So, recently I was talking to a friend and somehow we got to talking about religion and stuff. When I complained that religion is often put on a huge pedestal and that it’s really just a glorified opinion and should be subject to the same criticism as any other opinion, they told me that that was a really hot take.
According to them, belief and religion is more than just an opinion since it’s such a big part of people’s lives. I countered that opinions are also big parts of people’s lives and personalities. I mean, a huge chunk of your personality is based on your opinions, right?
We agreed to disagree but I kept thinking about it. I don’t get why religion shouldn’t just be treated like any other opinion just because people tend to cling to it. I get that it people are emotionally invested but that’s not just the case with religion but other opinions too. I would appreciate your thoughts to help me understand better, is it really a hot take?
The fallacy you’ve got there is called “equivocation” and it’s on you.
Belief, faith, opinion, all words have multiple meanings and context-dependent implications. My belief that the Phillies will have a good year might be based on their off-season moves, or it could just be an ardent hope. It’s not at all the same as the belief that a suicide bomber has that his sacrifice will earn him eternal reward and strike a significant blow against the great Satan.
Belief can be an opinion, implying that it is based on experience and potentially flexible. Belief can be faith, implying it is based on hope and is inflexible. It is not a contradiction for both to exist at the same time, and it’s disingenuous to dismiss a person’s faith as an opinion by the transitive property of the word “belief.” That’s not how language works.
I know that the fallacy would be on me. Who else would it be on? Besides, I specifically didn’t conclude that belief is an opinion based on an opinion being a belief according to the definiton.
It surely can seem to be dismissive when I tell someone that their belief isn’t as valuable as they think it is. The sad reality is, beliefs are practically immune to criticism and scrutiny since it is universally frowned upon to criticize someone’s beliefs. I think that’s stupid. Why would religious beliefs deserve this kind of immunity when there is a whole bunch to rightfully critizice? I want to find a nice way of phrasing that a belief really should be criticized, just like opinions. The closest I’ve come by reading these comments is delusion.