By CLARE AUKOFER AND J. ANDERSON THOMSON - LA TIMES
Added: Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:15:35 UTC

Clare Aukofer and J. Anderson Thomson, the writers of the July 18 Op-Ed article "Imagine no religion"  have this to say about the comments posted on their piece:

God is clearly controversial. Our Op-Ed on the psychological origins of religious belief sparked heated online discussion, with more than 2800 (and counting) comments from nonbelievers, believers and agnostics arguing with passion and, sometimes, humor.

It all started rationally enough, when theodorejackson wrote, in part: "I find it difficult to fathom why this is such an issue of debate and, often times, anger.”

As the week progressed, posters became more and more adversarial. A believer posting as GodIsLove1 got into a roaring battle with nonbelievers, in one response clearly expressing an opinion of his adversaries using some words we won't repeat: "[Some of the posters here] are half human and the other half is devil, evil wicked ... drunks liars stealers killers (of their soul), atheist. ... And you know who made them that way, these scientist and evolutionist, atheists and the likes."

There actually is an answer for theodorejackson, that also explains GodIsLove1's passionate posts. And it goes to human psychology as well.

Religion is a sensitive issue because we now know it is intimately tied up with our identity, as seen in functional MRI studies, and if the posts are any indication, human vanity too. Identity and vanity are raw nerves to poke.
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TAGGED: PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION