Argument ad Baculuum

Note; Argument ad baculuum to give an example..... a religious reply to a moral sceptic's question;- Why should I believe in such and such a way, is simply "because God requires it of you" in other words if you don't you will be punished argumentum ad baculum comes down to the use of threat, appealing to a 'force'. Threats of course are never a logical justification for acting one way or another... if there is a god, and hell fire, than it might be prudent to obey god; but the threat of punishment is not a principled reason for obedience. ........A.C.Grayling

Casuistry is a broad term that refers to a variety of forms of case-based reasoning. Used in discussions of law and ethics casuistry is often understood as a critique of a strict principle based approach to reasoning. For example, while a principle-based approach may conclude that lying is always morally wrong, the casuist would argue that lying may or may not be wrong, depending on the details surrounding the case. For instance, the casuist might conclude that a person is wrong to lie while giving legal testimony under oath, but (the casuist might argue) lying is actually the best moral choice if the lie saves someone's life. For the casuist, the circumstances surrounding a particular case are essential for evaluating the proper response ... Wikipedia explanation.

Paganism... nature beliefs characteristic of ancient paganism reflect the origins of religion as mankind's first attempt at science and technology. Its science because it takes in how the world works, it taught because the wind blows and invisible powers puff their cheeks and blow, and also that crops grow and rain falls at the will, or the whim of - the gods...
so according to Grayling, people watch the Easter ceremony on tv to replenish their faith in dim superstitions whose roots lie when our species was in its infancy, and which were dreamed up then to fill the vacuum of humanity's early ignorance

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2326109.ece