(December 6, 2023 at 8:55 am)FrustratedFool Wrote: I wasn't equating them except in the singular idea that they are more bad than good. So no fallacy there. It was rhetorical, but not fallacious. However, if I wanted to play devil's advocate I could push the memetic idea of religion as a mind-virus, point out the great harms of religion, and assert they are more alike than you may suppose. But I have no need of that game. Rather it is obvious that my statement was designed to highlight why your prior comment was irrelevant to the argument at hand.
X is simply the set of things that are harmful. Both religion and smallpox belong to set X. Thus we should desire both to be eradicated. The only argument is whether or not you think religion doesn't belong in set X. That is all.
Or to put it another way, why wouldn't you want a religionless world?
Religion bad equals smallpox bad is definitely a fallacy, singular idea or not. I disagree that they belong in a set of 'similar'. They same way that guns and fast food both cause harm/death but don't belong in the same set. Your creation of the 'set', for the most part, appears to be based on emotion.
It's not that I wouldn't like a world without religious beliefs, I would. But telling people that they can't believe what they want is wrong. Telling them that their religious belief is wrong I'm OK with. Telling them that false entitlement to enforce their religious belief on nonbelievers is wrong, that I'm OK with.
I think we can agree that we think religious belief can lack beneficial value, even have harmful value in thought and/or application. However I think that it does provide the believers with some benefits, mostly a sense of belonging. Nonbelievers can benefit also, i.e. charitable acts. If not the case then the belief system would die. Ridding people of their right to believe because you disagree............. I doubt you would like that applied to your beliefs when others disagree with you. Would you also want to do away with indigenous peoples spiritual religious beliefs? Aboriginal peoples spiritual beliefs?
It would be better to rid the world of people that apply their beliefs badly.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
