One of the reasons that it is difficult to make much headway in trying to convince a religious zealot that his opinions are irrational is that he feels himself to be a part of a community, and, at a fundamental level, he sees this community, and not himself, as the arbiter of decisions about what is rational and irrational.
One encounters this attitude even among the highly educated. There is a certain sort of intellectual who sees himself primarily and essentially as part of a community—the sociologist as part of community of sociologists, and so forth—and sees this community, and not himself, as the ultimate arbiter of rationality and truth.
Just as the Christian supports his position by citing passages from the Bible, taking for granted that the Bible constitutes the primary source of undisputed truth, this sort of intellectual refers to “the literature” of his field to support his position, and takes for granted that we will accept this as a source of undisputed truth. If you ask him to provide not merely a reference to an article , but to actually recount the specific evidence that convinced him of his particular position, you will find that he very often cannot. The evidence that produced the conviction has faded from memory, and yet the conviction itself steadfastly remains.
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