Atran, ... is an anthropologist at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, with joint appointments at the University of Michigan and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. His research interests include cognitive science and evolutionary biology, and sometimes he presents students with a wooden box that he pretends is an African relic. “If you have negative sentiments toward religion,” he tells them, “the box will destroy whatever you put inside it.” Many of his students say they doubt the existence of God, but in this demonstration they act as if they believe in something. Put your pencil into the magic box, he tells them, and the nonbelievers do so blithely. Put in your driver’s license, he says, and most do, but only after significant hesitation. And when he tells them to put in their hands, few will.

If they don’t believe in God, what exactly are they afraid of?

Interesting read.

Personally, I don't think I would have any problem putting my hand in the box. But then again, I've never believed in God. Not even when I was little (Raised in the Mormon Church, later Jehovah's Witness, Protestant, & even a Cult).

PS: This is a LONG article. Be prepared to read for at least a half hour...

Maybe God put that gene into us so all you heathens would feel guilty! Kidding!