[Serious] Questions about Belief and Personal Identity

[Belacqua]

The above responses prompted me to wonder when an epistemic failure is also immoral

I suspect this is another case of atheists reproducing Christian patterns. 

As I understand it, pagan religions didn't emphasize belief as much as they did practice. Nobody quizzed you on whether you truly held that Aphrodite truly existed, as long as you went to the temple on the right day and did the ceremony. 

In Plato's dialogues, for example, they speak as if the gods are real but are perfectly happy to say "heretical" things about them. For example, that there are really two Aphrodites, or that Eros is not a god but a spirit, etc. Belief in the gods was held lightly. But Socrates' last words were "We owe a cock to Asclepius; pay it and don't forget.” The ritual was important even to the guy who provided the theoretical underpinnings of all future monotheism. 

It's Christianity (particularly Luther?) which makes false belief a thought-crime. And this gets continued among atheists today. 

In addition to the accusations of immorality, people with false beliefs (from the perspective of the person doing the scolding) are also frequently accused of dishonesty. This forum's new member, johndoe, has been called dishonest over and over when people disagree with him, though he seems as sincere as he can be. 

I suspect that this comes from the extreme narrowness of his accusers' beliefs. Their own beliefs seem not only self-evident, but so indisputably absolutely true that they can't conceive of people honestly holding different ones. And if it's impossible to hold a different belief, then saying you do must be a lie. 

The inability to comprehend why sincere and good people might disagree with you is an unfortunate intellectual weakness.