Edip Yuksel

THE NINETEEN QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN CLERGY

by Edip Yuksel

ISNET Homepage | MEDIA Homepage | Program Kerja | Koleksi | Anggota
| Indeks Antar Agama | Indeks Artikel |

THE ARROW TEST If you were born in India, most likely you would be a Hindu. In Saudi Arabia, a Muslim. In Israel, a Jew. Since you are in the USA, you're most likely a Christian. The dominant religion of your family and your country is more likely to be adopted by you. Why? What is the relationship between religion and geography? Psychological relationship Years ago I did some psychological experiments to explore certain common human behavior. The most interesting one was on conformity and compliance. I wanted to find out how we, as individuals, behave under strong group pressure. How was a minority of one reacting against a unanimous majority? The results were incredible. The Arrow Test For the experiment, I gathered five persons in a room and put them in a line. These participants would be my confederates. I told them that we would perform an experiment on the next person who would enter the room. He would be the last in the line. In the beginning, I would ask them two warm-up questions, and they should give me the correct answers. But, when I ask them the third question (the real one), my confederates one by one, should give me the wrong answer, loudly. When the real participant entered the room, I announced that we would have a test--as if I had never talked about it previously. I started with the two warm-up questions. I drew simple figures on the board and asked them one by one the routine question: which one is similar to this one. After all the five participants gave the correct answer, the real participant also gave the correct answer. They were easy questions. Then, it came to the real question, the easiest one. I asked the following question: which figure on the right side is similar to the figure on the left side? (The tabel is omitted) My confederates, one by one gave the obviously wrong answer. The first person said "C." The second one also said "C." The third followed with "C." All of them gave the same answer. The real participant was in shock. He was amazed at the discrepancy between what he saw and what he heard. When his turn came, after hearing five straight "C"s, he agreed with the majority. The "C" was his answer. He had gone along with the group. Results of the experiments Later, I learned that I was not the first one who conducted this experiment. Between 1951-56, S. E. Asch performed a series of studies on compliance and conformity. Let me summarize the results of his experiments: Asch made his experiments with different length of lines. He asked the participants to match the standard line with the lines on the left. Out of 123 participants, only 29 did not ever conform with the group's decision. 61 participants went along with their groups on occasion. But, 33 conformed to their groups numerous times. They agreed on the obvious wrong answer almost every time. Some participants claimed to actually have seen the wrong line as a correct match. They privately accepted the belief of the majority opinion. About half of the rest of the conformists claimed that they had seen the lines correctly, but that when they heard the majority choice, they decided that they must have been wrong. They then went along with the group. The remaining conformists said that they knew that the answer was not correct but that they had gone along with the group anyway (See Small Group Discussion: a theoretical approach, Charles Pavitt & Ellen Curtis, Gorsuch Scarisbric, Scottsdale, AZ., p 160-165). Conformity, whether in the form of compliance or private acceptance, occurs in every group. If a gang member steals a car the first time, most likely he will continue to do so. He will probably justify that stealing in order to maintain his internal harmony. Religion: the best nest for conformists World religions give hundreds of different answers for a single question. Dogmas attract the highest rate of conformists. Conformity, sooner or later, causes the private acceptance or justification of the dogma. Some people become fanatics, dedicating themselves to the dogma. The old conformists cause the newcomers to conform. This chain attraction goes on. Why is the percentage of religious conformists and their private acceptance so high? There are many reasons: 1. We are exposed to dogmas from childhood. This early exposure to the religion has a great impact on us. For a Hindu, thousands of human gods and holy cows make more sense than everything else. For a Christian, a God with three personalities sacrificing his innocent son for criminals provides the only answer for the purpose of life. For a Muslim Muhammad's name is the only password to heaven. 