GfS, thanks for taking my point the right way. I genuinely don't understand what you mean by a 'spiritual experience', and since you brought it up I would find it helpful if you would be willing to expand on this.

I think you are correct that there is a (possibly unbridgeable) gulf in understanding between those with a religious viewpoint and those without. The latter find it difficult to understand why the former need religion, while they find it hard to understand why the latter can live without it, and assume that they are seeking something to replace it.