Mental starch?

[yuheci]

Could you please teach me what is the meaning of "stiffening process" and "mental starch" in the following quotation :

"Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch, which out to be applied as sparingly as possible.

E.M. Forster"

Thank you very much for your time and help.

Yu Heci

 

[SoothingDave]

Starch was used when laundering shirts, when people wanted their shirts to be as stiff as a board.

 

[Tdol]

Faith makes the mind less flexible, so it shouldn't be used much.

PS out -> ought to be applied

 

[yuheci]

Faith makes the mind less flexible, so it shouldn't be used much.

PS out -> ought to be applied

If it is possible, could you please kindly show me an example. Many thanks.

 

[Tdol]

If you read the essay he wrote it in, he gives many examples: http://www.skeptic.ca/EM_Forster_What_I_Believe.htm

Basically, faith imposes a set of rules on the person who follows it, rules which they may wish to impose on others. Forster disliked this. He sees life as messy and complex:

I hate the idea of dying for a cause, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.

Many would disagree with his view and think that nation has to come first, because those are the beliefs instilled in them. He rejects this notion and the conventional morality underneath it.