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Notes -
I'll add also because it occurred to me during lunch:
I'm also a Christian and I believe in Jesus. And I can actually marshal lots of arguments and reasons for why I believe in Christ, but I ultimately can't stop somebody from sneering that, well, that's a belief, belief can't be justified, every argument is only a rationalization. Fair enough. So let me at least state outright exactly what I believe, because I think everybody believes in something. And I do think my beliefs are better, and I also think my reasons are better. So "belief" is the exact idea I want to evoke.
That you put your belief in Christ and in Trump in the same discussion is beyond the reach of any sneer, honestly.
Though much of American Christianity is this kind of bullshit religion, like Russian Orthodoxy or State Shinto, nothing more than morally and theologically vacuous justification of imperial legitimacy. Naturally it's compatible with venerating a Czar.
Now we’re just debating the semantics of the word “belief”. But I hope you understand, that when I say that I “believe” the Donald Trump is a hero, I am not purporting a religious or irrational thought. Rather, that word communicates an extremely high level of confidence.
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