A response to “Being Religious is Like Eating Sand”

As for the beliefs themselves, it’s just as hard to prove a belief that there is a soul as to prove that there isn’t. If there is a “spiritual” reality, we might not be able to detect it with scientific instruments. But not seeing something doesn’t constitute proof that it doesn’t exist. Ignoring accounts of people who claim to have had firsthand contact with some other form of reality would be an irrational handicap to our pursuit of knowledge. If investigation isn’t possible, the best we can do is to say “I don’t know for sure… but I’ve heard X and I’ve heard Y.”

You can believe as much or as little as you want, and still live a good and happy life, in peaceful coexistence with others.