Boris telling us what he thinks Jesus would want us to do makes me feel a bit uncomfortable for a couple of reasons.... the prime minister celebrated members of the public who were “getting jabbed not just for themselves, for ourselves, but for friends and family and everyone we meet”.
“That, after all, is the teaching of Jesus Christ, whose birth is at the heart of this enormous festival – that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves,” he said.
His words echoed the message from the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who said earlier this week: “I would say, go and get boosted, get vaccinated. It’s how we love our neighbour. Loving our neighbour is what Jesus told us to do. It’s Christmas, do what he said.”
Mocking religion
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Re: Mocking religion
Boris Johnson has invoked the teaching of Jesus Christ
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Re: Mocking religion
Remind me what the bible says about committing adultery....shpalman wrote: ↑Fri Dec 24, 2021 8:26 amBoris Johnson has invoked the teaching of Jesus Christ
Boris telling us what he thinks Jesus would want us to do makes me feel a bit uncomfortable for a couple of reasons.... the prime minister celebrated members of the public who were “getting jabbed not just for themselves, for ourselves, but for friends and family and everyone we meet”.
“That, after all, is the teaching of Jesus Christ, whose birth is at the heart of this enormous festival – that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves,” he said.
His words echoed the message from the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who said earlier this week: “I would say, go and get boosted, get vaccinated. It’s how we love our neighbour. Loving our neighbour is what Jesus told us to do. It’s Christmas, do what he said.”
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Re: Mocking religion
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ass?
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Re: Mocking religion
Well after deliberately sacrificing hundreds-thousands of people on the altar of "no restrictions before national Jesus day" at least he's bothering to emphasise the socially worthwhile bits of Jesus rather than the hollow capitalistic overconsumption of modern Christmas.shpalman wrote: ↑Fri Dec 24, 2021 8:26 amBoris Johnson has invoked the teaching of Jesus Christ
Boris telling us what he thinks Jesus would want us to do makes me feel a bit uncomfortable for a couple of reasons.... the prime minister celebrated members of the public who were “getting jabbed not just for themselves, for ourselves, but for friends and family and everyone we meet”.
“That, after all, is the teaching of Jesus Christ, whose birth is at the heart of this enormous festival – that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves,” he said.
His words echoed the message from the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who said earlier this week: “I would say, go and get boosted, get vaccinated. It’s how we love our neighbour. Loving our neighbour is what Jesus told us to do. It’s Christmas, do what he said.”
We have the right to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment.
Re: Mocking religion
Ok, sorry - suppose it's sometimes a bit difficult to read tone off a post. It's just that I don't think what I'm trying to say should be that controversial.
, for example - defending religion, or religious people, is not the same as attacking science, so I don't see why science needs defending, at least not from me. (As a sociologist of science I suppose I have a slightly less deferential view of it because I know that both in historical and contemporary examples science very often is not quite as rational as it likes to portray itself. But that's a different debate than what we've been having and in any case that doesn't diminish science as a whole. Or have anything to do with religion).
Begging the question because I am presupposing a premise? Do you mean the premise that perfectly harmless, non-bigoted Anglican tea lady can exist? I don't think that's too unreasonable? Or I don't understand your point at all. My point was that perfectly harmless, non-bigoted religious people exist (and they're even very common, though I didn't say that), and that therefore judging them because of what some other people of their religion have done, said or believed is not on. Not sure how that point is countered by saying that bigoted members of that religion also exist. Or maybe more likely, I really don't understand what you're saying.
