@4d4m Said
I really like this post!
What I meant about beliefs being logical or dogmatic is this. I was talking religion with a friend and I pointed out the Orthodox Church does not believe in the virgin birth. His answer was, "wow, that's crazy." I replied, "what's more crazy?"
The idea that a man was born to a virgin is crazy. There's no reason to believe it (it has it's roots in non canonical texts and is worth analyzing). I personally think it's good that it's in the story.
However, has it occurred to anyone that getting someone to believe something illogical can be a litmus test? If someone is sufficiently programmed can be tested by their belief in something illogical. Like not believing in dinosaurs or evolution, both demonstrable theories. Once someone begins to question those beliefs it can be assumed they're starting to lose that programming.
I quite agree the general tenor of your post, but I think you give a poor example to demonstrate it (virgin birth).
In the context of the time (ie, the last century BCE) in which the conception of Jesus* is alleged to have occurred, it would have been quite reasonable to believe that a virgin birth was miraculous in as much as it could not have been attributed to natural factors or known human ability. The word "Virgin" would have applied solely to a person who had never had heterosexual intercourse.
Today..? Different can of worms altogether. By the definition above,
I've produced a virgin birth.
I - and millions of women like me - have benefited from Assisted Fertilisation Technology to produce healthy offspring. No miracles.... no apparitions.... no annunciations..... No angels appeared before me, and I travelled to my daughter's birthplace in a Volkswagen not on a donkey.
Such technology was not available to a simple, middle eastern peasant girl - or any other kind of girl - at that time. What is commonplace now was beyond the scope of anybody's abilities or imagination at that time.
So it's all about context and the conditions of the time. Such an idea would not have been crazy if one could have proved then that a form of conception could have occurred, bypassing the obvious (ahem) biological 'obstacle' to the fact.
We make progress by asking questions and then seeking the answers to them in practical, provable terms. Virgin birth is possible and happens. Who knows what will be possible tomorrow, that is believed to be impossible today?
Lateral thinking comes in many guises. Can open, worms everywhere.
*If he ever lived at all. I'll believe it when a body is found.