christian living on Cognitive Dissonance

We will often stop at nothing to avoid cognitive dissonance. We will twist logic, bend reason, conveniently forget facts, invent new stories, even destroy relationships—all in the name of preserving o...

As soon as we know that we are wrong, we aren’t wrong anymore, since to recognize a belief as false is to stop believing it. Thus we can only say “I was wrong.” Call it the Heisenberg Uncertainty Prin...

“It’s not denial. I’m just selective about the reality I accept.

It is always easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

We have all had the experience of finding that our reactions and perhaps even our deeds have denied beliefs we thought were ours.

Self-deception is a major part of what defeats spiritual formation in Christ. In self-deception the individual or group refuses to acknowledge factors in their life of which they are dimly conscious. ...

Reality is what doesn’t go away when you stop believing in it.

It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment but not in matters of conscience.

Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.

Our goodness is our biggest self-delusion, and all of us seem to be living with it.

Dear Everybody, We have a serious problem: All of us think we’re good people. But Jesus says we’re not. Sincerely, Brant P. Hansen …PS. IF YOU THINK I’M WRONG—about how we think we’re good people...

Our propensity to deceive ourselves about our place and purpose makes it so very difficult to see the truth of our lives, to understand the meaning of our moment in history and our responsibility to i...

Before God can deliver us we must undeceive ourselves.

One of the most enduring lessons of social psychology is that behavior change often precedes changes in attitude and feelings.

When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am...

There is something profoundly hypocritical about praising God for God’s mighty deeds of salvation and cooperating at the same time with the demons of destruction, whether by neglecting to do good or b...

Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).

Force may make hypocrites, but it can never make converts.

In an attempt to engage in critical thinking, scholars suggest asking whether our opinions are true by simply asking if the opposite could be true. This practice (I’m not joking) is named after on an ...

Those who can’t change their minds can’t change anything.

Religion says, "I obey; therefore I am accepted." Christianity says, "I’m accepted, therefore I obey."

“I’m not a good person” is a shockingly countercultural thing to say. We all want to think we’re “clean” and that we’ve avoided whatever “big sins” are on our own personal lists. But we trust ourselve...

Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.

A police officer pulled a driver aside and asked for his license and registration. “What’s wrong, officer,” the driver asked. “I didn’t go through any red lights, and I certainly wasn’t speeding.” “N...

If I am in denial about my own weaknesses and sin, there will be a concomitant blindness to the greatness and glory of God.

You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good term...

Persecution is simply the clash between two irreconcilable value-systems.

I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.

Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.