Religious people tend to use their own beliefs as a guide in thinking about what God believes, but are less constrained when reasoning about other peopleâ’s beliefs, according to new study published in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Nicholas Epley, professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicagoâ’s Booth School of Business, led the research, which included a series of survey and neuroimaging studies to examine the extent to which peopleâ’s own beliefs guide their predictions about Godâ’s beliefs. The findings of Epley and his co-authors at Australiaâ’s Monash University and UChicago extend existing work in psychology showing that people are often egocentric when they infer other peopleâ’s beliefs.
Seven Separate Studies
- The first four include surveys of Boston rail commuters, UChicago undergraduate students and a nationally representative database of online respondents in the United States. In these surveys, participants reported their own belief about an issue, their estimated Godâ’s belief, along with a variety of others, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Major League Baseballâ’s Barry Bonds, President George W. Bush, and an average American.
- Two other studies directly manipulated peopleâ’s own beliefs and found that inferences about Godâ’s beliefs tracked their own beliefs. Study participants were asked, for example, to write and deliver a speech that supported or opposed the death penalty in front of a video camera. Their beliefs were surveyed both before and after the speech.
- The final study involved functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure the neural activity of test subjects as they reasoned about their own beliefs versus those of God or another person. The data demonstrated that reasoning about Godâ’s beliefs activated many of the same regions that become active when people reasoned about their own beliefs.
Findings
The researchers noted that people often set their moral compasses according to what they presume to be Godâ’s standards. â’The central feature of a compass, however, is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing,â’ they conclude. â’This research suggests that, unlike an actual compass, inferences about Godâ’s beliefs may instead point people further in whatever direction they are already facing.â’
Final Thoughts
Duh. How many times have we read about or listened to religious folks who seem to know God’s wants and desires. For example; the United States is now nor have ever been a “Christian Nation”; “God Hates Fags” or my favorite lie “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin”. It is time people took one look at those who are spewing from their mouths “god’s words” because I don’t see these changes:
Leviticus 11:10
“But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you, and they shall be abhorrent to you; you may not eat of their flesh, and their carcasses you shall detest.”
Shellfish out! Close down the ‘Red Lobster’
Leviticus 11:6 to 11:8
“the rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you; and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud, it is unclean to you. You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you”
No pork chops or bacon.
Leviticus 19:19
“‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.”
No more cotton/polyester blend!
Leviticus 19:27
“You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard.”
Leviticus 18:28
“You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD”
God hates tattoos and body piercing!
Next time anyone talks to you about “god’s views” check the tag of their clothes for mixing of fabric, had bacon for breakfast, does she wax her beard, is he clean shaven, or sporting any tats or pierced ears.