Re:Charlie Hebdo: first cover since terror attack depicts pr...
by jawns on Tuesday January 13, 2015 @09:15AM
(#8879941)
I agree with you that your religion is not necessarily something you can choose, but because of another bullet point:
- You sincerely believe it to be true.
If you don't have a doubt in your mind that something is true (e.g. that torture is never morally justifiable, or that God doesn't exist because of Epicurus' trilemma, or that an unborn baby has a right to life, or that objective truths exist) then to say that you could "choose" to believe something else is not quite accurate.
And since a religion is, fundamentally, a collection of truth assertions, it's not necessarily true that you can "choose" it intellectually.
Whether you are free to choose it socially or legally is another story. In many places, converting to another religion can be a very dangerous thing to do.
- You sincerely believe it to be true.
If you don't have a doubt in your mind that something is true (e.g. that torture is never morally justifiable, or that God doesn't exist because of Epicurus' trilemma, or that an unborn baby has a right to life, or that objective truths exist) then to say that you could "choose" to believe something else is not quite accurate.
And since a religion is, fundamentally, a collection of truth assertions, it's not necessarily true that you can "choose" it intellectually.
Whether you are free to choose it socially or legally is another story. In many places, converting to another religion can be a very dangerous thing to do.