At 07:40 PM 11/26/2002 -0500, Mark A Mandel wrote: >On Tue, 26 Nov 2002, Steven Brust wrote: > >#Man's religious beliefs have changed over the millennia. In my opinion, an >#examination of these changes would lead to the conclusion that the gods >#have been shrinking. Those areas where the supernatural is required for >#understanding have gotten smaller and smaller. The idea that they might >#vanish entirely in the not-to-distant future doesn't seem farfetched to me. > >Let's not make the mistake of judging universally by the sample most >familiar to us. I don't think the overall level of religious belief in >the world is anywhere near as low as the level among my friends and >acquaintances. Both of the above sentences are true. Neither denies my claim, to which I still hold.