And yet Joe..

You tar people with a convenient brush, in the manner of an absolutist yourself.

If you read what I put (and of the three of us, I seem to have the religion v reality portfolio) I do admire tradition. I did have my children christened, half through tradition and half through buying them a ticket in advance should they reason as adults that religion is something they would like to get into. (Result? Further evidence that if you weren't brainwashed as a child, you have no use for it as an adult.)

I do keep comparing it with my Sheffield Wednesday faith. Steve is fundamentally wrong though in saying he could take you to Hillsborough to see them lose. They never lose, you see. Occasionally the league moves in mysterious ways but we never lose, we never lose the faith. It's through the fact that I could never support a different team, that it was so ingrained in me as a child that I actually do understand why people turn to a fantasy construct. Ok, Sheffield Wednesday are worthy of praise but that's another matter.

You see Joe, you confuse dismissal of the aims of organisations using people's vulnerability as a tool with what you call absolutist.

Not thinking Harry Potter is real doesn't make me an absolutist. I don't think The X Files are telling us something through drama. That doesn't make me an absolutist either. So why does dismissing the concept of another man made invention make those who fall for it call normal people absolutists?