A special status

I've received a coolish response from some of the more politically correct amongst you regarding my piece on the Muslim rioting.

There seems to have developed a mind set, (particularly amongst youngish people), that to imply criticism of a section of the worlds society, is rash and unhelpful.   This mindset  I believe to be the result of years of advocating, to the the impressionable, an imprecise view of the world and the people who inhabit it.

We are all born equal (what a lot of tosh). 
We should all respect and avoid criticism of others, no matter what they do or what their values are, since "minority" rights have preference over majority rights for the reason that the "weaker", (why is that implicit in a minority?) must at all costs be protected.

This has led,amongst other things, to the,"all must be winners" syndrome in our schools and an "over protectiveness" of our children in all avenues of life.

It is hard to distinguish the difference between the politically correct lobby and the, "peace at all costs" reminiscent of Chamberlains appeasement leading up to World War 2.  It was a curtailment of the obvious to deny Germany had anything other than military aims in Europe.  There was a  willingness in a certain type of person to shy away from reality at any cost, particularly if it impinged on the "ideology" that  encased it.

Religions are in effect, faith base ideologies. 
The good that religions "do" is seen within their respective communities and their efforts outside their respective community. The Salvation Army comes to mind but there are many others. 
The congregation that sits or kneels in worship are galvanised by their leaders to do good works and to view others within the sect, with love and compassion.
Unfortunately this act of reciprocity is often played out within the particular faith and, although there are important benefits to society at large, because the benefit given to the individual, the individual now views "others" in a "wider context", outside the obvious religious one.
 
It would be churlish to underestimate the humanitarian, humanising factor of faith based religion.  But what binds the followers to the cause is outside the revelation that Darwinism brought to our understanding of species.  Even more troubling is the confusion the quantum world brings with its "chaos" theories when the religion is based purely on "faith".
  
And what is faith ?     I can have faith in my ability to walk to the shop, I have faith in many of the systems that have evolved in society to make our work and play easier. I have faith in things that I understand and are "of this world" so to speak.

The faith that troubles me is the faith in a "supreme being" that created Adam and Eve as the first humans on earth. From this flows the chronology of the Flood, Noah's Ark and so much more. Much of this special status seems to have arisen as a need to create an identity for the Israelites. The historical time scale and the archaeology are against virtually all the Bible has to say about the creation.

The Quran, passed from God to Mohammed, describes the roll played by Adam (the first prophet) and others in the biblical story. It therefore has as its base the same question --able characters which make up the Old Testament and, in its self must therefore be flawed.Having a "Faith" in God, based on the Old Testament and the Quran seems to be an act of "faith" which is unsustainable by reference to scientific fact. 

Are we to indulge these religions with a special status ?