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Yes. Compartmentalisation is a huge part of it. I am constantly mouth-agape when one points out gaping holes in some belief systems, holes that are equivalent to very bad computer programming resulting in program crashes, and people still manage to carry on with their beliefs that have just been shown to be completely at odds with other beliefs held by the same people.
It's like there is a internal editor/censor on the payroll in someone's brain who is paid to prevent the owner seeing anything contradictory. The data goes in the eyes and ears but it is re-routed before it gets to the logical reasoning part of the brain. It obviously makes life easier for some people (the system with the editor)
Good post. Gonna' put it on my FB page.
I've been saying the same thing for a very long time. Why do otherwise rational people decide to believe - at least to an extent - in absolutely crazy things? We laugh at Mormons and Scientologists but the truth is that their insanity is no more insane than things the majority of humans believe in every single day. The difference is, we've heard the other insanity for so long that it becomes a reality, even though this is simply due to it being an ingrained part of our culture. Mormonism is new, therefore we can look a bit more critically at it than we can at the things we take for granted.
I've heard people say that the universe didn't create itself, therefore there MUST be a God. I point out that having the universe create itself is no weirder than saying there was already a being in place (that was never born and can never die) that had the magic to create the universe. God is around because God is more palatable to human understanding. He is the ultimate answer to everything, just as long as we don't question His intentions or how He came to be the single absolute power in the universe. Oh yeah, He's also around to smite your enemies, justify all of your causes, keep people subservient and give power to a select few men who claim to carry out His work. My Buddy God can beat up your Buddy God during recess, then you need to give me your lunch money because I'm chosen by my invisible friend.
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints says that church leadership is on a witch hunt against him after he criticized Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
David Twede, a fifth-generation Mormon, told The Daily Beast that on Sunday his bishop and three other church leaders in Orlando ordered him to “Cease and desist, Brother Twede” after they found discussions about Romney at the blog MormonThink.com.
Twede said that he felt “attacked, cornered, and very anxious” as the church officials informed him that they had scheduled a Sept. 30 excommunication “for apostasy.”
Oh my: Mormon church threatens to excommunicate member who criticized Romney | The Raw Story
To be fair, "Don't think for yourself" isn't just a Mormon creed but rather the central theme for pretty much any religion. Mormon's are just in the spotlight right now because their golden calf might be the next leader of the free world.