Well yes, it's a well known phenomenon (your second point of view), and yes peoples' beliefs are influenced by those around them and what comes as a package. What I've been trying to say is that this has nothing to do with religion - anywhere where you have clearly formed social group identity this phenomenon will manifest itself. To the extent that religions tend to be social identities that then holds true of religion as well (though, if you want to include personal idiosyncratic spiritual beliefs as religion, then this doesn't hold). But social identities form around many things that you'll be unlikely to label religion - I gave examples earlier of football and Star Trek fandom, and nationalism, we can also have social identity formed around sports you play, around your kids or "motherhood", around political parties you support, and around your profession or job (and that then includes scientist as an identity - and in fact part of my own research involved the social psychology of identity formation around scientists and how that influences their beliefs because science-identity beliefs also come as a package).shpalman wrote: ↑Thu Dec 23, 2021 6:48 pmPersonally I waver between two points of view. The first would be that people are what they are, and the belief systems they construct are only reflections of that, so religion itself has little influence on what sort person a person is; they'll pick the bits of the belief system which go along with what they think is right and not worry about the other bits. The second would be that groups of people can form an echo chamber which reinforces certain views beyond what an individual might have arrived at, causes them to accept beliefs which they aren't really comfortable with because it's "part of the package", and lead to an ingroup/outgroup mentality.
And also, being a badscience or now scrutineer member is an identity, as is the "skeptic" identity that formed around science fandom and that intersected with that of the badsciencers at least in the early days. What I see as a really scary transphobic bigotry that has developed within that group (not so much here these days, but I know plenty of ex-badsciencers who fell in with that crowd and now spout b.llsh.t Tory "freedom of speech" anti woke b.llsh.t on twitter. Most of them are really nice people, people I count(ed) as friends, but who invested in a sceptic with a k identity so wholesale that they had to take on the whole b.llsh.t transphobia along with it...
I digress, but what I meant to say is that I don't think these good people would describe themselves as religions and I would agree with that.
Anyhoo, merry Christmas everybody.
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Re: Mocking religion
This is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
Re: Mocking religion
Do you consider that you may be mistaken in your thinking? Do you have absolute rock solid evidence for everything you believe? And do you consider that you may be mistaken in your thinking?Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amThis is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
Meta? I'd say so!
Re: Mocking religion
Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amThis is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
bl..dy hell dude, you can't just use your own definition of a group of people just because membership is otherwise not well defined and then use your definition to mock them.
Like, there is no clear definition of what a Scottish person is (is it based on parentage? Residence?), so you just take one sh.tty stereotype as your definition (idk, a Scot has red hair and eats unhealthily), and then use your definition to mock Scottish people on an Internet forum.
And before we go on to a sidetrack discussion about Scots and deep frying, it's a bl..dy analogy. Merry Christmas
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Re: Mocking religion
https://t.co/wYqacDoUG0In the Telegraph: some Christians who think that non-Christians are incapable of tackling moral questions. They are so convinced of their moral and intellectual superiority. What an objectionable headline.
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: Mocking religion
No true Scotsman?warumich wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 7:28 amMillennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amThis is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
bl..dy hell dude, you can't just use your own definition of a group of people just because membership is otherwise not well defined and then use your definition to mock them.
Like, there is no clear definition of what a Scottish person is (is it based on parentage? Residence?), so you just take one sh.tty stereotype as your definition (idk, a Scot has red hair and eats unhealthily), and then use your definition to mock Scottish people on an Internet forum.
And before we go on to a sidetrack discussion about Scots and deep frying, it's a bl..dy analogy. Merry Christmas
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Re: Mocking religion
You must really struggle with the huge numbers of entirely competent religious scientists, then.Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amThis is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
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Re: Mocking religion
shpalman wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 7:57 amhttps://t.co/wYqacDoUG0In the Telegraph: some Christians who think that non-Christians are incapable of tackling moral questions. They are so convinced of their moral and intellectual superiority. What an objectionable headline.
20211225_085644.jpg
Can't argue with that tweet. What a sh.tty thing to say, can't (won't) read the telegraph, but going by the headline thats just awful. I'm not against criticism when it is justified.
Yes that was my thinking here, or a variation of that at leastNo true Scotsman?
