I just want to say this...

[MellowDem]

5. Religious people...

are not used to having their membership with their belief system, which in most cases is perfunctory, actually criticized. They feel privileged and entitled to their beliefs with no criticism of any sort. That's why they can't handle relevant, legitimate criticism of their membership. They're privileged. Hell, some consider it something in your DNA, like you are born into it, which is just a further validation of childhood indoctrination, nearly the sole way new members of churches are made.

What's worse, they don't believe the things their belief system says, so they feel like they're being criticized for beliefs they don't hold, yet can't quite make the connection (or refuse to) that they identify with a belief system that has beliefs they don't hold, and that is intellectually dishonest and an example of cognitive dissonance.