Vonnegut says that a "foma" is a harmless untruth that sooths simple souls.
Dennett uses the image of Dumbo believing that the magic crow feather makes him fly.
Believing that the Creator of the Universe is really on your side in your struggles to make it in the world gives you a lot of confidence. Confidence is a necessary ingredient to success in practically anything worthwhile. The belief gives confidence which breeds success which reinforces the belief.
I would leave them to their beliefs if only they would change their ways about sex, pleasure, and the planet.
The Evangelizing Meme
Imagine two groups of people. One group's way of life is directed by a set of beliefs that are very relaxed... very live and let live. The other group is directed by a set of jealous beliefs so that these people insist that other people believe and behave in the same way. Obviously the more aggressive evangelizing meme will thrive. There is no connection to truth here anymore than dandelions are more true than grass. The meme for aggressively converting as many other minds as possible must have been selected early in the development of cultural evolution.
Magic Books
Recently a Mormon tried to convince me of the pedigree of their magic book. I was supposed to believe that a 17 year old man found in the wilderness of upstate New York a set of golden tablets written in "reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics" and translated by means of magic translating stones. The solid proof was that others living in that hotbed of religious revivalism and experimentation (historians call it "the burnt over district") claim to have witnessed the event.
Lots of people have magic books and claim excellent pedigrees. Muslims tell great stories about the veracity of theirs. Jews can attest to the veracity of Torah. Protestants and Catholics each tell stories of their versions of the Bible -- often blaming the other for hiding the true version. Hindus have many books they discuss. Buddhists have magic books. Even Confucians. Ba'hai do too.
While we're at it, Scientologists have the magic books of L. Ron Hubbard. Christian Scientists have their own. As did Shakers.
A thousand other groups have magic books and they all tell stories of veracity. Each one believes that the other thousand groups have it wrong, or at least not quite right. Besides, it is logically impossible for them all to be right since they disagree on fundamental issues. Odds are that they are all wrong and the tendency to tell stories about magic books tell us something about being human.
Somewhere Nietzsche writes that perhaps God has a speech impediment, for He is certainly having difficulty getting His Word across.
Lots of people have magic books and claim excellent pedigrees. Muslims tell great stories about the veracity of theirs. Jews can attest to the veracity of Torah. Protestants and Catholics each tell stories of their versions of the Bible -- often blaming the other for hiding the true version. Hindus have many books they discuss. Buddhists have magic books. Even Confucians. Ba'hai do too.
While we're at it, Scientologists have the magic books of L. Ron Hubbard. Christian Scientists have their own. As did Shakers.
A thousand other groups have magic books and they all tell stories of veracity. Each one believes that the other thousand groups have it wrong, or at least not quite right. Besides, it is logically impossible for them all to be right since they disagree on fundamental issues. Odds are that they are all wrong and the tendency to tell stories about magic books tell us something about being human.
Somewhere Nietzsche writes that perhaps God has a speech impediment, for He is certainly having difficulty getting His Word across.
Science of Ben Stein's Nazis
Ben Stein points out correctly that the Nazis used evolutionary theory in part of their justification for their final solution. Stein infers that such a connection is further evidence that evolution is false and dangerous.
But the Nazis only used evolutionary theory in rhetoric. They didn't build a better bomb using evolutionary theory.
By contrast, they did build better weaponry using Newtonian mechanics. If we are to follow Stein's inference, then Newtonian mechanics should be considered false and dangerous due to this Nazi connection. Reductio ad absurdum.
But the Nazis only used evolutionary theory in rhetoric. They didn't build a better bomb using evolutionary theory.
By contrast, they did build better weaponry using Newtonian mechanics. If we are to follow Stein's inference, then Newtonian mechanics should be considered false and dangerous due to this Nazi connection. Reductio ad absurdum.
Were any dinosaurs Mormon?
If the purpose of the planet is to create as many Mormons as possible, then why did God take so long to make any Mormons? He wasted millions of years on the dinosaurs and not one of them became a Mormon. So, if it is so important that there are as many Mormons as possible, why are there millions of years without any Mormons?
Your guess and our fate
There must be a distinction between knowledge and a guess. The traditional answer, dating back to at least Plato, is that knowledge requires some justification whereas a guess does not. Without a good justification for your religious beliefs, your faith is really just a guess.
Under normal circumstances, I would applaud that someone made a guess that I would not. There is no harm to me. I might learn from their mistakes or successes.
But many religious guesses come with other consequences -- most notably the commandment to go forth and multiply while you subdue the land. This will lead to environmental destruction and over population.
Unlike other creatures, we can choose to curb our own growth. Or Nature will check it with famine, disease, etc.
Under normal circumstances, I would applaud that someone made a guess that I would not. There is no harm to me. I might learn from their mistakes or successes.
But many religious guesses come with other consequences -- most notably the commandment to go forth and multiply while you subdue the land. This will lead to environmental destruction and over population.
Unlike other creatures, we can choose to curb our own growth. Or Nature will check it with famine, disease, etc.
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