“People often react most defensively when challenged not on their firmly held beliefs but on beliefs they wish were true but suspect at some level to be false...”
- Christopher F. Chabris
* Snagged from an acquaintance's site as I thought it might be of interest here.
I have often found such a thing to be true. I have experienced many times a very violent reaction when cracks are pointed out in one's set of beliefs. I can recall acting the same way when I was a JW to tough challenges. Why do people react this way?
I highly suspect that the main reason is fear of the unknown, of having their rules about life called into question. We, as humans, seem to tend towards order. We need that order to, well, order our lives. We also want hope. We want to believe in some better future. When all of that is called into question, it seems understandable for me that people react in such a way.
But I think, really, it is a sign of weakness as well. The chaos that any real challenge to our beliefs threatens requires strength to maintain within. In the unknown, in that chaos, there is the risk of madness. We've all heard stories of an elder, brother, or sister who had to be placed in a psychiatric ward after being disfellowshipped... perhaps the strain of keeping the threads together was simply too much to bear?
Fear of the unknown, of chaos. Also, fear of our own power and of the responsibility we must take when confronted with the great unknown, all alone.
Perhaps, just perhaps, there is not such a gift of heaven, or everlasting life in store for us? Perhaps, just perhaps, this is all there is. Perhaps when we die, there is nothing else. Perhaps we must make the very best of this life, now.
What sort of strength and courage might it take to accept such a possibility? What would such a person be like?