Quote:
Originally Posted by Sliver
Are we talking at the Vatican? I don't know. I suspect a lot don't. I don't see how you could study this stuff for a lifetime and conclude it's true. I don't see how you could be part of the decision-making apparatus of men and believe a statement that no doubt would have gone through multiple drafts was somehow divinely inspired. I'm sure some naïve ones do fully believe, but at the higher levels these guys have worked their way up to and given they know how the sausage is made, I just can't see them being full believers.
All of the above is a giant guess, though. Not sure how you'd know for sure, but it'd sure be nice to give them truth serum and ask some questions.
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It is because we as human beings do not by default make decisions on the basis of clear-eyed honest appraisals of facts and evidence. The fact the we require rigorous conditioning just to learn the basics of critical thinking—and even then most fail spectacularly to exercise it—attests to just how unnatural it is to form beliefs through "study." There are all sorts of much more powerful and affective social, cultural, tribal, economic and psychological pressures that inform religious beliefs, foster their development, and ensure their maintenance. Leaders in the Catholic Church may be more well informed than most, but they are in no way immune to the same irrationality that infects humanity.