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Imagine a game, where the rules of it are: "lets pretend we are in a dream". We can play it, it's a game. In what way does this game have to be logical, or logically-self-consistent for that matter? It can be consistent in the way a dream is consistent, which is very far from the idea of "logically consistent" you talk about.



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Same for religon. A religon is logical if its beliefs are consistent - it doesn't require two contradictory beliefs at the same time. By 'contradictory beliefs' I mean two beliefs that cannot be held at the same time.

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What you are saying is that some religions are logical, or could be logical. However - this certainly isn't some requirement for a religion! I can certainly think of many religions who require contradiciting beliefs at the same time. For instance: 3=1, while at the same time 3!=1. Such characteristics are common for many religions. Looking for "consistency" in a religion is exactly the kind of absurd I was talking about. Another very general example: in many religions, certain objects are ALSO other things (not symbolizing other things, but ARE other things). This is "dream-logic", not the "logic" you talk about. However, these religions _exist_. Therefore, you can't say that "non-logical" religions are not religions, pretty much as you can't say so about games.
I don't quite see what you mean by "stand-alone", by "our", and by "other belives". As a matter of fact, the actual reality in which we live (also the reality in this very forum), shows you that people can live in the very same world, at the same time, the SAME SOCIETY, and still believe in very different, sometimes contradictory things. How can that be if what you had just said is true? Obviously there is no consistenncy here, at all.

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Formal logic appears like a game of chess because it has rules, but formal logic is just an abstract way of analysing what follows from what we mean.


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Praying Mantis,
I think what people are criticizing, or at least what I criticize, is the honesty of religious followers. They do not own up to the type of game they are playing and say they are playing football with us when actually they are playing your "lets pretend we're dreaming" game.
Now you could tell me, "aha, thats because lying about the game is part of their game."
Maybe so. This could go on ad infinitum. I dont believe that most religious adherents ARE actually doing what you say they are. I believe they are simply lying about what they are doing--both to themselves and to me.
If somebody is hitting a golf ball and they tell you, "Hello, I'm playing tennis right now. I am on a tennis court." I have every right to tell them, no you are not. Let's talk about this tennis court and this game of tennis. perhaps we are just having a language issue. No...apparently you are simply lying. We share the same language and you are lying.

-g