2. Religious answers are not simple, they are mostly complex and vague. We can interpret any dogma and make it acceptable to us. The way is wide open for justification through endless speculations. 3. Many answers do not have objective validity. Since we cannot verify them, we can easily accept them. 4. Professionalized priesthoods survive on particular dogmas. So, there will always be some well-trained holy sales people around. They are the most effective sales people ever seen in this world. 5. The common religious norms such as "Have faith without reason." or "Don't question." can close all the circuits for any possible intellectual light. 6. Religions do not nakedly expose their false dogmas and myths. They exploit the truth and craftily amalgamate it with myths. The truth such as "God's existence," or "good moral values," attracts many. For the sake of some truth we may accept the mixture to be the whole truth. 7. In religious groups, peer pressure is very strong. The social and psychological punishment for not complying with the religion of our family and friends is usually a deterrent factor. So, we may employ an intellectual censorship to avoid a possible confrontation. 8. Our enigmatic brains can reinforce our private acceptance by playing odd games: selective cognition and logical fallacies can create spiritual experiences. 9. The socio-economic benefits of a religion or cult may force us to rationalize and justify their dogma. Children's questions Here is a bouquet of children's letters to God. They are a selection from Dear God: What Religion Were the Dinosaurs?, David Heller, Bantam Books, New York, 1991. They are from relatively free and innocent minds. They contain serious criticism blended with humor and satire. We hope that we can learn something from our children. Dear God, What does the word begat mean in the Bible. They certainly used it a heck of alot. Pardon my grammer, Dom (age 9) Dear God, I read how you partered the red ocean. That was cool and unbelevable. How come you don't do things spectakquler like that any more. Hard to get up the energy? Dan B. (age 12) Dear Lord. Was the bible the first book? Or did the cavesmen made up stories too. Your friend, Kev (age 9) Dear God, I think you and Jesus are the best. I heard that Jesus was your only begotten son. I cannot understand for the life of me (like my dad says) why you did not permit him to live longer than age 33. Other than that I believe in you with no questions asked. Alex (age 11) God, What do you think of guys like Mohamud, Buuda and the others like them? I do not understand their ideas. But maybe you do. Raymond (age 12) Dear God, You should change the rule on priests and nuns. So they can get married and have kids. Otherwise they get off scott free and can get lonely and get into trouble. I know. My uncle is a priest. Hallelujah, Bonnie (age 10) Dear Saint Augustine, I am writing to you because I thought it might take too long to reach God. I need some help soon. My teacher Sister Mary has it in for me. I didn't do anything wrong. Honest. Anthony (age 9) Dear God, Are preachers like ministers and priests? Are they close to you or do they just talk loud. I say put them in their places and have them stop taking your name in their veings. Francis (age 12) God, Like I said in confession. I am sorry. Please forgive me. And make sure Father Ryan keeps quiet about it. Thank you, Patric (age 11) Attention: God Please tell Rev. Johnson to stop calling you a him every single time he talks about you. Tell him youre a girl and set him strait. Best wishes, Melissa Sue (age 10) Dear God, There should be a book about you. It would be a best seller. They could have a big burning bush and a cross on the cover. If that would not get the people, that would be on the back and they would put a lady all dolled up on the front. That works every time. J.M. (age 10) Dear Mr. God, Do you get drunk on wine like the men in the Bible? My dad drinks too much too. So do not feel bad or sad. You are not alone. Your buddy, Andrew My dad's name is Phil (age 9) God, I hate the taste of wine. Why didn't you have them dirink fruit punch or papaya juice in Israel. Love, Michael (age 11) Dear God, If the last supper was in the morning, would it be called the last breakfast? I love Jesus very much and I wish that he did not have to suffer for our sins. Love, Kenneth (age 12) God/Jesus. I have a box where I keep all my valuabled things and stuff. I want to let you know that I have my cross there. You did not die for nothing. Joe (age 10)

