(September 13, 2011 at 7:27 pm)Fred Wrote: But that would apply equally to praying away the gay or views on climate change or a host of other issues, wouldn't it?
But to theists, the belief in a god is the top level, overriding belief that informs most, if not all their other beliefs. It is the belief that would cause the most drastic cognitive dissonance if they no longer had it.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
