Why do so many people who believe in god refuse to discuss it?
As much as we debate religion here, it seems that the majority of the population refuses discuess the possibility that god doesn't exist. I have many very smart friends who will not even engage in a conversation about the existence of god. If I question the existence of god, they will usually get very defensive and say something along the lines of "There's gotta be something else out there bigger than us."
People also get especially defensive upon questioning about specific aspects of their religion--such as questioning a non-orthodox Jewish person about why they ignore the strict dietary requirements of the Torah.
My hypothesis is that most people want to believe in god, but they also want to believe in a version of god that requires as little effort from them as possible. Therefore they adopt the most watered down version of their parents religion and then avoid thinking about it because thinking about it will likely lead to one of two unpleasant conclusions:
1. god doesn't exist
2. if god does exist, then they are doing a really bad job of doing what god wants.
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