"God is the ultimate fictional character!" | Religious Fictionalism, Explored

In this (very loosely connected) response to one interpretation of Jordan Peterson's views about religion, I examine the reasons for and against religious fictionalism, the proposal that religious discourse, far from being about an objective reality 'out there,' is actually just an exercise in fiction - but that doesn't mean we should abandon religion, because partaking in the fiction yields great benefits for our lives. So says fictionalism, anyway. I ultimately reject this view in favor of religious realism. And make some jokes along the way.
Quotation from Jordan Peterson in title is taken from "Douglas Murray and Jonathan Pageau", 33:24: • Douglas Murray and Jon...
REFERENCED TH-cam VIDEOS
Alex O'Connor, "Deconstructing Jordan Peterson on Religion": • Deconstructing Jordan ...
Alex O'Connor and Jordan Peterson, "Navigating Belief, Skepticism, and the Afterlife": • Navigating Belief, Ske...
REFERENCED SCHOLARSHIP
Robin le Poidevin's book, Religious Fictionalism: www.amazon.co....
Eshleman, "Can an atheist believe in God?": philpapers.org...
Cordry, "A critique of religious fictionalism": www.jstor.org/...
Plantinga, "Is belief in God properly basic?": www.jstor.org/...