DharmaTechster,
Thank you.
I think that some people want to believe some things so badly that they just push to the periphery ideas and evidence in contradiction to their desired, comforting beliefs. There is almost a desperation in it and a very rigid sort of binary thinking... almost as if that if they gave up their cherished notions, there'd be nothing left for them.
It's kinda like the game set up in some forms of Christianity, where one can sin in one's mind. Even thinking outside the prescribed parameters has unthinkable consequences: an eternity of damnation.
"If I don't believe this, I'm doomed!" is certainly not a sentiment of personal freedom no matter which way you cut it.
I dabble in this stuff from time to time, just to see what happens. I find, personally, that the temptation to just believe what you want to believe because it feels good is much more powerful than many would like to admit.
And it's important to be skeptical about your skepticism, too.
