One key aspect of religion for some people is that it provides the kind of solultion that porecludes further inquiry; after all, once you have found the "only really true answer to everything" why look any further? A good stable answer--regardless of its truth value--serves to fend off confusion, uncertainty, doubt and fear by giving you a mental palisade and something to measure everything else against.

This probably induces a lack of curiousity in the faithful, wouldn't you think? It is not surprising, then, that those who have their answers firmly in place don't know as much about other answers to similar puzzles, as do those who don't think they have an answer or who think that those answers on offer are not a good fit.


A