and came across this sub topic.

  Before I "taint" the jury, let me know how, if any, the WTBTS use this "The Effort-Justification Paradigm"

  Especially regarding the "sever initiation portion.

  NJY

  The Effort-Justification Paradigm

  Further information: Effort justification

  Dissonance is aroused whenever individuals voluntarily engage in an unpleasant activity to achieve some desired goal. Dissonance can be reduced by exaggerating the desirability of the goal. Aronson & Mills [19] had individuals undergo a severe or mild "initiation" in order to become a member of a group. In the severe-initiation condition, the individuals engaged in an embarrassing activity. The group they joined turned out to be very dull and boring. The individuals in the severe-initiation condition evaluated the group as more interesting than the individuals in the mild-initiation condition.

  All of the above paradigms continue to be used in fruitful research.

  Washing one's hands has been shown to eliminate post-decisional dissonance, presumably because the dissonance is often caused by moral disgust (with oneself) which is related to disgust from unsanitary conditions. [20] [21]
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  wasblind

  WASHING AWAY THE STINK OF BEING A FALSE PROPHET

  Dueteronomy 18: 22 say's

  " when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not come true,

  that is the word Jehovah did not speak."

  BUT

  " Jehovah Witnesses do not claim to be inspired prophets "-------------- Reasoning book page 136

  WE ONLY

  "............claim to represent God........and use God's personal name........measuring up to this

  important qualification of a true prophet "--------------Reasoning book page 133

  AND WE MADE A

  "Prophecy.......of something to come "-------------Reasoning book page 295

  LIKE

  " The present wicked system of things, which extends worldwide, entered its last days

  in 1914, and some of the generation "alive then " will also be on hand to witness its complete

  end in the "great tribulation."-------------Reasoning book page 234

  SO WE

  " Look to the Govering body.......... to resolve difficult questions. "-------------Reasoning book page 205

  LIKE

  " My minister said that jehovah witnesses are false prophets."------------------Reasoning book page 137

  AND WE MIGHT REPLY

  " Did he show you anything in the bible that describe.......... false prophets ??

  May I show you how the bible describes false prophets????--------------Reasoning book page 137

  Oops, what do you know Jehovah's witnesses ARE false indeed

  .
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  Cold Steel

  That's hilarious!

  Post-decisional dissonance is often suffered by rape victims who [mistakenly] blame themselves for the attack. It is not experienced by many JWs unless those witnesses have a feeling that they've lied or misrepresented the truth to someone. They may know, for example, that the New Testament scriptures liken our bodies to tabernacles. They may then read Phillipians 1, where Paul writes: " For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." Then you stumble on 1 Peter 3, where Peter states: " For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." You ask how preaching to the dead can enable them to be judged " according to men in the flesh" but live "according to God in the spirit."

  Now, knowing all this, they go out to visit some investigators that don't know much about the scriptures. You have them open their little booklet and read from it, assuring them there is no such thing as a human spirit -- that it's all Greek fantasy that was adopted by later [apostate] Christians. So even as they're nodding in consent, you're suddenly hit with guilt. You knew what the booklet said, but now you know that may not be true. After all, you wonder, is there a reason most Christians believe humans have spirits within them? And did you just mislead those two people -- people who may invest the rest of their lives in a religion you now know may not be true? And any children they may have? You worry about this for the next several days but ultimately do nothing. This is cognitive dissonance, which is anxiety resulting from inconsistency between one's beliefs and one's actions.

  Most JWs don't spend enough time reading other Bibles enough to know when they're teaching such conflicts. Their Bibles are carefully "translated" so as to remove such conflicts entirely. At the same time, all doubts should not be expected to be resolved. There are still leaps of faith Christians have to make; however, when inconsistencies are as conspicuous as whether man has a spirit presents itself, more investigation is called for and should not be ignored. That's where prayer and intelligence comes into play.