I expect that someday we’ll have identified a gene, or similar mechanism, that explains this type of human behavior. I’d be curious to see if this dude had been given Xanax or similar meds(lithium?) in his blood of Christ in the weeks leading up to his defiant church services. Would he have made a different decision? Maybe some extra servings for those that followed him as well. Bummer.
As merely a large collection of electrical and chemical reactions, eventually the reasons for us doing anything will be mappable. This is already true today, and is studied extensively. It's called Marketing. We can already map several reasons for him to have made the decision he made. Hubris. Ego. God complex. Saviour complex. And that doesn't even get into the political spectrum of reasons why he endangered hundreds of people to tell fairy stories on a Sunday.
I think you probably have a much different experience than a lot of people. I was raised a Christian, but an Episcopal, which is basically a forum for members of Daughters of the American Revolution to have coffee together without the danger of interference from minorities. It took me until I was in like middle school to find out that some people actually believe the fairy tales (or whatever you want to call them) in the Bible. So my perspective isn't one that comes from a place of evangelism, and I can't say how I would feel if it had, but I'd probably harbor some anger, too. All that said, I do think there's plenty of space for religion and reason, so long as neither is stepping on the other's toes. Stephen Jay Gould called this the non-overlapping magisteria principle. Basically, we can coexist so long as religion stays in and studies the metaphysical space and leaves the physical world to the rest of us, and vice versa.
Agreed on all counts. What a great shame then that Christianity, writ large, refuses to stay in it's own lane and instead DOES MAKE positive claims about the reality we all have to share, and those claims lead to people making choices that end up jeopardizing not only their own health and safety but the health and safety of others.