Cognitive Dissonance and the Exile

Pre- and Post-Exilic attitudes toward God reflect a classic case of sociological cognitive dissonance. The Exile from Judah and Israel presented a classic problem of theodicy: If God is all powerful, why would he let this happen to his chosen people?

When presented with the “problem of pain,” as C.S. Lewis called it, the Jews first started blaming one-another, then adopted what strikes me as a curious solution: There is only one God and all of us must have done something wrong to deserve this terrible situation at the hands of the Babylonians. Wouldn’t that mean that the Jews who were not exiled were “good” while the ones who were exiled were “bad?” That’s certainly not how the returnees saw it.

Then, when the Babylonians punished the Jews for too long, God turned against his minions for having done wrong, just as he turned against the Assyrians for having boasted over their conquests.

When established beliefs came into direct conflict with facts on the ground, many theological options became available. What happened to other equally valid ideas? Maybe God didn’t exist and life is simply nasty, brutish and short. Maybe the God of Israel was weaker than the Babylon’s Marduk. Maybe the teleological argument casting God as a watchmaker who wound the universe then walked away was true.

Cognitive dissonance is defined as the “uncomfortable” feeling that arises when beliefs come into conflict, usually with reality. Perhaps I believe God punishes the wicked, yet the wicked seem to prosper. Maybe I believe God is just, yet he tortures Job. The most troubling forms of cognitive dissonance are rooted in the realization that things we believe about ourselves are wrong. Intrinsically motivated to resolve dissonance, humans tend to adjust beliefs while twisting truth to the point the pieces fit back together.

Unresolved cognitive dissonance often manifests itself as shame, embarrassment, stress, guilt, and anxiety, all of which we see reflected in Bible passages referencing the Exile.