>Does it ? If you followed someone who you believed was a savior and then
>in the end you find out you wasted your time and effort ? Not only hard on
>one's own psyche but also one is left with the problem that if the truth
>ever becomes known many others might lose faith in their religion just
>because of one fraudulent act. One is then faced with the problem to
>expose the fraud or to perpetuate it.
If the stakes aren't too high, I grant that this can happen. But all of
the apostles except for John were executed for their faith, by crucifixion
(I don't know if all were crucified, but some were), a very slow, painful
method of execution. Later, and possibly in the first century also,
followers of Christ were burned -- also a very fearsome, painful method of
execution. If the stakes were just saving face at the expense of a little
ridicule or maybe even a prison term, Pim's argument might have some
plausibility. But most people would draw the line far short of being
crucified or burned, unless they were totally convinced they were standing
for the truth.
Bill Hamilton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
William E. Hamilton, Jr, Ph.D. | Staff Research Engineer
Chassis and Vehicle Systems | General Motors R&D Center | Warren, MI
William_E._Hamilton@notes.gmr.com
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX) | whamilto@mich.com (home email)