AVOIDING REALITIY: This Is My Father's World - When We All Get To Heaven - Dare To Be A Daniel

"You can avoid reality, 

but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." 

- Ayn Rand 

(1905-1982)

They say it's hard to do the right thing.  It's not hard to do the right thing, it's just hard knowing, what is, the right thing to do.  Once you do know what the right thing to do is, it's hard not doing the right thing.  

But this doesn't mean we are going to do the right thing.  The stress resulting from not doing the right thing is known as cognitive dissonance.  

Cognitive dissonance theory is founded on the assumption that individuals seek consistency between their expectations and their reality. Because of this, people engage in a process called dissonance reduction to bring their cognitions and actions in line with one another. This creation of uniformity allows for a lessening of psychological tension and distress.

How we go about reducing this stress associated with this cognitive dissonance is different for all of us.  This is where the churches come into play;  how they make their income.  

These corporate confessions I'm learning the hard way are nothing more than money laundering schemes without consent by the victims of these confessions; pure manipulation and deception.

They are not as innocent and harmless as they appear.

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Reminding us that ignorance is the root of progress, 
Sagan writes:

"I don’t propose that it is a virtue to revel in our limitations. But it’s important to understand how much we do not know."

He plays devil’s advocate to a common religious resistance to scientific inquiry:


"Does trying to understand the universe at all betray a lack of humility? I believe it is true that humility is the only just response in a confrontation with the universe, but not a humility that prevents us from seeking the nature of the universe we are admiring. If we seek that nature, then love can be informed by truth instead of being based on ignorance or self-deception. If a Creator God exists, would He or She or It or whatever the appropriate pronoun is, prefer a kind of sodden blockhead who worships while understanding nothing? Or would He prefer His votaries to admire the real universe in all its intricacy? I would suggest that science is, at least in part, informed worship."