Doug Chadwick, your post misses the point. Belief affects the believer and those whom the believer's behaviour (which is a result OF his beliefs) directly impacts. Your two men standing in the rainy field are both affected by their beliefs, in that they perceive the same situation differently ("It's raining." "No, it isn't." "I'm dry!" "No, you're not, you're all wet!"), they are prepared to argue about it, and they may even come to blows over the matter! ;-) One of them might suffer a fatal injury, due to their disagreement. Or perhaps he might sue the other for damages. Therefore, their beliefs DO have an effect...not on the rain (or the lack of it), most likely not on the field either, but upon themselves and each other and their families, and possibly their descendants as well.

And that is the power of belief. Even a completely unrealistic and ill-founded belief has power to sway the minds of men, and can move them to action...with very discernable effects on the world.

Hitler believed that Germans were the "master race". It was a belief in a complete fiction...but just look at the effect it had on the world. A large number of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein had WMDs in 2003 AND was responsible for 911. That had an effect on the world too.

Believing in unreal things can have enormous effects, first on people and THEN on the world, as I think you know... ;-) That's precisely why some people object to organized religion. It's also why people object to stupid political agendas, false advertising, and a host of other things.