Update 6/7 - New Testimony - ExMormon Scholars Testify
Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:08 pm
Why does it take so long for people like me to get out once we learn that the church is not what it advertises itself to be? Social Psychologists who study cognitive dissonance have a plausible answer. Over a half century of experiments, replicated in various countries around the world have confirmed the foundations of the theory. The greater the sacrifice we make, and the higher price one invests to join and maintain membership in a group (any group), the harder it is to come to grips with the fact that we may have made a horrible mistake. So we work overtime to self-justify; to convince ourselves that we didn't make a mistake. We need to feel good, worthy, smart, and moral. This drive is so strong that we wrestle to justify our bad decisions.