Oh my god (please excuse the hyperbole) -- but this is a wonderful thread! I am non-religious but intensely interested in the neuroscience of belief and thought processes (though a neophyte at best among this sage community of discussants). The mere civility of the discussion here, relative to others I have encountered, deserves visualization via fMRI. So having just now read through from top to bottom, I come out of lurk mode to simply say thank you. I shall continue to read, and learn, and perhaps follow that thought around the next corner...........