First of all, for those of you who believe this thread has no relevance to
the teaching of psychology (and why are you anal retentive sticklers still
subscribed to TIPS anyway? Your remaining presence on the list comes close
to a violation of the Law of Effect), I spent a good part of my Cognitive
Psychology class today, which is currently discussing Categorization and
Person Perception on how we categorize people with labels like "Christian".
I actually referenced our discussion on TIPS when our class discussed the
idea that some choose to find a distinction between the actual and the ideal
and make a distinction between those who call themselves Christians and
those who actually follow the teachings of Christ. Others classify people as
Christians on the basis of self-report and then judge the behavior of
Christians as being reflective of the effects of belief in the Christian
religion. In any case, we will never get away from such labeling, although
labeling is not PC, because all learning is the result of categorization and
some of what we know about a person's categorical memberships may help us
understand and predict some of their behavior. However, stereotypes become
dangerous when they become hardened and inflexible and when we assume every
member of a category is reflective of the features that are common to the
category.
I previously wrote:
> certainly be no need for counselors. Even if you believe in the authority
of
> the Bible, understanding of the scripture will still require thought and
> discernment and often people of good will end up on opposite sides of many
> issues. I wonder if that means that what they each believe is true for
them
> or if it indicates that one or both of them must be wrong?
To which Robin Pearce replied:
"Many, many fundamentalists believe that the bible is clear and
self-evident, and does not require interpretation. I used to be one, so I
know."
My reply: I guess I am not willing to take on the defense of all straw men
or women who call themselves Christians. I am saying that there is the
possibility (and the actuality in circles I run in) of a thoughtful approach
to these matters among Christians. And, as it is outside the realm of
empirical evidence, the only argument against, "I used to be one, so I know"
is "my personal experience differs" (touché! ;-}). If these fundamentalists
believe that the Bible is clear and self-evident, there are a number of
scriptures they are not reading literally including Matthew 5:29 and 30
(unless there is a denomination of fundamentalist, blind, amputees that I
have somehow missed). In fact, don't just limit it to verses 29 and 30 but
all of Matthew 5. In fact, if Jesus were to be asked his opinion on how
Christians are to deal with those who don't share their beliefs, he might
just refer them to this chapter.
BTW, I don't expect any of you to actually dig up a Bible to research those
references but there is a handy online Bible at http://bible.gospelcom.net.
I suggest we take this discussion to the other thread on Christianity and
Counseling just to keep this thread, initiated by a hit-and-run
flamethrower, from being one of the longest in the history of TIPS.
Rick
Dr. Richard L. Froman
Psychology Department
John Brown University
Siloam Springs, AR 72761
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.jbu.edu/sbs/psych/froman.htm