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Re: Mocking religion
Of course. No. And of course.Gfamily wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:54 amDo you consider that you may be mistaken in your thinking? Do you have absolute rock solid evidence for everything you believe? And do you consider that you may be mistaken in your thinking?Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amThis is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
But note also that if I'm wrong, and it is reasonable to believe in something regardless of evidence, then there is no reason for me not to believe in science.
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Re: Mocking religion
If you can then I can too. That's the point I'm trying to get across about an agreed definition of something. You have some idea of what you mean by religion, but if you don't define it then when you desribe some property of religion people with a different definition will disagree because they don't realise they have misunderstood what you're talking about.warumich wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 7:28 amMillennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amThis is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
bl..dy hell dude, you can't just use your own definition of a group of people just because membership is otherwise not well defined and then use your definition to mock them.
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Re: Mocking religion
Not in the slightest. A person can be both religious and a scientist because people are not abstract concepts. They can simultaneously believe contradictory things. A person might sincerely pray for their illness to be cured while also working scientifically for a cure. They may reconcile this contradiction by claiming that any cure they find was guided by divine inspiration, or they may refuse to consider the issue. Generally, when someone believes two contradictory things they get quite agitated if you can show them the contradiction.Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:24 amYou must really struggle with the huge numbers of entirely competent religious scientists, then.Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amFor people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
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Re: Mocking religion
The point being made is that one can’t simply define religion because religions don’t have any shared characteristics that are exclusive to religion (aside from being called religions by some people).Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 1:46 amIf you can then I can too. That's the point I'm trying to get across about an agreed definition of something. You have some idea of what you mean by religion, but if you don't define it then when you desribe some property of religion people with a different definition will disagree because they don't realise they have misunderstood what you're talking about.warumich wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 7:28 amMillennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 am
This is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
bl..dy hell dude, you can't just use your own definition of a group of people just because membership is otherwise not well defined and then use your definition to mock them.
We’ve been playing this game for years. Someone claims that all religions share a characteristic and then someone else points out the religions which don’t. Arguments about religion are based upon ‘facts’ which only apply to a handful of them and ignore the rest.
A systematic and rigorous approach to the subject concludes that there is very little that one can say about religion as a phenomena.
People can, of course, take a systematic and rigorous approach to examining individual religions, or sub-sets of them which do share characteristics.
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Re: Mocking religion
The personal beliefs of a competent scientist don't matter, because the whole point of how science works is to remove subjectivity. I personally don't understand how a scientist can be objective and atheist when doing science but then in the rest of their life let those attitudes slip, but that's just me.Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:24 amYou must really struggle with the huge numbers of entirely competent religious scientists, then.Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amThis is why I said above that if there isn't an agreed definition of something, it's impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
For people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
On the other hand, if a scientist's science is driven by their personal beliefs (for example, insisting that you're going to find a new way to date linen fibres so that you can get around the C-14 results for the age of the Shroud of Turin, or analysing Maria Valtorta's writing as if she really were channeling Jesis) then eventually they aren't really doing science anymore.
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: Mocking religion
Or, someone points to a thing which has been done by a person because of their religion and there then follows an argument about whether they would have done it anyway or how according to their religion they should actually have done something else or how not every single religion in the whole world or not every single religious person in the whole world is exactly the same and therefore a single counterexample has invalidated the whole point or something.Woodchopper wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 8:48 amThe point being made is that one can’t simply define religion because religions don’t have any shared characteristics that are exclusive to religion (aside from being called religions by some people).Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 1:46 amIf you can then I can too. That's the point I'm trying to get across about an agreed definition of something. You have some idea of what you mean by religion, but if you don't define it then when you desribe some property of religion people with a different definition will disagree because they don't realise they have misunderstood what you're talking about.
We’ve been playing this game for years. Someone claims that all religions share a characteristic and then someone else points out the religions which don’t. Arguments about religion are based upon ‘facts’ which only apply to a handful of them and ignore the rest.
