The End of Christianity by John W. Loftus

Ironically, this hyperrationality probably was driven in part by a gut-level distaste for the untamed “female” quality of emotions. In other words, it was driven by an unacknowledged emotion, a sublimated, sexist version of “big boys don't cry.” We now know it to be based on falsehood. 13
    Cognition without emotion doesn't get us very far. Damage to emotion centers in the brain can mean that even intelligent people can't learn from their mistakes, and they make harmful social and fiscal decisions. 14 In his book Descartes’ Error , neurologist Antonio Damasio describes one patient who can gather and analyze information almost endlessly without it leading to a preference. For a decision to be made, all of that reason and information needs to create a valence, a positive feeling that privileges one option over others that then directs action. 15 As psychologist Marlene Winell has put it: imagine going into a Baskin Robbins and having to choose one of the thirty-one ice cream flavors by rational analysis. 16 In fact, this is one of the primary functions of emotion—when we are presented with choices, it guides us toward one among many options.
    The basic point I am making is that, in humans, emotions are neither a liability nor some superfluous fluff like the wings on an angel. They are practical mental processes that serve a purpose. And since the God of the Bible is described as having emotions, this fact alone raises some interesting questions. What exactly are emotions? How do they work? What are they for? And how do these details relate to our notions about God?
    EMOTIONS DEFINED
    Let's start with a definition. Emotions are evolved, functional feedback processes that serve the well-being of sentient, mobile animals, and social animals in particular.
    Consider the parts of this definition.
    1) Evolved—Emotions have been subject to selective pressures on our ancestors and therefore can be assumed to increase reproductive success.
    2) Functional—Emotions have a practical purpose (or several) in the service of surviving and thriving.
    3) Feedback Processes—Emotions are a means of representing information about a changing internal and external context.
    4) Sentient and Mobile—Emotions have practical value only for creatures that are aware and able to change or move in response to external conditions.
    5) Social—Emotions are particularly useful for communal species.
    Furthermore, emotions have a physical component, a psychological component, and a behavioral component. Anger, for example, triggers the release of catecholamines like adrenaline. Heart rate accelerates, and blood is directed away from digestion and toward the limbs in preparation for action. Muscles get tense. The object of anger becomes a consuming focus and may well end up on the receiving end of aggressive action. Different physical, psychological, and behavioral components together make up each emotion, and researchers use them to measure and categorize emotional reactions.
    WHAT ARE EMOTIONS FOR?
    Emotions function as a motivational system. In a very real sense, all human emotions can be thought of as forms of pleasure and pain: they are all either appealing or aversive. We are motivated to seek them or avoid them. As Jeremy Bentham said in his Introduction to the Principles of Morals:
    Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.…They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think. In this we are like other sentient beings. All creatures that experience pleasure and pain are motivated to seek the former and avoid the later. 17
    Affective scientists say that emotion is key in three kinds of processes that help animals, including humans, to survive and thrive.
    1.  Adaptation. Adaptation means being able to respond appropriately to changes in the environment around you. If a