Heaven, Hell And False Memories

[slave2six]

False memories are semantic or autobiographical memories that did not occur. That people believe these memories to be accurate does not alter the fact that they are not.

 

There is no dispute that false memories are common and the importance of this phenomenon has gained recognition in recent years, particularly as it relates to the criminal justice system and "eyewitness testimony."

 

Thinking about the Christian story and the Gospels, we are asked to believe that Heaven and Hell are hanging in the balance and god relied on decades-old memories of human beings to relate this message to humanity as a whole. One thing that we know is that humans reconstruct memories and that as time passes, those memories are rewritten in our heads and that input from others also corrupts the memory. It may seem like we remember actual events, but the greater the time between the even occurring and it being documents, the more susceptible it is to being false.

 

The study of how we function is fascinating to me. But the more we learn about ourselves, the more obvious it seems to me that there is simply no way that there is anything like an intelligent god such as the Christians describe. If such a god did exist and designed us, it would not be so stupid as to let the "eternal plan of salvation" rest on hearsay and faulty memories of old men.

 

You wouldn't.

 

Neither would I. 

 

It boils down to a simple choice to me: I prefer no god to one that is so blatantly idiotic.

[amateur]

Weren't false memories a big deal in the 80's, and some psychologists could make their patients believe false things?  This led to some horrific accusations of sexual and satanic abuse where people were wrongly arrested and children taken away.  

 

From Wikipedia:

 

"Beginning in 1983, Jordan was swept up in an instance of what was alleged to be satanic ritual abuse, part of a national trend of day-care sex-abuse hysteria. Twenty-four adults were arrested and charged with acts of sexual abuse, child pornography and other crimes. Ultimately, the accused were exonerated of any wrongdoing, though many were profoundly affected, financially and emotionally, by the scandal.

"James Rud was the only person convicted of sexual abuse of children in Scott County. See Report on Scott County Investigations, Hubert H. Humphrey III, Attorney General (Feb. 12, 1985).^[7]

"The case was made the subject of a song by Big Black titled "Jordan, Minnesota", which appears on the album Atomizer.^[8]"

 

I read a book about it while I was in Jordan, and it was disgusting what they did to the kids to make them believe that sexual and satanic abuse had happened.  Some people's lives were completely destroyed, their children taken away for no reason.  The kids had to undergo therapy for the "therapy" they had received which taught them of the abuse because now these little kids actually believed they had been raped and tortured and had seen babies sacrificed.

 

So yes, people can be made to believe things that aren't real.  It's just how we're wired.  And indoctrinating little kids wires things into their brains, which is why some of us torture ourselves over horrible thoughts of hell.

 

I can't believe in god any more for a lot of reasons.  But the more I learn about psychology and how our brains work, about neurological injuries and how they affect how we perceive everything, the less I can believe anything regarding a story as silly as heaven and hell and a skydaddy who's invisible but wasn't always and his son who made random miracles but doesn't any more.  People just don't want to think about dying, so they make that shit up.

[chrisstavrous]

Interesting.

[slave2six]

Weren't false memories a big deal in the 80's, and some psychologists could make their patients believe false things?  This led to some horrific accusations of sexual and satanic abuse where people were wrongly arrested and children taken away.  

 

From Wikipedia:

 

"Beginning in 1983, Jordan was swept up in an instance of what was alleged to be satanic ritual abuse, part of a national trend of day-care sex-abuse hysteria. Twenty-four adults were arrested and charged with acts of sexual abuse, child pornography and other crimes. Ultimately, the accused were exonerated of any wrongdoing, though many were profoundly affected, financially and emotionally, by the scandal.

"James Rud was the only person convicted of sexual abuse of children in Scott County. See Report on Scott County Investigations, Hubert H. Humphrey III, Attorney General (Feb. 12, 1985).^[7]

"The case was made the subject of a song by Big Black titled "Jordan, Minnesota", which appears on the album Atomizer.^[8]"

 

Yikes! I didn't know about that. I totally believe it though.

 

indoctrinating little kids wires things into their brains

 

This is why I cannot let go of the whole Christian thing. Wish I could. And you're right, that's why there always that "what if" floating around in our thoughts.

 

the more I learn about psychology and how our brains work, about neurological injuries and how they affect how we perceive everything, the less I can believe

 

Me too. It has been tremendously helpful to me through the deconversion process to read up on these disciplines and discoveries. If I was running a school, I'd make this mandatory for social science curriculum. 

[Fweethawt]

The word 'CONFABULATION'... Look it up.

[amateur]

I looked up confabulation.  Yes, exactly.