As an atheist I loved this episode. I have no issue with other people being religious (and actually love the idea and stories behind many religions)
Mike is the type of religious person I would never have any issue with. He doesn’t argue against reasonable information, doesn’t minimize other peoples beliefs,
His justification for his belief is personal and he has bothered to learn enough to understand that others may not have the same experiences.
For a time i wanted to be sort of like him, but I just never had the personal moments he has, have never really felt a god so I’ve only ever had the science side.
Instead of talking to jesus or god when i was young and frustrated with the world around me i would talk to an imaginary friend in my head, So i had a similar mechanism but since i never had it in a divine context it didn’t inform my world view that way.
Anyway, wonderful episode.
http://www.nerdist.com/pepisode/you-made-it-weird-201-science-mike-mchargue/