A propos of nothing, I'd appreciate kind thoughts/prayers: I interviewed today for a job as an adjunct professor at a local community college teaching intro Phil.

Mousethief, I wasn't asking for anecdotes or generalizations. I was asking for your rationale.

Sorry, John, you said "anyone" and I thought that's the question you were asking. You didn't say "you". As I said before I'm not going to lay bare my soul on a hostile internet thread. Sorry.

However, to my simple mind Sagan (whilst not entirely original in many of his pronouncements) did have some insight into the sense of wonder, the search for the sublime and incredible majesty of the universe and he understood that the transcendence felt and intuition that greater forces are at work in the universe wasn't confined to people with a faith.

Completely agree.

I have never said that there is no evidence for religion.

Wellllllll, you did say:

I like my Christian friends, all of whom are good, moral, honest people. I do think they are irrational to some degree, in that they are willing to believe something for which there is no evidence.