Mind of the Bible-believer [Hardcover]

Whether the New Testament was "constructed" as a mind control device, or just turned out that way because of the vested interests and intent of the authors and assemblers, Cohen, in fact, leads one through its labyrinthine inconsistencies, without installing a nose ring to do it. I found his review of psychological theory robust, and one does not have to accept his particular model for operation of the subconscious mind in order to benefit from his analysis based on that model.

Cohen's inferences and conclusions, like those of any author, must be weighed in your own hopper. Don't be put off or on by mention of psychobabble. A useful term when it was coined, psychobabble becomes almost meaningless as a designation unless you really know what specifically is being referred to. Psychological terminology is not inherently psychobable; it becomes so in the hands of incautious users. Thus, the term psychobabble has become little more than an expletive.

Whatever you ultimately decide about Cohen's various answers to the questions he raises, you will benefit from having considered them and the evidence he presents. By all means be alert for holes in the arguments and variations of interpretation of some of the patterns, but the book serves its purpose: to have us think "out of the traditional rut" about how mindless fundamentalists get that way and are kept that way. And please note, I use the term mindless very deliberately, because that above all is the characteristic I have observed, an observation that matches much of what Cohen brings out. Being mindless or functioning in a limited, mind-controlled way thwarts the very thoughts we must pursue to mature in life. Cohen is right about that. No one's infantile ranting should dissuade any interested reader from examining and profiting from the book.

We all know that there are Christian cults out there that practise mind control and brainwashing. This book exposes the fact that this is the norm for NT christianity, not the exception. The new testament is mind-control propaganda, propaganda that held all the minds of Europe in its grip for a millennium and a half.

It exposes the newspeak of christianity. The doublethink, the blackwhite, the slippery concepts and words. It explains why, as a christian, it's possible to read a passage of scripture over and over and still feel like you don't that makes it so difficult for a christian to reason about their faith. The dreadful fear at the bottom of christianity.

It exposes the poverty of Christian "love", and "joy". It demonstrates the equivocal definitions of 'truth' and 'freedom' that make a lie of "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make in faith, and how it is that faith is the opposite of sin. And in so doing, suddenly makes sense of every bible verse, every book, and every sermon on the topic that I have ever read or heard.

Get this, and get George Orwell's "1984" if you don't already have it. But if you are a recent exchristian, don't read it late at night like I did.