I’d say the provenance of those beliefs is relevant, since it tells you what kind of rubes we’re talking about. A 2000-year-old religion is one thing, even if its foundational beliefs are mythical. Some half-assed bullshit cobbbled together by a gaggle of late-19th-century and early-20th-century hucksters doesn’t even have the excuse that at least they built a few cathedrals, wrote some good music and did some good paintings, along with all the life-denying superstition and oppression.
I think the point is if what they believe in is a string of randomly connected bits of fiction, it’s not too much of a leap to think that they would omit or include a new bit of fiction to fit whatever the situation currently is.
Sure. But it’s legitimacy is irrelevant so long as they believe it, which they do.
I’d say the provenance of those beliefs is relevant, since it tells you what kind of rubes we’re talking about. A 2000-year-old religion is one thing, even if its foundational beliefs are mythical. Some half-assed bullshit cobbbled together by a gaggle of late-19th-century and early-20th-century hucksters doesn’t even have the excuse that at least they built a few cathedrals, wrote some good music and did some good paintings, along with all the life-denying superstition and oppression.
I think the point is if what they believe in is a string of randomly connected bits of fiction, it’s not too much of a leap to think that they would omit or include a new bit of fiction to fit whatever the situation currently is.