A systematic and rigorous approach to the subject concludes that there is very little that one can say about religion as a phenomena.
People can, of course, take a systematic and rigorous approach to examining individual religions, or sub-sets of them which do share characteristics.
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: Mocking religion
So they'd be simultaneously attacking science and contributing to it?Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 1:50 amNot in the slightest. A person can be both religious and a scientist because people are not abstract concepts. They can simultaneously believe contradictory things. A person might sincerely pray for their illness to be cured while also working scientifically for a cure. They may reconcile this contradiction by claiming that any cure they find was guided by divine inspiration, or they may refuse to consider the issue. Generally, when someone believes two contradictory things they get quite agitated if you can show them the contradiction.Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:24 amYou must really struggle with the huge numbers of entirely competent religious scientists, then.Millennie Al wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:17 amFor people, such as myself, who regard religion as belief regardless of evidence and science as belief dependent on evidence, defending religion is inherently attacking science (and, of course, the reverse).
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Re: Mocking religion
Anyway, it's probaby would indeed be helpful to say which religion(s) we're talking about.
At a guess it's largely Christianity as practised in Western Europe (plus its colonies and diaspora), Islam-according-to-mass-media and a few other tidbits and factoids thrown in occasionally.
If nobody is intending to comment authoritatively on, say, Yoruba animism or Papuan ancestor-worship then there's no harm in walling them off.
At a guess it's largely Christianity as practised in Western Europe (plus its colonies and diaspora), Islam-according-to-mass-media and a few other tidbits and factoids thrown in occasionally.
If nobody is intending to comment authoritatively on, say, Yoruba animism or Papuan ancestor-worship then there's no harm in walling them off.
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Re: Mocking religion
That depends on how honest the scientist is. If they are suffuciently honest with themselves, then they will either keep up a futile search until they die, or get tired searhcing, or it will break their faith. Many religious people lose their faith as a result of studying it too closely and realising it is flawed.shpalman wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 10:42 amOn the other hand, if a scientist's science is driven by their personal beliefs (for example, insisting that you're going to find a new way to date linen fibres so that you can get around the C-14 results for the age of the Shroud of Turin, or analysing Maria Valtorta's writing as if she really were channeling Jesis) then eventually they aren't really doing science anymore.
And the futile search for something based on prior incorrect belief is not exclusive to religion - the search for a proof of Euclid's fifth postulate has examples of that - including people who claimed to have found the proof.
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Re: Mocking religion
Mathematical proof relies on a chain of logic, and it's usually clear to everyone else in the field where the flaw in the logic is in a case like that. Or, for example, there's a plenty futile search for supersymmetric particles based on the prior incorrect belief that there should be some "naturalness" in the values of the parameters in particle physics. But the experimental results are clear: there's nothing there. Theorists who refuse to give up might suggest that the particles would be just out of reach and the next generation of accelerator should see them, just as they say every time.Millennie Al wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 12:45 amThat depends on how honest the scientist is. If they are suffuciently honest with themselves, then they will either keep up a futile search until they die, or get tired searhcing, or it will break their faith. Many religious people lose their faith as a result of studying it too closely and realising it is flawed.shpalman wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 10:42 amOn the other hand, if a scientist's science is driven by their personal beliefs (for example, insisting that you're going to find a new way to date linen fibres so that you can get around the C-14 results for the age of the Shroud of Turin, or analysing Maria Valtorta's writing as if she really were channeling Jesis) then eventually they aren't really doing science anymore.
And the futile search for something based on prior incorrect belief is not exclusive to religion - the search for a proof of Euclid's fifth postulate has examples of that - including people who claimed to have found the proof.
But what they don't do, is say "of course you can't see them, that's the point, you need to believe that they're there but you're not allowed to check" while simultaneously claiming that all of our current results exists because whatever they're claiming is true.
