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DarkJedi wrote:
The problem with such a survey/report would be that the reason people think people are inactive often has little to do with the real reason they are.
It would have to be collected from the inactive members directly, and care would have to be taken to not imply a reason where none is stated.
Quote:When I was inactive I didn’t tell anybody why and few asked.
And therein lies part of the problem; a couple times when I’ve missed a few weeks in a row, I’ve gotten more of a “we don’t care why you left, we just want you to come back” as if I’d been hiding in shame over something. People need to start caring why inactives left, because I’m pretty sure most of them aren’t hiding from something they did.
Some people believe they already know the reasons. Sometimes when we think we already know the answer it doesn’t even cross our minds to question. nibbler wrote:Some people believe they already know the reasons. Sometimes when we think we already know the answer it doesn’t even cross our minds to question.
I have been listening to a podcast that was mentioned on Rational Faiths. It is called, “You are not so smart”. One instance talked about how our brains compulsively paint a picture of us. If we do something that is against our moral compass, we will almost immediately “justify” it to calm our brain down. I suspect that some people just don’t feel comfortable in church and just don’t want to come and they will create some story to make their brain calm down. I think many do this same projection on others. “He must have been offended or sinned and that is why he does not come” is easier for our mind to handle than, “he felt so unwelcomed it hurt him emotionally to come each week.” I see a bunch of this same thing going on with the BYU rape/honor code office debacle that is going on. I think there is evidence that some almost want to find that the woman who was raped (which I would consider a sin next to murder) broke some rule so they can feel comforted that if we all just kept the rules then we would all be safe. It is illogical. If being alone in a room with the opposite sex is “placing you in the power of the devil and you were asking for it” then why are students allowed to go on dates where they are alone with someone else? Rapes never happen in cars??? I think not.LookingHard wrote:I think there is evidence that some almost want to find that the woman who was raped (which I would consider a sin next to murder) broke some rule so they can feel comforted that if we all just kept the rules then we would all be safe.
This unfortunately is human nature. It is called the just world hypothesis. If the world is just then good things will happen to good people and bad things will happen to bad people. I feel that Christianity and Mormonism in particular reinforces the just world hypothesis. First Our focus on families increases the likelihood of stable homes. People from these sort of “sheltered” childhoods tend to have stronger expectations of justice. Next our theology explicitly states that when we make good choices we are “blessed.” This ties into what some have termed “the prosperity gospel.”
LookingHard wrote:I have been listening to a podcast that was mentioned on Rational Faiths. It is called, “You are not so smart”. One instance talked about how our brains compulsively paint a picture of us. If we do something that is against our moral compass, we will almost immediately “justify” it to calm our brain down.
This is the nature of cognitive dissonance. When we act against our beliefs, or in ways that make us uncomfortable, we tend to rationalize them to release the tension. Very common in religious circles when there is evidence that contradicts doctrine or core beliefs…
Quote:This unfortunately is human nature. It is called the just world hypothesis. If the world is just then good things will happen to good people and bad things will happen to bad people. I feel that Christianity and Mormonism in particular reinforces the just world hypothesis. First Our focus on families increases the likelihood of stable homes. People from these sort of “sheltered” childhoods tend to have stronger expectations of justice. Next our theology explicitly states that when we make good choices we are “blessed.” This ties into what some have termed “the prosperity gospel.”
My understanding of the just world hypothesis is a bit different — correct me if I’m wrong — but I believe it means that people believe that wrongs in this life will be “righted” eventually. SWK quoted James E Talmage as saying “every trial we experience in this life has a compensating blessing in the next, provided the trial is met with patience”. This to me is the essence of the just world hypothesis minus the patience condition at the end. SWK made this comment in his talk “Death — Tragedy or Destiny”.
Quote:Some people believe they already know the reasons. Sometimes when we think we already know the answer it doesn’t even cross our minds to question.
or seek improvement / progress / continuing revelation / further light and knowledge
Certainty is the enemy of eternal progression.
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