Moslem Questions on Christianity Edip Yuksel P.O. Box 43476, Tucson, AZ 85733-3476 U.S.A. Tel/Fax: (520) 323-7636

| Indeks Antar Agama | Indeks Artikel |
| ISNET Homepage | MEDIA Homepage | Program Kerja | Koleksi | Anggota |

Please direct any suggestion to Media Team

	THE NINETEEN QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN CLERGY by Edip Yuksel ISNET Homepage \| MEDIA Homepage \| Program Kerja \| Koleksi \| Anggota \| Indeks Antar Agama \| Indeks Artikel \|
	THE ARROW TEST If you were born in India, most likely you would be a Hindu. In Saudi Arabia, a Muslim. In Israel, a Jew. Since you are in the USA, you're most likely a Christian. The dominant religion of your family and your country is more likely to be adopted by you. Why? What is the relationship between religion and geography? Psychological relationship Years ago I did some psychological experiments to explore certain common human behavior. The most interesting one was on conformity and compliance. I wanted to find out how we, as individuals, behave under strong group pressure. How was a minority of one reacting against a unanimous majority? The results were incredible. The Arrow Test For the experiment, I gathered five persons in a room and put them in a line. These participants would be my confederates. I told them that we would perform an experiment on the next person who would enter the room. He would be the last in the line. In the beginning, I would ask them two warm-up questions, and they should give me the correct answers. But, when I ask them the third question (the real one), my confederates one by one, should give me the wrong answer, loudly. When the real participant entered the room, I announced that we would have a test--as if I had never talked about it previously. I started with the two warm-up questions. I drew simple figures on the board and asked them one by one the routine question: which one is similar to this one. After all the five participants gave the correct answer, the real participant also gave the correct answer. They were easy questions. Then, it came to the real question, the easiest one. I asked the following question: which figure on the right side is similar to the figure on the left side? (The tabel is omitted) My confederates, one by one gave the obviously wrong answer. The first person said "C." The second one also said "C." The third followed with "C." All of them gave the same answer. The real participant was in shock. He was amazed at the discrepancy between what he saw and what he heard. When his turn came, after hearing five straight "C"s, he agreed with the majority. The "C" was his answer. He had gone along with the group. Results of the experiments Later, I learned that I was not the first one who conducted this experiment. Between 1951-56, S. E. Asch performed a series of studies on compliance and conformity. Let me summarize the results of his experiments: Asch made his experiments with different length of lines. He asked the participants to match the standard line with the lines on the left. Out of 123 participants, only 29 did not ever conform with the group's decision. 61 participants went along with their groups on occasion. But, 33 conformed to their groups numerous times. They agreed on the obvious wrong answer almost every time. Some participants claimed to actually have seen the wrong line as a correct match. They privately accepted the belief of the majority opinion. About half of the rest of the conformists claimed that they had seen the lines correctly, but that when they heard the majority choice, they decided that they must have been wrong. They then went along with the group. The remaining conformists said that they knew that the answer was not correct but that they had gone along with the group anyway (See Small Group Discussion: a theoretical approach, Charles Pavitt & Ellen Curtis, Gorsuch Scarisbric, Scottsdale, AZ., p 160-165). Conformity, whether in the form of compliance or private acceptance, occurs in every group. If a gang member steals a car the first time, most likely he will continue to do so. He will probably justify that stealing in order to maintain his internal harmony. Religion: the best nest for conformists World religions give hundreds of different answers for a single question. Dogmas attract the highest rate of conformists. Conformity, sooner or later, causes the private acceptance or justification of the dogma. Some people become fanatics, dedicating themselves to the dogma. The old conformists cause the newcomers to conform. This chain attraction goes on. Why is the percentage of religious conformists and their private acceptance so high? There are many reasons: 1. We are exposed to dogmas from childhood. This early exposure to the religion has a great impact on us. For a Hindu, thousands of human gods and holy cows make more sense than everything else. For a Christian, a God with three personalities sacrificing his innocent son for criminals provides the only answer for the purpose of life. For a Muslim Muhammad's name is the only password to heaven. 