Strange beliefs indeed

Patrick Parkinson is concerned by the “All of Us” teaching resource author’s susceptibility to confirmation bias (Bri Lee, “Christian lobby academic heads law school”, (July 21–27)) citing their “belief system” which “may be socially constructed” with its own language and rituals and going on to suggest “sincere people hold all sorts of strange beliefs”. How are the many authors of the Bible any different? The Bible, of course, is much older, ensuring that the social constructions its “teachings” have embedded are far more deeply entrenched in Western and other societies, giving them the appearance of legal permanence and unquestionable moral perfection in keeping with their origin in the mind of a creator. But to many non-Christians the Christian belief system is distinguishable from Scientology only by the specific tenets that confirm the bias of their respective believers. Parkinson is no doubt a sincere person but his own psychological need for a single answer that makes sense to him and excludes all others allows him to “hold all sorts of strange beliefs” as well as the next person.

– Tor Larsen, Marrickville, NSW