<<BTW, on a totally unrelated matter>>
Not totally unrelated, since it's about nutty religious beliefs. I find it hard to guess what people like Pence, who claim to be devout believers, really believe. Certainly he is a member of that evangelical crowd, who at least pay lip service to some very extreme notions, but what does he really believe? I judge people's true beliefs by their actions, and it's clear to me that most people who say they believe in heaven and hell, day of judgement etc. don't really believe, because if they did they would act differently, out of fear of being sent to hell or somewhere. In my understanding most religious belief is a matter of convention - people raised in different cultures accept different conventions. Like other cultural conventions, it creates antagonism towards people outside of that group, people who are conforming to a different convention. It becomes important that everybody shares my belief, which is the only true and correct one. It's all about conformism, just another expression of human frailty. |
