In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

It’s sometimes used by critics to describe born again Christians, believing that their convictions are maintained despite credible scientific evidence that reveals their “faith” to be less than intellectually sound, and therefore a source of mental discomfort.

In other words, I’ve got to shut down a part of my brain in order to maintain my ridiculous grin while singing hymns in light of the fact that, while I want to believe the words are true, deep down I know that I’m actually verbalizing ancient fiction and pointless fantasy.

Well, let’s take a moment, examine the facts and let’s see just who’s brain is truly hurting.

Where Did That Vacuum Cleaner Come From?

If I were to go to my closet and find a vacuum cleaner that hadn’t been there before, how would you attempt to explain that?

You would probably tell me that someone put it there.

But then, that would be inconsistent with your perspective on the origins of the universe. In the absence of a Creator (aka Intelligent Design), all of the raw materials along with the laws that govern the way in which they interact simply popped into existence thanks to a fortuitous collection of circumstances and an incomprehensible amount of time.

Just imagine that! All of the inner workings of not just the electric motor and the various belts and hoses that comprise the vacuum cleaner, but even the infrastructure that exists at the molecular level – the exquisite elegance of the atomic strata that forms the various materials, surfaces and forces that make that vacuum cleaner come to life with the mere switch of a button.

What are the odds, huh?

Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But dress that notion up with several degrees and multiple layers of scientific sounding verbiage and you have Natural Selection, Evolution and the primordial soup you insist birthed the intricacies of life as we know it.

My Vacuum Cleaner’s Going to be a Drummer

As nonsensical as it may be to think that an Electrolux can materialize out of nothing and find its way into my closet, just imagine that vacuum cleaner developing a sense of self to the point where it knows right from wrong and even develops a personality of its own.

Now, I’m not talking about programmed responses to specific stimuli, I’m saying that vacuum cleaner is alive! That’s how some very learned individuals attempt to explain the difference between the mind and the brain.

Some scientists maintain that consciousness and the subjective elements of the mind came into being once the human brain reached a certain level of complexity. The problem with that, however, is that they’re declaring that matter has within it the capacity to become both material and non-material. At that point, they’ve redefined the essential constitution of matter and while panpsychism is not a new theory, it borders on the absurd given the lack of evidence to support it.

But that’s alright. In the atheistic world, logic and reason can be dismissed with nothing more than a wave of an academic looking hand and just like that, we’ve entered into an arena where true science is sacrificed at the altar of metaphysical preferences  and vacuum cleaners can evolve into poets and pop musicians.

My Vacuum Cleaner’s Definition of “Clean”

It’s amazing how my vacuum’s definition of clean has evolved. It’s a little bizarre, actually.

My vacuum specializes in hard wood floors. It got together with some other vacuums and formulated some ground rules that they could all agree upon as far as what constituted “clean.” Thing is, carpeting didn’t fit well with their criteria and they actually started to eliminate those vacuum cleaners that were set up for carpet, believing them to be inferior. Kind of sad, but it makes sense if you’re of the mindset that says linoleum requires a more advanced level of complexity and machines that can’t handle that are destined for extinction.

That’s how the Germans viewed the Herero tribe in South Africa in 1903. The Hereros staged an uprising against the German taskmasters who had set up a colony there.  The Herero disposition was understandable given the cruel and inhumane way in which the Germans treated them based on their feeling of racial superiority. In response, the German government deployed General Lothar von Trotha along with 14,000 troops to not only defeat the Herero tribe, but to exterminate them completely.

Von Trotha was ruthless, but what made his actions even more heinous is the Darwinian doctrine he used to justify his actions. In a local newspaper article, General von Trotha expressed how much of his thinking had been influenced by Darwin by saying, “At the outset, we cannot do without the natives. But they finally have to melt away. Where the climate allows the white man to work, philanthropic views cannot banish Darwin’s law ‘Survival of the Fittest.’”  (click here to read more about Darwin’s view on race, ethnic superiority and how it all ties in to Natural Selection).

 Can You Smell That?

That’s not the smell of stupidity, but it’s awfully close.

The Christian Doctrine is as unique as it is profound. But even without popping the hood on all that Christ brings to the table, there is a dramatic insufficiency in the “god-less” explanations for the origin of the universe and all of the intangibles that constitute the human experience. In other words, you don’t need to understand the cross and the Resurrection to appreciate the obvious Signature of God on His creation. And to ignore that Signature is both belligerent and nonsensical.

It is the atheist that has to squirm and adjust in order to overlook the disconnect between their theories and the gargantuan elegance of the cosmos along with the exquisite intricacies of the cell and the atom. Standing on the Foundation of a God-centered perspective, the universe is understood as His handiwork and one’s life as a purposeful journey that transcends business cards and checking accounts.

Clinging to Darwin and humanistic mantras, you’re no different than a vacuum cleaner and if that doesn’t inspire some “cognitive dissonance,” I don’t know what would.

Don’t forget to roll up the cord…