Thank you for this decisive ridicule of "Christian apologetics" as this kind of intellectual rationalization of Christian orthodoxy is often labeled. It is perfectly true that conversion to Christianity has had a psychologically beneficial effect on many people who had been, in various ways, emotionally damaged by life; the exact same can be said for every other major religion on the planet. But Jesus himself gave us a reliable litmus test for evaluating others' belief systems (including Christianity) when asked how to distinguish between true and false prophets. His answer? "By their fruits shall ye know them." NOT, that is, by the ideological content of their religious beliefs--e.g. the definitions of God or the Pauline doctrine of the Atonement--or for that matter, the belief in the Qu'ran as the final and decisive word of God...or that the Hebrews are the "Chosen People" of God. Rather, "fruits" refer to the effects on one's belief system on one's conduct in the world--whether it makes them, as Vonnegut once put it succinctly, "brave, kind, healthy, and happy." And since no one has ever inhabited anyone else's head, this pragmatic criterion is the only one available to us for evaluating another person's belief system. I used to tell my students that I do not care WHAT they believe, as long as their belief systems make them...brave, kind, healthy, and happy. That's all that ever matters.