Believers often get angry when one describes religion as a “superstition,” for they don’t want their beloved faith analogized in any way with rabbits’ feet, four-leaf clovers, or ghosts. A superstition I had as a child, and one I still rarely entertain though I don’t believe it for a second, is not stepping on sidewalk cracks lest bad fortune ensue. Is that really any different from saying you’ll go to hell if you don’t confess that you masturbated?
To resolve the issue, I looked up “superstition” in that paragon of rectitude, the Oxford English Dictionary, and found these definitions:
II. Senses relating to belief.
3. Religious belief or practice considered to be irrational, unfounded, or based on fear or ignorance; excessively credulous belief in and reverence for the supernatural.
and this:
4. A religious system considered to be irrational, unfounded, or based on fear or ignorance; a false, pagan, or idolatrous religion.
and this:
5. A religious belief, ceremony, or practice considered to be irrational, unfounded, or based on fear or ignorance
They’re all pretty similar. (Note in #4 that it refers to a “false” religion. What’s a “true” religion?) But for the life of me I can’t see why religion isn’t a “superstition” according to these definitions. For all religions, or at least those that are theistic and posit unevidenced realities, are irrational and unfounded.
However, there’s one curious definition that, for reasons I don’t understand, removes religion from the other supernatural stuff:
7. Irrational, unfounded, or erroneous belief other than that based on religion or the supernatural; an unreasonable, groundless, or mistaken notion.
Is religion a superstition?
That is unwarranted privileging of religion! Based on these definitions, I do see religion as a form of superstition...
To resolve the issue, I looked up “superstition” in that paragon of rectitude, the Oxford English Dictionary, and found these definitions:
II. Senses relating to belief.
3. Religious belief or practice considered to be irrational, unfounded, or based on fear or ignorance; excessively credulous belief in and reverence for the supernatural.
and this:
4. A religious system considered to be irrational, unfounded, or based on fear or ignorance; a false, pagan, or idolatrous religion.
and this:
5. A religious belief, ceremony, or practice considered to be irrational, unfounded, or based on fear or ignorance
They’re all pretty similar. (Note in #4 that it refers to a “false” religion. What’s a “true” religion?) But for the life of me I can’t see why religion isn’t a “superstition” according to these definitions. For all religions, or at least those that are theistic and posit unevidenced realities, are irrational and unfounded.
However, there’s one curious definition that, for reasons I don’t understand, removes religion from the other supernatural stuff:
7. Irrational, unfounded, or erroneous belief other than that based on religion or the supernatural; an unreasonable, groundless, or mistaken notion.
Is religion a superstition?
That is unwarranted privileging of religion! Based on these definitions, I do see religion as a form of superstition...
