The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #129172   Message #2904541
Posted By: GUEST,Steamin Willie
11-May-10 - 12:26 PM
Thread Name: BS: Religious beliefs - no standing in law
Subject: RE: BS: Religious beliefs - no standing in law
Well, considering religious belief must be, by any definition, a belief, then it must be believing something. Now, believing the sun is hot takes little or no imagination and can by conversational definition be a fact.

Religious belief however involves accepting irrational statements, such as an interventionalist god, elevating some humans to the status of being different to the rest of us and capable of doing things that no human can ever have done. Also, religious people don't like their irrational behaviour to be questioned, hence the Spanish inquisition, crusades, Islamic terror etc.

Whilst accepting that religion is a proxy for having power over others, that aside it certainly looks like a superstition to me?

There is no difference between the existence of a god and the existence of a hobbit that lives in my pantry but is invisible and therefore I cannot see it. Neither can exist unless and until somebody proves otherwise. I am amused by those who say normal people must prove there is no god rather than superstitious people prove there is one. Sorry, but your mental health is for you to deal with, not me. All I can do is a) point and laugh and b) go out of my way to stop religion having an intervention in my life. Get the bishops out of the Lords, repeal laws that are based on religion such as opening hours of shops and have the guts to call a bigot a bigot, even if, or especially if for that matter, he wears a dog collar and thinks that being a woman or a gay dude prevents anybody doing his job to the same level of expertise.

This judgement is a good start.