Just a few notes on the subject, hoping to move on. It's almost impossible to say anything about religion invokes anything but a spirited defense of whatever your listener thinks about it. The actual exchange of ideas on this subject is, for the most part, impossible. One lesson I got from slogging through Medieval philosophy  was the centuries-old attempt to figure out what was true about God without admitting that it was all about human experience - the proverbial elephant in the room. Failure to take this into account largely accounts for the deadening boredom of most church services and the surprising success of the evangelical movement and the "black" Church. While community and authority are more important than doctrine in holding a religion together "on the ground" - in the congregation, we must also acknowledge that we all accept the authority and bow to community standards every day of our lives. So-called "religious" people are no different i...