On Inquisitions and Pavlov

If I wish for someone else to change their behavior to be more consistent with MY desires, then I need to make a decision. Do I want them to change how they "think" or do I merely want them to change their behavior?

Warning: Claim Ahead.

People can ONLY think according to what they Believe to be true.

Now, if all I desire is for someone to change his behavior to be more consistent with what "I" Believe to be true, but I am not particularly interested in what he "thinks", then I can take a shortcut and apply force or fear of it (i.e. consequences). It works with my kids cleaning their rooms. It also worked in The Inquisitions.

Per Pavlov, we learn to Believe things to be true based on repetition. Apply enough force (positive reinforcement), and pretty soon I will Believe that if my behavior doesn't change, I will experience the force. Problem solved if that is all I want.

There seem to have been numerous professions of faith (I "Believe" this or that to be true) during the Inquisitions. But what, exactly, was the "Belief" which was reinforced? It certainly was not the one professed vocally. It was the Belief that force is going to be applied if I do not speak certain words. Nothing else changed.

But if I wish for someone to change how he "thinks" or "feels", and thus witness a change in his behavior which is not born of the fear of force, but of a new Belief that something is true, I have only one option: assist him in changing what HE Believes to be true, to be consistent with what "I" believe to be true.

This is a slow path. It requires effort. Why? Because of how we are made. We are created to learn from what we see and hear, particularly things which are repetitive. It is why we are instructed to look back over the history of God and his people, reciting it, remembering it. It is in this way that our "belief" in his provision for us is molded.

We have a great cloud of witnesses. We have evidence of his provision. BUT, if we have never been exposed to the knowledge of his provision, or worse, the only exposure to information on God we have ever received is that he doesn't exist and there is no provision, then it is almost certain we will not Believe in a god who provides for us.

If I desire that you pay me restitution for an act of violence committed on me by someone else, I obviously Believe that you share some of the responsibility for the offenders actions.

Yet, you probably won't Believe that you share the responsibility of another person's crime. If I present to you as evidence, the fact that you share the same skin color as the offender, it is unlikely that I will have given you enough evidence to now believe it to be true. You will see the evidence as "non-sequitur."

I could, however, choose to short-circuit the persuasion process and apply force. I could call you a "racist." I could do so publicly. I could get some of your peers to do the same until it begins to cause you pain. If I do this repetitively, you may not change what you believe to be true regarding any shared responsibility of guilt due to shared skin color, but you WILL change what you believe to be true regarding what happens when you do not pay me the restitution I desire.

We are in Pavlov's cage, being run through an Inquisition experiment.

I will not change what you believe to be true by any means other than evidence, repetition and the spirit of God.