Religious belief

Hello again folks! Actually I'm not sure if this blog has "regular readers". This is only the 4th post so it's a bit hard to tell at what point people become "regular readers". Funnily enough today's blog post (or this week's or this month's, I don't know I'm not keeping track) asks a similar question about religious belief...
The whole idea for this post came from the news story
(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/23/christian-worker-court-right-not-work-sundays)
that a Christian women had taken her former employers to the court of appeal as they refused to accommodate her request not to work on Sundays due to the Sabbath being holy.

Now a quick disclaimer (as always it seems (has there been enough posts for me to say "as always"?). I really need to stop being so controversial...):
                                         ^
Now that's what I call punctuating a sentence. I punctuated the heck out of it. The best thing is some of it's correct!

If you find the idea of someone questioning a belief system that you believe in either: abhorrent, evil, sinful, corrupting, satanic or a crime against your very existence then please leave this blog. There is the metaphorical door, go walk your metaphorical shoes right through it and don't let the metaphorical door hit your metaphorical self on the way out. If you continue to read and get offended don't come whining to me. Whining is my job. It's in the title and everything.

Now religious belief is thought by many to be special. It defines people's entire lives, on occasion it dictates their actions and people hold it as dear to them as they do their own children. But why are religious beliefs thought of as special? What is it that makes religious beliefs different from my belief that roast potatoes are the pinnacle of human achievement and shall never be surpassed? Would I be justified in taking my employers to the court of appeal because they wouldn't let me sit at my desk in a bath of roast potatoes?

Dictionary.com defines religious belief as "a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny"

Ok then that makes sense. A belief in a supernatural power or power over human destiny is obviously nothing like the belief that roast potatoes are the BEST THING EVER OMG I LOVE ROA- sorry got carried away there. So it would seem that the belief in a omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient God trumps roast potatoes. I would be laughed out of court for my ridiculous suggestion that my love for roast potatoes should be protected by law. But why is it ridiculous? 

If I were to create a religion based solely on the preparation, consumption and adoration of roast potatoes why wouldn't it be taken seriously? What's different between Christianity and the Church of the Latter Day Roast Potatoes? Christianity is older? It's got more members? Its started more wars (oooooo controversial. This is what that disclaimer was all about)?

Religion (I'm talking generally about religion. Christianity has only been mentioned so many times so far because the story is about a Christian and I am from a country that is built on the foundations of Christianity) is entirely based on faith. There is no empirical, testable evidence that can be provided to prove it correct or otherwise. "Evidence" has been provided in the past in the form of witness accounts of miracles and religious experiences but no miracle has been scientifically verified as being directly caused by divine intervention and there is a growing body of evidence that religious experiences (angels talking to people, visitations from Jesus etc) are are most probably entirely created by the brain. Even so how can you prove or disprove that someone had a religious experience? You can't! It's all down to faith. 

Now I could say I had a visitation from the the Holy Roast Potato that told me to go forth and spread the word of his crunchy-but-fluffy-on-the-inside teachings and there is absolutely no way that you could prove that I hadn't been visited by an anthropomorphic roast potato. None. I decide to write down the the Commandments from his Crunchyness and thus proclaim to the world that: 

THOU SHALT NOT NOT (MAKE NOTE OF THE DOUBLE NEGATIVE THEY ARE SUPER IMPORTANT TO ROAST POTATOES) SIT IN A BATH OF ROAST POTATOES ON TUESDAYS.
THOU SHALT ALSO THROW ROAST POTATOES AT THE QUEEN FOR SHE IS NOT ROASTED ENOUGH TO BE MONACH.
THOU SHALT NOT EAT RAW POTATO FOR I DECREE THAT IT MUST BE ROASTED. CRISPS AND CHIPS ARE OK BUT REALLY YOU SHOULD HAVE ROASTED THEM.

Should my teachings be protected by law? If not why not?

"But you just made that up for a joke!"
Does that matter? If I believe in it then it doesn't mater how it started does it?

"But you were never visited by an anthropomorphic roast potato!"
Oh so you were in my mind experiencing everything I was experiencing and can categorically say that I never had this experience? 

"But you don't really believe in it!"
Prove that I don't. Go on prove it.

"Aha! You weren't in a bath of roast potatoes last Tuesday!"
I'm a high priest/prophet so I'm exempt from the 1st Commandment of his Roastyness... And I'm tax exempt...

Now all that roast potato stuff is ridiculous but there is a point wrapped up in all of that roasted vegetable matter (probably...)
When does a religion become "real"? At what point should religious practices be protected by law? Some people describe their religion as Jedi and are laughed at for it but lets look again at the definition of religious belief:
"a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny"
Did I hear someone say the Force? Just because the Jedi were made up by a guy really into sci-fi doesn't mean it can't be a religion, I mean look at Scientology (please send all legal challenges to my lawyer). 

My point is is that I don't believe this women should have Sunday's off because an invisible beardy guy in the clouds says she should because that beardy guy might as well be a roast potato and that Sunday off might as well be a Tuesday spent sitting in a bath full to the brim of roast potatoes.

May your dreams be golden brown on the outside and white and fluffy on the inside. HIS CRUNCHYNESS BE PRAISED!