> On 5/2/07, *Cassidy, Patrick J.* <pcassidy@xxxxxxxxx
> <mailto:pcassidy@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>
> Debbie -
> Not sure how formal your work needs to be, but Richard Dawkins in
> his book "The God Delusion" has reclassified all discourses on
> theology as "meaningless nonsense". Does that fit? (01)
Dawkins says: (02)
"The dictionary supplied with Microsoft Word defines a
delusion as ‘a persistent false belief held in the face of strong
contradictory evidence, especially as a symptom of psychiatric disorder’.
The first part captures religious faith perfectly. As to
whether it is a symptom of a psychiatric disorder, I am inclined to
follow Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance, when he said, ‘When one person suffers from a
delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from
a delusion it is called Religion.’" (03)
Perhaps it would be interesting to argue, chaining to previous
discussions, that if *all* people suffer from a delusion, it is called
'science'. (04)
vQ (05)
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