First, I think we’re all tolerant of religion and most other kinds of irrationality. There is a difference between tolerance and respect.
Second, there isn’t much difference between beliefs that are contradicted by empirical evidence and beliefs that have no evidence for or against them, but are a priori very implausible. Both have a very low likelihood of being true and should therefore be considered false by rational people.
Third, I don’t see how conceding that one’s beliefs are irrational excuses the irrationality (unless we’re talking about mind states that are beyond our control, like phobias).
In most cases, such a concession is a symptom of a deeper, more insidious kind of irrationality. After all, what do theists mean when they say that their beliefs aren’t rational, but they believe them anyway? Obviously they don’t use the word ‘rational’ the way most of us do. Usually they mean that they know that their beliefs aren’t supported by logic or evidence, but they believe there are ‘other ways’ of discovering truth, which is just smoke to hide the fact that they don’t want to question their beliefs.
First, I think we’re all tolerant of religion and most other kinds of irrationality. There is a difference between tolerance and respect.
Second, there isn’t much difference between beliefs that are contradicted by empirical evidence and beliefs that have no evidence for or against them, but are a priori very implausible. Both have a very low likelihood of being true and should therefore be considered false by rational people.
Third, I don’t see how conceding that one’s beliefs are irrational excuses the irrationality (unless we’re talking about mind states that are beyond our control, like phobias). In most cases, such a concession is a symptom of a deeper, more insidious kind of irrationality. After all, what do theists mean when they say that their beliefs aren’t rational, but they believe them anyway? Obviously they don’t use the word ‘rational’ the way most of us do. Usually they mean that they know that their beliefs aren’t supported by logic or evidence, but they believe there are ‘other ways’ of discovering truth, which is just smoke to hide the fact that they don’t want to question their beliefs.