AtD blurb - "false" religiosity?

[John Carvill]

<< An atheist making an observation about the negative effects on
society of "religiosity" (or "religion" 
for that matter) isn't going to be concerned one iota about
practitioners' sincerity,...>>

Well, this is just rubbish. As a devout atheist, can I just point out
that we still reserve the right to distinguish between different stripes
of 'religiosity'? Someone like Dubya or Jimmy Swaggart, say, using
religion to trick and control people, is a lot different from my
grandmother going to church on a Sunday.  While I might find it hard to
understand how anyone can believe in 'God', I have no right not to
respect their belief, but I can still make a judgment about their
sincerity. And rather than not caring about how sincere someone is in
their religious beliefs, this sincerity (or lack thereof) is the crucial
point.

> his sending his son to the Cathedral School,

It's not exactly news that parents sometimes enroll their children in
'religious' schools because they're viewed (rightly or wrongly) as
providing a more stable and conducive learning environment, rather than
because the parents are religious. And I'm sure Pynchon would much
appreciate your publicizing which school his child attends.

Cheers
JC





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