On Sep 5, 10:36*pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
wrote in message
People are hard-wired for religious belief, some psychologists are now
telling us. It sounds reasonable to me; it agrees with my experience. As for
picked pockets and broken legs, I think we have little choice but to go with
the essential nature of people and work with it as much as possible. I favor
tolerating every belief system I can, as long as it doesn't do too much
damage.

Look at someone like Tawwwwwwwm, or Roger -- where would they be, armed with
guns but without their belief? Do you really want to see them acting of
their own will, full of resentments, without an externally imposed set of
values and prohibitions? It keeps them under reasonable control, off the
streets and out of serious trouble. In the balance, I'll go with Jefferson.