2. Religious answers are not simple, they are mostly complex and vague. We can interpret any dogma and make it acceptable to us. The way is wide open for justification through endless speculations. 3. Many answers do not have objective validity. Since we cannot verify them, we can easily accept them. 4. Professionalized priesthoods survive on particular dogmas. So, there will always be some well-trained holy sales people around. They are the most effective sales people ever seen in this world. 5. The common religious norms such as "Have faith without reason." or "Don't question." can close all the circuits for any possible intellectual light. 6. Religions do not nakedly expose their false dogmas and myths. They exploit the truth and craftily amalgamate it with myths. The truth such as "God's existence," or "good moral values," attracts many. For the sake of some truth we may accept the mixture to be the whole truth. 7. In religious groups, peer pressure is very strong. The social and psychological punishment for not complying with the religion of our family and friends is usually a deterrent factor. So, we may employ an intellectual censorship to avoid a possible confrontation. 8. Our enigmatic brains can reinforce our private acceptance by playing odd games: selective cognition and logical fallacies can create spiritual experiences. 9. The socio-economic benefits of a religion or cult may force us to rationalize and justify their dogma. Children's questions Here is a bouquet of children's letters to God. They are a selection from Dear God: What Religion Were the Dinosaurs?, David Heller, Bantam Books, New York, 1991. They are from relatively free and innocent minds. They contain serious criticism blended with humor and satire. We hope that we can learn something from our children. Dear God, What does the word begat mean in the Bible. They certainly used it a heck of alot. Pardon my grammer, Dom (age 9) Dear God, I read how you partered the red ocean. That was cool and unbelevable. How come you don't do things spectakquler like that any more. Hard to get up the energy? Dan B. (age 12) Dear Lord. Was the bible the first book? Or did the cavesmen made up stories too. Your friend, Kev (age 9) Dear God, I think you and Jesus are the best. I heard that Jesus was your only begotten son. I cannot understand for the life of me (like my dad says) why you did not permit him to live longer than age 33. Other than that I believe in you with no questions asked. Alex (age 11) God, What do you think of guys like Mohamud, Buuda and the others like them? I do not understand their ideas. But maybe you do. Raymond (age 12) Dear God, You should change the rule on priests and nuns. So they can get married and have kids. Otherwise they get off scott free and can get lonely and get into trouble. I know. My uncle is a priest. Hallelujah, Bonnie (age 10) Dear Saint Augustine, I am writing to you because I thought it might take too long to reach God. I need some help soon. My teacher Sister Mary has it in for me. I didn't do anything wrong. Honest. Anthony (age 9) Dear God, Are preachers like ministers and priests? Are they close to you or do they just talk loud. I say put them in their places and have them stop taking your name in their veings. Francis (age 12) God, Like I said in confession. I am sorry. Please forgive me. And make sure Father Ryan keeps quiet about it. Thank you, Patric (age 11) Attention: God Please tell Rev. Johnson to stop calling you a him every single time he talks about you. Tell him youre a girl and set him strait. Best wishes, Melissa Sue (age 10) Dear God, There should be a book about you. It would be a best seller. They could have a big burning bush and a cross on the cover. If that would not get the people, that would be on the back and they would put a lady all dolled up on the front. That works every time. J.M. (age 10) Dear Mr. God, Do you get drunk on wine like the men in the Bible? My dad drinks too much too. So do not feel bad or sad. You are not alone. Your buddy, Andrew My dad's name is Phil (age 9) God, I hate the taste of wine. Why didn't you have them dirink fruit punch or papaya juice in Israel. Love, Michael (age 11) Dear God, If the last supper was in the morning, would it be called the last breakfast? I love Jesus very much and I wish that he did not have to suffer for our sins. Love, Kenneth (age 12) God/Jesus. I have a box where I keep all my valuabled things and stuff. I want to let you know that I have my cross there. You did not die for nothing. Joe (age 10)
	Moslem Questions on Christianity Edip Yuksel P.O. Box 43476, Tucson, AZ 85733-3476 U.S.A. Tel/Fax: (520) 323-7636
	\| Indeks Antar Agama \| Indeks Artikel \| \| ISNET Homepage \| MEDIA Homepage \| Program Kerja \| Koleksi \| Anggota \| Please direct any suggestion to Media Team