View source for Dr. Wendy Ulrich (2005): "How do the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when someone speaks in a testimony meeting differ from the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when the 4:00 parade begins at Disneyland?"

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==Dr. Wendy Ulrich (2005): "How do the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when someone speaks in a testimony meeting differ from the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when the 4:00 parade begins at Disneyland?"==
Dr. Wendy Ulrich (a licensed psychologist with over 25 years of experience):
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People from many religious traditions have “spiritual” experiences–feelings, insights, premonitions, and encounters which they are left to their own conclusions to decipher. It is not unusual for people to conclude from such experiences that God is their God, that He is nearby, or that something associated with that experience is God’s will. Often in the Church we encourage people to look for such feelings and experiences as evidence of God’s hand, or of the truthfulness of the Church’s message. Yet people from many religious backgrounds can have such experiences. How do the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when someone speaks in a testimony meeting differ from the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when the 4:00 parade begins at Disneyland? Critics may conclude that there is no real difference, that feelings are not trustworthy or related to the spirit, and that Church members are being misled by missionaries who teach them that such experiences are the Holy Ghost testifying to them of truth. I have seen this argument used to discredit “spiritual” experiences as nothing more than subjectively produced emotions with no supernatural significance. In many cases I might agree. Because I feel certain emotions in response to a film–even a Church film–may say more about the credibility of the actors’ performance or the director’s talent than the presence of God or the historical accuracy of the message, for example.<ref>Dr. Wendy Ulrich, [http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2005-fair-conference/2005-believest-thou-faith-cognitive-dissonance-and-the-psychology-of-religious-experience "'Believest thou…?': Faith, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Psychology of Religious Experience,"] ''Proceedings of the 2005 FAIR Conference'' (2005).</ref> {{read more|url=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2005-fair-conference/2005-believest-thou-faith-cognitive-dissonance-and-the-psychology-of-religious-experience}}
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[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]
[[Category:An Insider's View of Mormon Origins]]


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[[es:Fuente:Ulrich:Believest thou:2005 FAIR Conference:¿Cómo se diferencian la piel de gallina y las emociones que experimento cuando alguien habla en una reunión de testimonios?]]
[[pt:Fonte:Ulrich:Believest thou:2005 FAIR Conference:Como os arrepios e choros que eu experimentei quando alguém falou em uma reunião de testemunhos diferem]]