The human brain, or actually mind, is like a large sponge. It absorbs, and generally retains, whatever is poured into it. Information, ideas, facts, etc., enter the brain through our five senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight. The Chinese mind absorbs and retains information, ideas, facts far different than the Italian or Muslim mind. Yet these three minds, as well as all other minds (be they Russian, American or some other nationality) generally accept such information, ideas, facts, etc., as true, by and large retaining their input all of their life. A Mormon child, like the Roman Catholic child or Muslim child, generally accepts the teachings and beliefs fed into the mind without question. With the passing of years and decades the belief system that is thus absorbed is reinforced again and again so that the mind becomes “made up,” you might say. The human mind, or sponge, unlike an actual sponge rarely has its contents squeezed out. Hence, a Mormon child grows into a Mormon adult and is still a Mormon when life reaches its close seven or eight decades later. Of course, the same holds true for the Roman Catholic, the Baptist, the Amish, or whatever religious persuasion you might care to name.
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The human mind is never a blank slate. Even a ten or twelve year old child has had much written on that slate long before they reach their teenage years. In most all cases, like the blackboard in a school classroom, much of what is written on that slate desperately needs to be erased before more is written on that slate. Tragically, little is erased but remains on the blackboard of the mind as a person passes through life. Each day more and more is written on that blackboard. If what is later heard or seen differs remarkably from what is already written on the blackboard, it is usually forgotten rather quickly and is not allowed to remain on that slate, but is quickly erased and forgotten. This, again, helps explain why a Baptist youth remains a Baptist all of his life. An atheist youth, likewise, generally will remain an atheist until their dying day. Accepting evolution as true in the formative years, the evolutionist remains such all the days of their human existence.
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One can clean the slate of the mind and squeeze out of the sponge of the mind that which is erroneous and unreasonable, but it is not easily done or accomplished. One of the hardest things one will ever do is to forget something they have learned as the truth, replacing such error with the actual truth. May your Creator grant you the wisdom to comprehend, understand and accept what you have just read, for, I assure you, absolute truth CAN be known and understood. Falsehood and error can be recognized as such. The actual truth usually proves to be a shocker to those who have never once contemplated the foregoing. God help you to understand is my prayer.
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Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
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Donald Wiley