Perhaps the resistance to the thought that there may not be a Christian god can be explained this way:
As we humans develop from birth to adulthood, we become layered with many identities and persona as a result of education, culture, life experiences, life circumstances and personal choices. Those layers become multiple personas or identities that form and shape in our minds our eventual ‘complete’ notion of who we are as individuals. For simplified example, someone may identify themselves eventually as a Christian, Adult, Married Man, who is Father to three children, and Husband to his wife, Son to his parents, Brother to his siblings, a Wealthy IT Specialist who is also an Athletics Champion, and an avid Philatelist who enjoys good Health. There are many permutations of this example and what becomes important to each person as part of their self-identity, is subjective.
Their flexibility with regard to their own perception of their identity will depend on the personality and characteristics of the individual. For many people, the removal or destruction of one of the components of who they believe themselves to be, a component of their very identity they regard as vital, can be very traumatic and resolutely resisted. Especially when core beliefs are threatened or derailed.
Core beliefs regarded as vital to our example man may be that he is a rich man, a married man, a father, a healthy man, an IT specialist and a Christian. The reason he may regard these identities as core to who he is, would be because it is in his role as each of those personas that he derives most positive personal feedback as a happy, functioning, important, successful and worthwhile human – all of which are personally pleasurable and perhaps very satisfying.
If our example man suddenly found out that he was in fact not a man but a woman, this would be a core belief destroyed and a life-changing shift that would require re-looking at who he really is in relation to all his other core beliefs about himself. Take away any of his core beliefs and his life will be dramatically altered along with his belief in who he is. Added to that is the fact that the removal of one of these core identities, will also remove from his life the feedback he derived from that persona.
Could this be one explanation as to why so many Christians are reluctant to let go of their beliefs?
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