An argument often made these days about long-lasting and unwinnable wars is that “we owe it to the dead” to keep fighting forever and never lose otherwise their sacrifice was in vain. Nonsense of course – just a recipe for never-ending wars because you just keep adding more and more dead. I wonder if the same logic is at play with religion – people think they owe it to all the believers of the previous 1500 or 2000 years to keep believing otherwise their faith was in vain? Just a recipe for keeping the malign influence of religion alive in the world forever.