Why is a religious belief more valid than, for example, a belief in alien abduction?

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I used to think these things were the same thing. Then I started coming up with my own theocratic ideas and I realized that they’re totally different.

The difference boils down to just how much thought you’re putting into your ideas. All spiritual ideas attempt to explain aspects of reality that empiricism can’t. But religion sets these ideas in a broader narrative and aims much much higher.

It’s the difference between a bedtime story you tell your kid and Star Wars. One is a coordinated work of art that is taken extremely seriously by creators, writers, actors, special effects people. Other authors can build off of the movies and create an entire universe.

The other is intended solely to get your kid to sleep.

Religion is conducted with an extreme amount of seriousness by people who understand the unreasonable nature of what they’re doing. They know it’s unreasonable to believe that God sent a man down to Earth to forgive our sins. They believe it anyway and work to justify it and give it life.

Religions have thousands of years of history behind them. Sure, belief is belief and everybody’s beliefs are more or less the same thing. But connecting your beliefs to a two-thousand year old tradition gives you advantages that pinning your life problems on alien abduction doesn’t.

I’ve written about the process of mysticism recently, you should go and read it, it’s here. Mystic exploration requires suspension of disbelief in order to get started. That suspension is way easier to achieve when you involve others who believe the same way. Religions have millions of adherents, this makes belief much much easier to build.

Belief in alien abduction can promote mysticism, there’s no real difference between contacting an alien entity and a ‘spirit guide’. But there’s a huge difference in the community and the level of seriousness you find there.

As another example, take psychedelics. Taking psychedelics in a safe, welcoming environment is going to create a much different experience than doing them in a scary alleyway. Religions do their best to be safe and welcoming, of course individual churches may not do quite as well as others.