@pworthen: You are right; we have different notions of skepticism. I do not consider minor changes in religious conduct as being due to skepticism but more utilitarianism. Even the various groups of christians and mohammedans have made numerous such changes over the years. This is why I find Henry’s claim that Judaism is more tolerant of skepticism to be very bizarre and unconnected with reality. Of course Henry could be comparing more liberal Jewish sects with more fundamentalist sects of other religions, but that is hardly a fair comparison.

One thing I find amusing is how different groups react to new things. Let’s say two migrant groups discover the lobster. Now can the lobster be eaten or is it taboo like mussels? Some decide it is taboo, some decide the taboo is not applicable. Now according to Henry those different decisions would have arisen from ‘skepticism’, but he is wrong. Oration is not skepticism. Not to mention many religions have what they consider to be core inviolable beliefs and custom and tradition. For catholics for example the core beliefs are in the Nicaean creed; if you do not believe what is in that creed you are (officially, if not practically) not considered catholic. However if you go against tradition, say you don’t go to church on the feast day of your local patron saint, that’s officially OK even though in practice most of the townsfolk will shun you for a week. So for Henry to claim that people are being skeptical because they make changes to things which they do not really consider of utmost importance is a truly bizarre claim.

[OT] Henry even misrepresents Dawkins by claiming “… The God Delusion is a profoundly misconceived book because it advances, as an axiom, that the existence of God is a hypothesis that can be tested by science.” That is absolute nonsense; if Henry has read the book at all then he has a severe deficiency in basic english literacy. The claim that Dawkins does make is that the bible is full of claims asserted as facts and science can test those claims and show that they are wrong. In a similar fashion, religions make many other claims (not necessarily in the bible even if the bible is quoted as the “inspiration”) and many of those claims can be tested and shown to be incorrect. Dawkins does concede that some claims cannot be tested such as the deist claim that there is a god though we must admit we know nothing about him – that contradicts Henry’s ridiculous claim that Dawkins asserts that god is a hypothesis that can be tested by science.