Yes, there is proof of religion. Look right now at the Vatican. Look at a nation formed solely on a religious basis. Look at the pilgrimage to Mecca. Look at the churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of religion all over the world. And if you mean that there's no evidence that these religious beliefs are real, who cares? You're making an issue out of absolutely nothing. Things like Democracy are just concepts too, should we not hold that to any higher importance than of an Oligarchy or Despotism? Currency is just a concept, so is our economy, our language, etc. They are all things we believe in.

You're not getting the point here, and it's frustrating me. If there's ever an organized religion for fairies and dragons with millions of followers and a set belief system/doctrine, maybe their opinions will be protected. Otherwise, stop being difficult and use a little logic.

my point is that, until we can prove that a religons beliefs are factual, we cant give them any more credence than someone who thinks dragons are real.

i dont understand what youre saying? democracy and religon are not the same thing?

I'm not going to bother with you anymore. You're not even trying.

what?

you compared a belief system to a system of government, i understand them to be different things.

I know. It's like you looked at the comparison but then didn't stop to think what I was comparing. And it's like you skimmed over a couple of words of my post and didn't read the rest. I'm going to post this one more time before I lose my patience and am forced to insult you.

The reason religion is a valid belief system is because it has deep roots in history and society. Things like government are also only beliefs. We perceive democracy, and make it a part of our society. We also perceive currency to be valuable, even though a dollar isn't actually worth a dollar in paper. Because of this, our entire civilization is built on what we believe. A belief system based on fairies and dragons wouldn't be protected because it's not an actual belief system. If it was an organized religion with branches in many different countries and hundreds of thousands if not millions of followers, perhaps it would be protected under the laws of a select handful of countries.

@ bolded - do i even need to tell you the flaws behind that argument?

i get what youre trying to say with the rest of the post though, you think that religon should get stuff because its a concept, ok, i dont, i guess thats the debate here, what does and dosent deserve laws to protect it, id say democracy does as we need some form of government, but religon dosent, because we dont need it to function as a society, infact, i could argue that religon is conter productive to a fair society.

No, I don't see a flaw. So long as a long of people practice it and it doesn't spread messages of hate or harm, there's really no problem with it. And I was giving examples of other concepts. I'd like to see you argue that religion is counter-productive, by the way. China has very few religious people in it, but it has a far more totalitarian government than a largely religious nation like the U.S. It varies. Religion is a big part of the lives of billions of people. Besides, we're straying from the original argument. And I know you'd love that to happen, because your original point sucks.

When a religion based on fairies and dragons becomes major and recognized worldwide, maybe it will be protected. Otherwise, no. I've never heard of such a movement, and I don't think it will happen any time soon.

No, I don't see a flaw. So long as a long of people practice it and it doesn't spread messages of hate or harm, there's really no problem with it. And I was giving examples of other concepts. I'd like to see you argue that religion is counter-productive, by the way. China has very few religious people in it, but it has a far more totalitarian government than a largely religious nation like the U.S. It varies. Religion is a big part of the lives of billions of people. Besides, we're straying from the original argument. And I know you'd love that to happen, because your original point sucks.

When a religion based on fairies and dragons becomes major and recognized worldwide, maybe it will be protected. Otherwise, no. I've never heard of such a movement, and I don't think it will happen any time soon.