Making Light: All Religions are UPG

[cbayer]

8. Since the unkowable is, well, unknown, I would argue that taking a

postion of atheism is no more *rational* than taking a position of theism.

Whether you believe what others have experienced is true or not is irrelevant to their experience and they have no need to provide any evidence to you whatsoever.

When you claim that they have a "mistaken belief", you take the position that you know the truth. And you don't. You just haven't seen any evidence that convinces you otherwise.

To claim an association between mental illness and religious believers is offensive in the extreme. While many people with serious mental illness do develop religiously based delusions to explain what they are experiencing, there is no increased incidence of mental illness in people who are religious.

You don't have to accept anything, but one would hope that as a liberal/progressive person you would exhibit some understanding that not everyone shares your POV, experiences or philosophy about the world.