>>> Thought processes can be revamped and religious believers from articles in Scientific American have shown that believers who are devout have a different brain chemistry than those who don't. <<<

So you are hinting that believers have something wrong with their brains and believers do not? I feel so much better about that!!

Luckily, that is also nonsense.

Does it show that the brain chemistry changes when that devotion is switched from religion to something else? I do not think that it does. I think that is what Dr de Waal is hinting at. He is saying that Hitchens didn't change. His passions changed. With a choice of de Waal's opinion and yours on brain science, I'll always choose his.

>>>It's not just a simplistic matter of changing your mind. It entails a great deal of thought and examination of your belief system and whether it conforms to a reality picture.<<<

I do not believe that is the case. Here is how it happened with Dr. de Waal...

I never felt any attraction to religion and never talked to God or felt a special relationship. After I left home for the university, at the age of seventeen, I quickly lost any remnant of religiosity.

I don't know of a single person who has done this >>>It entails a great deal of thought and examination of your belief system and whether it conforms to a reality picture.<<< to get religion out of their life. The idea of doing that just does not make any sense. How do religious people decide that they need to these self audits if they have not already decided that they don't want to be religious?


>>>Psychological therapists know this and use it to help those who are entrenched in emotional problems.<<<

I do not think it is useful to cite what unnamed "Psychological therapists" know as a reference in a debate that has nothing to do with Psychological therapy.

If you are implying that I am entrenched in emotional problems. I can assure you that I am not.

I am happy that you do not make light of Steve's comments. Even happier that he does not make light of you. Steve gets at least as much respect as he gives. Whether he gets the respect he deserves is another matter.