I.
Superstition (Latin superstes, standing over) is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition
II.
Christianity:
belief not based on reason? check
belief in special significance of particular events? check
Islam:
" check
" check
Judaism:
" check
" check
Lets try a non-theistic religion, just an ideology of sorts:
Buddhim:
" check
" check
Now lets try non-ideology, just plain old superstition:
# Spilling salt is said to cause a fight or argument during the day. There are several options to "undo" this which seem to relate to various ways of acknowledging the fact that salt was spilled with others present at the scene. One way to revert this is tossing some salt over one's left shoulder with ones right hand:
belief not based on reason? check
belief in special significance of particular events? check
# At times, a horseshoe may be found above doorways. When positioned like a regular 'U' it supposedly collects luck. However, when it is positioned like an upside-down 'U' the luck supposedly drains.
belief not based on reason? check
belief in special significance of particular events? check
# If one walks underneath an open ladder it is said to bring bad luck. Sometimes it is said that this can be undone by immediately walking backwards back underneath the ladder.
belief not based on reason? check
belief in special significance of particular events? check
# Opening an umbrella indoors is said to result in 21 days of bad luck. Some traditions hold that it is only bad luck if the umbrella is placed over the head of someone while indoors.
belief not based on reason? check
belief in special significance of particular events? check
III.
you will of course object to the idea that Christianity is not based on reason.
Im not aware of any more reason to believe in the Christian God than the invisible Martian ice cream truck. If theres a special reason why Christianity is the exception of the generally accepted definition of superstition, please state why....-->
The study is a victim of the informal fallacy: special pleading.
Rule: Xs are generally Ys.
x is an X.
x is an exception to the rule because it is I (where I is an irrelevant characteristic).
Therefore, x is not a Y.
Supernatural beliefs are generally superstitions.
Religion is a supernatural belief.
You claim that Christianity is an exception (
you haven't explicitly, but by using the catholic definition, its clear that their definition entails only non-Christian supernatural beliefs as superstitious) to the rule because {catholic definition of superstition}.
Therefore Christianity is not a superstition.
You have tried to gain special exception for Christianity by using the catholic definition of superstition. A definition, when used for you're argument, leads to begging the question in this context.
# it seems that according to your catholic dictionary: superstition is any activity trying to claim knowledge or power only known to God alone, or any activity that is improper worship of God
# This is not the definition the rest of the world concedes as superstition, and does not follow from any other definition that the world has conceded as superstition,
# the catholic definition of superstition is not otherwise ascribable to superstition as what we might call a “reasonable presumption” or a “default”
To review:
1. Special Pleading: what exactly makes Christianity any different than other religion or super natural ideology? Why should we make exception when deciding what is superstition? If its not obvious, then this study should of been about proving religion and not about superstitions and their exceptions.
2. Begging the Question: the catholic definition of superstition uses a premise that most do not agree is a reasonable presumption.
