>And having a genuine encounter with God does not automatically make anyone immune from all error or human folly.

And shouldn't it? Or at least from all *crucial* error and folly?

Think about it. Judging from *their actions alone* (other than religious observances) could you tell which people you know are atheists, agnostics, or believers?

There are criminals and lunatics across the board, as well as saints and people in between.

My guess is that you'll find a higher proportion of real self-sacrificing "saints" (like Mother Teresa) among the believers, but all that might prove is that self-sacrificing, saintly people are more likely to express themeselves through religion. And Mother Teresa seems to have believed - for fifty years - that God was not real or had abandoned her, or that her faith was insufficient.

Does that make any sense at all? Why should God allow her to feel that way if she's devoting her entire existence to His service, living in poverty, helping the sick and wretched?

Didn't Mother Teresa have a "divine encounter" when she was "called" to be a nun? You'd think so.

Was she a believer, an agnostic, or a reluctant atheist? Who knows? Does it matter? She was still a saint.