AtD blurb - "false" religiosity?

[Otto]

Well, I wouldn't call it rubbish but I disagree to Rob here.

2006/8/18, John Carvill <JCarvill at algsoftware.com>:
> << 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
>