Sudan scraps apostasy law and alcohol ban for non-Muslims

[Porcupine]

That’s a silly remark - no one can be ‘forced to believe’ anything. They can be cajoled into believing and they can be forced into acting as if they believe, but belief itself is voluntary.

Boru

If you put a gun to my head and told me I had to believe in XYZ, I would be able to put on a good show, say the right things, do whatever was required... but... that does not mean I would actually believe. (Only that I believe that I didn't want to get shot)

I am not sure in that case. If you are an unconvincing liar your brain might actually resort to dissociasting yourself from reality in order to temporarily be able to believe a falsehood in order to survive. Some people's brains might not do that but I certainly think it's possible. It's one why depression can, for some people, lead to psychosis but not for others. Because, for some people, psychosis is a way for the brain to cope with depression. True, there are other forms of psychosis---psychosis that make the depression even worse. But there are certainly some people who lose touch with reality, when depressed, and go into a psychosis that helps them believe falsehoods that make them feel less depressed. I think some extreme episodes of rapid-cycling bipolar can behave this way---where extreme depression can rapidly become extreme delusional mania.