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Re: Mocking religion
There's a particular problem with all religions with a cosmogony (up to and including deism) in studying cosmology. The belief in a prime cause/creator is awkward when you are studying whether or not the universe has a beginning in any meaningful sense. If you have to give up on the time ordered flow of cause and effect, then prime causes are pretty suspect, and teleological reasoning about the universe being created just so to give rise to certain effects are right out. Obviously, beliefs in anything stronger than deism are problematic for cosmology even after the big bang.shpalman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 11:51 amMathematical proof relies on a chain of logic, and it's usually clear to everyone else in the field where the flaw in the logic is in a case like that. Or, for example, there's a plenty futile search for supersymmetric particles based on the prior incorrect belief that there should be some "naturalness" in the values of the parameters in particle physics. But the experimental results are clear: there's nothing there. Theorists who refuse to give up might suggest that the particles would be just out of reach and the next generation of accelerator should see them, just as they say every time.Millennie Al wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 12:45 amThat depends on how honest the scientist is. If they are suffuciently honest with themselves, then they will either keep up a futile search until they die, or get tired searhcing, or it will break their faith. Many religious people lose their faith as a result of studying it too closely and realising it is flawed.shpalman wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 10:42 amOn the other hand, if a scientist's science is driven by their personal beliefs (for example, insisting that you're going to find a new way to date linen fibres so that you can get around the C-14 results for the age of the Shroud of Turin, or analysing Maria Valtorta's writing as if she really were channeling Jesis) then eventually they aren't really doing science anymore.
And the futile search for something based on prior incorrect belief is not exclusive to religion - the search for a proof of Euclid's fifth postulate has examples of that - including people who claimed to have found the proof.
But what they don't do, is say "of course you can't see them, that's the point, you need to believe that they're there but you're not allowed to check" while simultaneously claiming that all of our current results exists because whatever they're claiming is true.
OTOH, I don't know any religious theoretical cosmologists that strongly believe in their religion's cosmogony. And that "strongly believe in <specific tenets>" distinction is necessary, because there are plenty of people that observe a religion without believing all of the dogma and tenets of that religion. Most people are fully capable of compartmentalizing religious beliefs, political beliefs and scientific thoughts, without even thinking about the tensions between them. And much personal religious thinking is more about "contemplate the mysteries" than "this is what happened".
Re: Mocking religion
I would like to massively oversimplify the issue in the same way I did when I was 8. I haven't thought about it an awful lot since then as I quickly did an overview of the literature* and came up with Nezumi's Principle** - "If it sounds like wishful thinking. It is."
When I think about it that way, it's no longer about mocking religion, it's about being compassionate to people who feel the need to think wishfully.
* The usual 8-year-old type topics: Dinosaurs, Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Sumerian mythology and a quick reading of very simplified bible stories.
** It's Occam's Razor really but I'm extremely vain.
When I think about it that way, it's no longer about mocking religion, it's about being compassionate to people who feel the need to think wishfully.
* The usual 8-year-old type topics: Dinosaurs, Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Sumerian mythology and a quick reading of very simplified bible stories.
** It's Occam's Razor really but I'm extremely vain.
Non fui. Fui. Non sum. Non curo.
Re: Mocking religion
I thought this was called the "2 magesterium" approach, but casual googling suggests otherwise. Basically says religion and science are about different topics/domains and there isnt really a clash. Attempts to insert religion into science ( as opposed to scientists) get you Intelligent Design, attempts to insert science into religion get you - dunno - Descartes wager?OTOH, I don't know any religious theoretical cosmologists that strongly believe in their religion's cosmogony. And that "strongly believe in <specific tenets>" distinction is necessary, because there are plenty of people that observe a religion without believing all of the dogma and tenets of that religion. Most people are fully capable of compartmentalizing religious beliefs, political beliefs and scientific thoughts, without even thinking about the tensions between them. And much personal religious thinking is more about "contemplate the mysteries" than "this is what happened".