What is it that separates superstition from belief?
What makes the difference between myth and faith?
To me, it’s a question of duration and quantity. The longer a superstition persists, the more akin to belief it becomes; the more people who believe in a myth, the closer to religion or faith it is.
The biggest reason an Israelite accepts JHVH is precisely identical to the biggest reason a Saudi accepts Allah or an Alabaman accepts Jesus. It’s not because of the innate correctness of the superstitions — it’s simply an accident of birth, in much the same way as one’s native language is.
You’d think this would be obvious to anyone who really pays attention, yet time after time we see that’s just not true.
Below the fold is a graphical example of what I mean.
True to form, here’s a PDF of the file in case you want to print it and pass it out or something. Strange Beliefs (460 KB)
Spew